Dikembe Mutombo Believed in the American Idea
The humanitarian and NBA legend was grateful for the freedom he enjoyed, and understood the obligations that came with it.
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Takashi Aoyama / Getty The Founders’ Guide to Happiness
Today people think of happiness as something that results from the pursuit of pleasure, but the Constitution’s Framers had other ideas.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Hulton Archive / Getty; ullstein bild / Getty; Universal Images Group / Getty. Elon Musk Is Right That Twitter Should Follow the First Amendment
A long history of free-speech jurisprudence backs him up.
Getty; The Atlantic The Court Loses Its Chief Pragmatist
With the upcoming retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer, the country moves into a more ideologically divided future.
Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty The Whole Point Was to Avoid Mob Violence
The Founders would have been appalled by the attack on the Capitol but not surprised.
The Atlantic What If We Wrote the Constitution Today?
Proposals from libertarian, conservative, and progressive scholars displayed a few striking differences—but also some profound similarities.
The Atlantic RBG’s Life, in Her Own Words
In one of her most revealing interviews, the justice discusses her losses, her struggles, and her hope for the future.
Steve Helber / AP John Roberts Is Just Who the Supreme Court Needed
The chief justice has worked to persuade his colleagues to put institutional legitimacy above partisanship.
Drew Angerer / Bloomberg / Getty / The Atlantic Hamilton Would Not Have Stood for Trump’s New Constitutional Theory
Even the Founding Father with the most expansive view of executive power would have found Trump’s recent constitutional ideas troubling.
Paul Spella / The Atlantic How to Revive Madison’s Constitution
The American experiment requires virtuous leaders who place the public good over their own personal or partisan interests.
E. R. Curtiss / Wisconsin Historical Society / Getty
