The argument for the power of the judicial branch to rule acts of the legislature invalid under the Constitution is set out in The Federalist. If it be said that the legislative body are themselves the constitutional judges of their…
In 1801 President Thomas Jefferson responded to a group of Connecticut merchants who objected to his appointment of a new collector of customs duties — the equivalent of tariffs. The prior holder of that office — Elizur Goodrich — had…
Jefferson wrote of “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” in his ringing declaration which still speaks to our hearts. But what these Laws of Nature are is a matter of considerable debate. Jefferson professed the watchmaker God of the…
‘Can liberty survive, and how can it survive, in a democratic society?’ –Tocqueville Nineteenth century French intellectual…
The world is starved for virtuous, courageous leaders and problem solvers. For those perplexed by the current state of politics, Groucho Marx had the answer. Groucho said, “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it…
Everyone who has seen the play Hamilton knows that the nation’s capital was moved to the present site in the District of Columbia due to a dinner-table bargain in 1790 between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton needed Jefferson’s support in…
War has the power to bring out the best in people. Incredible heroism, courage, self-sacrifice rise miraculously. In quieter times, great issues don’t seem to be at stake. We are used to getting by more easily and making easier choices….
“Cultures are held together by the stories they tell about themselves, and America is struggling to find a new national story, one that can acknowledge past injustices without becoming defined by them. The old all-or-nothing morality tale of Good America…
A statesman in modern democracies is a politician of one sort or another and is accountable in the end to the body politic he serves. He cannot ignore the will of the people. In this, he is the same as…
