{"product_id":"the-pursuit-of-happiness-how-classical-writers-on-virtue-inspired-the-lives-of-the-founders-and-defined-america-9781668002483","title":"The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller and an \"enriching...brilliant\" (David W. Blight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eFrederick Douglass\u003c\/i\u003e) examination of what \"the pursuit of happiness\" meant to our nation's Founders and how that famous phrase defined their lives and became the foundation of our democracy.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe Declaration of Independence identified \"the pursuit of happiness\" as one of our unalienable rights, along with life and liberty. Jeffrey Rosen, the president of the National Constitution Center, profiles six of the most influential founders--Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton--to show what pursuing happiness meant in their lives, and to give us the \"best and most readable introduction to the ideas of the Founders that we have\" (Gordon Wood, author of \u003ci\u003ePower and Liberty\u003c\/i\u003e). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy reading the classical Greek and Roman moral philosophers who inspired the Founders, Rosen shows us how they understood the pursuit of happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling good--the pursuit of lifelong virtue, not short-term pleasure. Among those virtues were the habits of industry, temperance, moderation, and sincerity, which the Founders viewed as part of a daily struggle for self-improvement, character development, and calm self-mastery. They believed that political self-government required personal self-government. For all six Founders, the pursuit of virtue was incompatible with enslavement of African Americans, although the Virginians betrayed their own principles. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Immensely readable and thoughtful\" (Ken Burns), \u003ci\u003eThe Pursuit of Happiness\u003c\/i\u003e is more than an elucidation of the Declaration's famous phrase; it is a revelatory journey into the minds of the Founders, and a deep, rich, and fresh understanding of the foundation of our democracy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJeffrey Rosen is President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, where he hosts \u003ci\u003eWe the People\u003c\/i\u003e, a weekly podcast of constitutional debate. He is also a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor at \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e. Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University, and Yale Law School. He is the author of nine books, including the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestsellers \u003ci\u003eThe Pursuit of Happiness \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eConversations with RBG\u003c\/i\u003e. His essays and commentaries have appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e; on NPR; in \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew Republic\u003c\/i\u003e, where he was the legal affairs editor; and in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, where he has been a staff writer.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51580299804946,"sku":"9781668002483","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_631b16fd-0842-4e17-83e8-c336c3c7d4e2.jpg?v=1756215510","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-pursuit-of-happiness-how-classical-writers-on-virtue-inspired-the-lives-of-the-founders-and-defined-america-9781668002483","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}