The U.S. Constitution is among the oldest constitutions in the world but also one of the most difficult to amend. Our guest today, Jill Lepore, Harvard professor of history and law, explains why in her latest book, We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution.
Published on the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, the book offers an entirely fresh history of the U.S. Constitution. We the People focuses in particular on the document’s amendment process, recounting centuries of attempts, mostly by ordinary Americans, to realize the promise of the Constitution.
Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and professor of law at Harvard Law School. She is also a staff writer at The New Yorker, and her many books include the international bestseller These Truths: A History of the United States. She’ll be appearing in Boise with Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep on Thursday, Nov. 6 as part of The Cabin’s Readings & Conversations series.
