The bestselling author of The Pursuit of Happiness shows how for nearly 250 years the opposing constitutional visions of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton have defined our country and influenced presidents from Washington to Trump and continue to drive the debate over the power of centralized government versus states’ rights today.
In The Pursuit of Liberty, bestselling author and president of the National Constitution Center Jeffrey Rosen explores the clashing visions of Hamilton and Jefferson about how to balance liberty and power, a debate that continues to define—and divide—our country: Jefferson championed states’ rights and individual liberties, while Hamilton pushed for a strong Federal government and centralized finance system. This ongoing debate has shaped all the pivotal moments in American history, including Abraham Lincoln’s fight against slavery and southern secession, the expansion of federal power under Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, and Ronald Reagan’s conservative push for limited government.
Rosen also shows how Hamilton and Jefferson’s debate over liberal versus strict construction of the Constitution has shaped landmark debates in Congress and the Supreme Court, from John Marshall’s early assertions of federal power to the current divisions among the justices—Neil Gorsuch calls himself a Jeffersonian, Clarence Thomas was inspired by his reading of the Declaration of Independence to embrace sharp limits on the administrative state, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in voting rights and health care cases, invoked Hamilton’s broad vision of federal power.
More than ever, the clash between Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian ideals resonates in our most urgent national debates over issues such as immigration, abortion, and presidential immunity. The Pursuit of Liberty is a compelling history of the opposing forces that have shaped our country since its founding, and the ongoing struggle to define the balance between liberty and power.
