Episode 1004: America 250 – The Greatest Sentence Ever Written with Walter Isaacson

Newt welcomes bestselling biographer Walter Isaacson to discuss his new book, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, a deep dive into the Declaration of Independence's most celebrated passage: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Isaacson traces how Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams collaboratively crafted and edited this sentence — including Franklin's pivotal change from "sacred" to "self-evident" — and argues it serves as America's enduring mission statement. Their conversation explores how Lincoln later invoked the sentence at Gettysburg to advance the cause of abolition, how the suffragette movement used it to expand women's rights, and why the 250th anniversary is a vital opportunity to use this founding ideal to heal today's deep political divisions. Isaacson also previews his upcoming biography of Marie Curie.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.