Walter Isaacson on the Greatest Sentence Ever Written

We the People

National Constitution Center

History, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 November 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, best-selling biographer Walter Isaacson joins to discuss his new book, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, with Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, Isaacson explores the intellectual inspirations and drafting history of the Declaration’s famous second sentence, which lays the foundation for the American dream and defines the common ground we share as a nation. Resources Walter Isaacson, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (2025) Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2004) David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739) Benjamin Franklin, “Apology for Printers,” The Pennsylvania Gazette (1731) John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1690) In our new podcast, Pursuit: The Founders’ to Guide to Happiness Jeffrey Rosen explores the founders’ lives with the historians who know them best. Plus, filmmaker Ken Burns shares his daily practice of self-reflection. Listen to episodes of Pursuit on ⁠Apple Podcast⁠ and ⁠Spotify⁠. Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Explore the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠America at 250 Civic Toolkit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen Join us for an upcoming ⁠⁠⁠⁠live program⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or watch recordings on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support our important work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate⁠⁠⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center,
0:08.1	and welcome to We the People, a weekly show of constitutional debate. The National Constitution
0:13.1	Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit, chartered by Congress to increase awareness and understanding
0:18.4	of the Constitution among the American people.
0:21.5	In this episode, I am honored to welcome the great Walter Isaacson to discuss his new book,
0:27.5	The Greatest Sentence Ever Written.
0:30.1	Walter is the best-selling author of many award-winning biographies, including Musk, Da Vinci,
0:36.0	Einstein, and Franklin.
0:37.5	He's a professor of history at Tulane, and he's long been
0:40.8	a hero of mine. In this book, he's distilled
0:43.4	the essence of the declaration
0:45.2	word by word, focusing on
0:47.4	the second sentence, which is the very
0:49.4	foundation of the American Creed. Walter, it is so wonderful to
0:53.1	welcome you to We the People.
0:54.9	It's great to be back with you, Jeff, and to see you again,
0:57.9	and the National Constitution Center, one of my beloved places.
1:02.8	That is great.
1:04.3	Well, you've made this conversation easy by organizing the book so well,
1:08.4	and you go word by word.
1:10.3	So let's start where you do at the beginning
1:12.8	and the word we. You know, the second sentence was written by Jefferson, then edited by John
	...

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