# The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America - Hardcover

by **Jeffrey Rosen** (Author)

**A fascinating 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.**

The 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.

By 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.

_The Pursuit of Happiness_ 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.

### Author Biography

Jeffrey Rosen is President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, where he hosts _We the People_, 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 _The Atlantic_. Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University, and Yale Law School. He is the author of seven previous books, including the _New York Times_ bestseller _Conversations with RBG_: _Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law_. His essays and commentaries have appeared in _The New York Times Magazine_; on NPR; in _The_ _New Republic_, where he was the legal affairs editor; and in _The New Yorker_, where he has been a staff writer.

**Number of Pages:** 368

**Dimensions:** 2.3 x 8.2 x 6.1 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** February 13, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 28.99 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
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