Biographer Walter Isaacson is eminent among writers of American history. For America’s upcoming 250th anniversary of independence, he wrote this short essay memorializing the penning of the Declaration of Independence. In it, he picks apart each phrase of the first sentence to explore its meaning: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Although these words are not embedded in American law, they set forth the trajectory of the American experiment, still waddling along two-and-one-half centuries later. After this analysis, he concludes with parting thoughts about the necessity of a common social fabric and the spiritualized dream of America that extends beyond mere economics.
Isaacson is a masterful writer who’s given much thought to America’s meaning. This short meditation is worth flipping through as we approach the 250th Fourth of July. It’s also worth meditating on as we seek to repair a fraying social fabric to pass onto coming generations, lest human freedom become a relic of the past.
The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
By Walter Isaacson
Copyright (c) 2025
Simon & Schuster
ISBN13 9781982181314
Page Count: 67
Genre: American History
www.amazon.com