Constitution Day Lecture: “The United States Constitution: A Work of Enduring Genius.”

The United States has one of the world’s oldest governments in the Federal Constitution of 1789. What made that system so enduring? Charles C.W. Cooke argues that the Framers' historical knowledge, willingness to compromise, and keen understanding of human nature, combined with Article V’s amendment process to create a document that is able to meet new circumstances head-on. These provisions have made it a work of enduring genius that retains popular legitimacy and holds the American Republic in a stable political order.