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Walter Isaacson. The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
Walter Isaacson believes that this sentence from the Declaration of Independence is the greatest ever written:
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.
The Declaration of Independence
The text of the Declaration of Independence, from “When in the course of human events” through “our sacred honor”, is approximately 1320 words long.
Walter Isaacson
Isaacson was born in 1952. He attended Harvard University and Pembroke College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
His career includes time at The Sunday Times in London, The New Orleans Times-Picayune, Time Magazine, CEO of CNN during the events of 9/11 and the Aspen Institute. In 2024 Isaacson became a professor at Tulane University.
Isaacson’s previous books include: (This list and notes was created by an AI search.)
- Elon Musk (2023): An intimate, two-year insider look into the life and mind of the controversial and visionary entrepreneur.
- The Code Breaker (2021): Explores the life of Jennifer Doudna and the revolution of gene editing.
- Leonardo da Vinci (2017): Connects the master’s prolific art to his pioneering scientific studies.
- The Innovators (2014): A group biography of the computer and internet pioneers.
- Steve Jobs (2011): The bestselling, authorized biography based on over 40 interviews with Jobs.
- Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007): Explores how his imagination and personal life intertwined with his groundbreaking theories.
- Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003): Details the life of America’s quintessential diplomat and inventor.
- Kissinger: A Biography (1992): A comprehensive look at the life and foreign policy of Henry Kissinger.
- The Wise Men (1986): Co-authored with Evan Thomas, profiling six friends who shaped American Cold War policy.
Book Chapters
1776. page 1
“We hold these truths to be sacred…
” Sacred? No. That doesn’t sound right.
But that’s how Thomas Jefferson wrote it in his first draft.
Benjamin Franklin, who was on the five-person drafting committee with Jefferson, crossed out “sacred,” using the heavy backslash marks he had often used as a printer, and wrote in “self-evident.” The declaration they were writing was intended to herald a new type of nation, one in which our rights are based on reason, not the dictates or dogma of religion.
But then the sentence invokes the “Creator.” In Jefferson’s first draft, he wrote that men are created equal and “from that equal creation they derive rights.” That phrase is crossed out, this time with a different pen, and replaced with “endowed by their Creator” with rights. Given Jefferson’s skeptical views on religion, it does not seem like a phrase he would use. It was probably suggested by John Adams, whose religious views were more conventional.
Thus we see, in the editing of the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence, our Founders balancing the role of divine providence and that of reason in determining our rights.
It became the greatest sentence ever crafted by human hand.
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.
On its 250th birthday, each of its words and concepts bears scrutiny and appreciation.” page 1-2 (Kindle Edition)
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, this line lays the foundation for the American Dream and defines the common ground we share as a nation.
We 3
“Let’s start at the beginning: the word We.
The first word of the sentence is also the first word in our Constitution, drafted eleven years later, which begins, “We the people…”
That phrase, We the people, is as profound as it is simple. Our governance is based not on the divine right of kings or the power imposed by emperors and conquerors. It is based on a compact, a social contract, that we the people have entered into.
Let’s hold off, for the moment, addressing the question that women, Blacks, Native Americans, and others might ask: “What do you mean we?” We’ll deal with that when we get to the discussion of “all men.” For now, let’s focus on the idea that the authority of any government, since the dawn of civilization, should be based on the concept of a social contract.” 3
Self-Evident Truths 7
“What did Franklin mean when he deleted “sacred and undeniable” in Jefferson’s draft and put in the phrase “self-evident”?” 7
“In 1759, when Franklin was in Britain to lobby for the rights of the colonies, he visited Scotland and got to know Hume, the greatest English- language philosopher of his era. They began a regular correspondence on matters ranging from how new words get invented to the best way to construct a lightning rod, and Franklin regularly sent him wry tales about human foibles that he had written for his Poor Richard’s Almanack or for the amusement of friends.
In hopes of enlisting Hume to the side of the colonies in their disputes with Britain, Franklin visited him in Edinburgh in late 1771 and ended up staying for more than a month. Hume had just built a new house, and he boasted that the sheep’s head soup made by his cook was the best in Europe. “David Hume, agreeable to the precepts of the gospel, has received the stranger and I now live with him,” Franklin reported to a friend. They spent their evenings together discussing ideas of natural rights, social contracts, and the revolutionary stirrings rising in the American colonies.” 7-8
All Men 11
“In Old English, the word wer was used for a male and wīf was used for a female, while the word mann generally meant any person, male or female, young or old.
Is this what the Founders meant when they used the phrase “all men”? Did they mean it to refer to all people?
Actually, no. Even if the rhetorical flourish of “all men” conveyed a broad scope, they consciously and intentionally did not mean in most instances to include women, slaves, Native Americans, and in some cases even non–property owners.” 11-12
Created Equal 13
“Specifically, the Founders were rejecting the idea, fundamental in the British system, that there were certain hereditary social classes, beginning with the royalty and aristocracy, that had more rights than other classes.
But in making this argument, they had to wrestle with the fact that there was one hereditary class of people in the American colonies who were considered property, not equal creations. In 1776, there were about 500,000 enslaved people in the colonies,” 13-14
John Adams disapproved of slavery.
“His wife, Abigail, was more outspoken, saying that the Southern slaveholding delegates’ “pretensions to liberty are a mockery” when they hold “hundreds in chains.” She even addressed Jefferson directly. “The practice of slavery is a reproach to any people who boast of liberty and equality,” she wrote to him in 1804. “How can those who advocate the rights of man hold their fellow creatures in chains? It is a contradiction that must wound the conscience of every honest man.” 15-16
Endowed by Their Creator 19
There were Deists, Unitarians, and traditional Christians among the signers of the Declaration of Independence but they all believed that the Creator was the source of these rights.
Certain Unalienable Rights 23
There are certain rights that people have because they exist. They cannot give them away or have the taken away by another.
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness 25
People have the right to live freely under agreed upon laws and seek fulfillment beyond basic needs.
This is the end of Isaacson’s exposition of this greatest sentence.
The next three chapters give his comments on where we are at the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence.
Common Ground 27
The American Dream 33
Going Forward 39
Appendices The Drafting Process 43
The following appendices are helpful historical documents that give insights into the intellectual climate at the time of the revolution.
From John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, 1690. 48
From Rousseau’s The Social Contract, 1762. 50
From the Virginia Declaration of Rights, June 1776. 52
Jefferson’s “Original Rough Draught” of the Declaration of Independence, June 1776. 53
The Declaration of Independence. 61
Conclusion
I have read this book once too quickly as a “scouting mission” to get an overview of its goals and accomplishments.
I have read it at a slow, more thoughtful pace to gain further insights.
It is an excellent piece of exegesis but a self-described optimistic secular humanist.
His worldview if different from mine and I gleaned many insights from it.
Highly recommended.
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