Jurists and legal scholars speak of the “living” Constitution, understanding that it must be continually read and reinterpreted in light of our evolving national life. In The Living Declaration, acclaimed historian and former presidential speechwriter Ted Widmer shows that the Declaration of Independence is also very much alive. Tracing the vibrant history of our country’s founding text and how it has shaped the democratic aspirations of Americans and others for more than two centuries, Widmer weaves together sixty-eight original texts by a wide spectrum of voices. Through the words of radicals and conservatives, revolutionary insurgents and civil rights leaders, presidents and philosophers, we rediscover the far-ranging origins and diverse understandings of America’s core ideas.
TED WIDMER is a prize-winning historian who has written or edited a dozen books, including Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington and the two-volume Library of America edition American Speeches. He writes frequently for The New Yorker, The Guardian, the Boston Globe, and The New York Times, where he helped create the Disunion feature about the Civil War.
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This publishing and public impact initiative is made possible with generous support from The National Endowment for the Humanities, and from Les Levi and David Bruce Smith—Grateful American Foundation.
Library of America, a nonprofit organization, champions our nation’s cultural heritage by publishing America’s greatest writing in authoritative new editions and providing resources for readers to explore this rich, living legacy.
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