Prof. Kermit Roosevelt Discusses His New Book, "The Nation That Never Was"

Kermit Roosevelt, David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice, works in a diverse range of fields, focusing on constitutional law and conflict of laws. His previous scholarly books include CONFLICT OF LAWS (Foundation Press, 2010) and THE MYTH OF JUDICIAL ACTIVISM (Yale, 2006). He has published numerous articles in the Virginia Law Review, Michigan Law Review, and Columbia Law Review. In 2014, he was selected by the American Law Institute as the Reporter for the Third Restatement of Conflict of Laws.
In THE NATION THAT NEVER WAS, Roosevelt argues that our country’s fundamental values, particularly equality, are not part of the Founders’ vision. Instead, they were stated in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and were the hope of Reconstruction, a time envisioning a nation committed to liberty and equality. Reconstruction, Roosevelt argues, was not a fulfillment of the ideals of the Founding but rather a repudiation: we modern Americans are not the heirs of the Founders but of the people who overthrew and destroyed that political order. This alternate understanding of American identity opens the door to a new understanding of ourselves and our story, and ultimately to a better America.
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THE NATION THAT NEVER WAS: Reconstructing America’s Story - press.uchicago...
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