“Pursuit of Happiness and America at 250”

WDB Lecture Series

Jeffrey Rosen: Tuesday, November 17, 2026 | 5:00 PM | Elkins Auditorium

For America 250, bestselling author and CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, Jeffrey Rosen, explores the principles at the core of the American Idea. In his book, The Pursuit of Happiness, he shows how the Founders embraced the classical definition of happiness as being good rather than feeling good, the pursuit of long term virtue rather than short term pleasure. In The Pursuit of Liberty, Rosen shows how the clashing visions of Hamilton and Jefferson balance liberty and power in a debate that continues to define—and divide—our country: Jefferson championed states’ rights and individual liberties, while Hamilton pushed for a strong Federal government and a powerful executive. Drawing on both books, Rosen will explore how Americans of different perspectives have continued to embrace the core principles of the American Idea – liberty, equality, government by consent, and the pursuit of happiness – even as they have disagreed about how to balance those principles throughout American history.

About the Speaker: Jeffrey Rosen is the CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, a senior fellow at the Foundation forof Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He was previously the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for the New Yorker. Rosen is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Pursuit of Happiness and Conversations with RBG. His new book is The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America. Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School. He is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute. In 2024, the French government recognized him as a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.