First Principles - Thomas E. Ricks

First Principles

By Thomas E. Ricks

  • Release Date: 2020-11-10
  • Genre: U.S. History
4.5 Score: 4.5 (From 175 Ratings)

Description

New York Times Bestseller
Editors' Choice â€”New York Times Book Review

"Ricks knocks it out of the park with this jewel of a book. On every page I learned something new. Read it every night if you want to restore your faith in our country." â€”James Mattis, General, U.S. Marines (ret.) & 26th Secretary of Defense 

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author offers a revelatory new book about the founding fathers, examining their educations and, in particular, their devotion to the ancient Greek and Roman classics—and how that influence would shape their ideals and the new American nation.

On the morning after the 2016 presidential election, Thomas Ricks awoke with a few questions on his mind: What kind of nation did we now have? Is it what was designed or intended by the nation’s founders? Trying to get as close to the source as he could, Ricks decided to go back and read the philosophy and literature that shaped the founders’ thinking, and the letters they wrote to each other debating these crucial works—among them the Iliad, Plutarch’s Lives, and the works of Xenophon, Epicurus, Aristotle, Cato, and Cicero. For though much attention has been paid the influence of English political philosophers, like John Locke, closer to their own era, the founders were far more immersed in the literature of the ancient world.

The first four American presidents came to their classical knowledge differently. Washington absorbed it mainly from the elite culture of his day; Adams from the laws and rhetoric of Rome; Jefferson immersed himself in classical philosophy, especially Epicureanism; and Madison, both a groundbreaking researcher and a deft politician, spent years studying the ancient world like a political scientist. Each of their experiences, and distinctive learning, played an essential role in the formation of the United States. In examining how and what they studied, looking at them in the unusual light of the classical world, Ricks is able to draw arresting and fresh portraits of men we thought we knew.

First Principles follows these four members of the Revolutionary generation from their youths to their adult lives, as they grappled with questions of independence, and forming and keeping a new nation. In doing so, Ricks interprets not only the effect of the ancient world on each man, and how that shaped our constitution and government, but offers startling new insights into these legendary leaders.

Reviews

  • First Principals

    4
    By NoBrainerToMe
    Extremely well researched and easy to read and understand. A major failure with his Trump bashing. While immigration was supported by the founders and still was supported by Trump, the founders believed in restricted immigration and properly vetted. So did Trump. The founders gave a small stipend when immigrated with the requirements of paying it back, and obtaining work and learning English. Liberals like the author just want liberal voters and could care less if they are vetted, COVID free or criminals. We may have more slavery in the US than we ever had. Check out Spanish bars and nail salons and you will see. Otherwise excellent read.
  • Excellent analysis of the role of Rome and Greece in our form of government

    5
    By Verndoosh
    Insightful review of our founding fathers attempt to create a government that enhanced and protected our basic beliefs in democracy.
  • Must Read

    5
    By RHMTWO
    This is an excellent book in a time of moral crisis in our nations history. It should be widely read and seriously discussed. The epilogue provides a checklist for a United future and a promising path forward.
  • Appropriate title

    5
    By RobertCurtis
    A story of the founding fathers and their sources of inspiration based upon ancient writings from Greece and Rome. “Virtue” and it’s meaning and practical application to the new nation ultimately became lost to the more fundamental needs of the common American to earn a living, tend to their family needs and thus prosper. America shed the ancients perceived wisdom and forged a new and original direction. The book and its story is a refreshing reminder on how America began and some insight on how we arrived in our current mess.

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