by Mike Lee
First published 2017
Senator Mike Lee argues that America's most important constitutional debates have been stripped of their key players. He focuses on marginalized figures who shaped the nation's founding principles but disappeared from mainstream historical accounts. Lee examines Aaron Burr, who opposed executive abuse despite his villainous reputation from Hamilton. He profiles Mercy Otis Warren, a prominent Revolutionary writer who broke with John Adams over constitutional concerns about federal power. The book highlights Canasatego, an Iroquois chief whose ideas on separation of powers influenced Benjamin Franklin. Lee contends these anti-Federalists and their allies successfully embedded checks and balances into the Constitution to protect citizens from intrusive government. He connects their forgotten warnings to modern concerns about federal bureaucracy and government overreach. The author argues that remembering these contrarian voices could help restore constitutional principles and limit big government.
Genres: history, political-science, politics, non-fiction, biography-memoir, american-history
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: contrarian-perspective, hidden-history
Setting: America
Period: 18th-century, 21st-century
232 pages · Hardcover · Sentinel