Publisher Description
Dear Reader,
Many people have wondered why I’ve been speaking out on controversial issues for the last few years. They say I’ve never held political office. I’m not a constitutional scholar. I’m not even a lawyer. All I can say to that is “Guilty as charged.”
It’s true that I’ve never voted for a budget America could not afford. I’ve never raised anyone’s taxes. And I’ve never promised a lobbyist anything in exchange for a donation.
Luckily, none of that really matters. Our founding fathers didn’t want a permanent governing class of professional politicians. They wanted a republic, in Lincoln’s words, "of the people, by the people, and for the people." A country where any farmer, small-business owner, manual laborer, or doctor could speak up and make a difference.
I believe that making a difference starts with understanding our amazing founding document, the U.S. Constitution. And as someone who has performed brain surgery thousands of times, I can assure you that the Constitution isn’t brain surgery.
The founders wrote it for ordinary men and women, in clear, precise, simple language. They intentionally made it short enough to read in a single sitting and to carry in your pocket.
I wrote this book to encourage every citizen to read and think about the Constitution, and to help defend it from those who misinterpret and undermine it. In our age of political correctness it’s especially important to defend the Bill of Rights, which guarantees our freedom to speak, bear arms, practice our religion, and much more.
The Constitution isn’t history—it’s about your life in America today. And defending it is about what kind of country our children and grandchildren will inherit.
I hope you’ll enjoy learning about the fascinating ways that the founders established the greatest democracy in history—and the ways that recent presidents, congresses, and courts have threatened that democracy.
As the Preamble says, the purpose of the Constitution is to create a more perfect union. My goal is to empower you to help protect that union and secure the blessings of liberty.
Sincerely,
Ben Carson
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About the Authors
Benjamin Carson,
MD,
is a professor of neurosurgery, plastic surgery, oncology, and pediatrics, and
the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. He
serves on the boards of the Kellogg Company, Costco Wholesale Corp., and the
Academy of Achievement, among others, and is an Emeritus Fellow of the Yale
Corporation. He and his wife, Candy, cofounded the Carson Scholars Fund, a
501(c)3 established to counteract America's crisis in education by identifying
and rewarding academic role models in the fourth through eleventh grades,
regardless of race, creed, religion and socio-economic status, who also
demonstrate humanitarian qualities. There are over 4,800 such scholars in
forty-five states. Ben and Candy are the parents of three grown sons and reside
in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Candy Carson,
also known as Lacena Rustin, is the
coauthor of America the Beautiful, and
One Nation. She graduated from Yale
in 1975 and married her husband, Ben Carson, that summer. They live in West
Friendship, Maryland, with their three sons.
About JD Jackson
JD Jackson is a theater professor, aspiring stage director, and award-winning audiobook narrator. He is a classically trained actor, and his television and film credits include roles on House, ER, Law & Order, Hack, Sherrybaby, Diary of a City Priest, and Lucky Number Slevin. He is the recipient of more than a dozen Earphones Awards for narration and an Odyssey Honor for G. Neri’s Ghetto Cowboy, and he was also named one of AudioFile magazine’s Best Voices of the Year for 2012 and 2013. An adjunct professor at Los Angeles Southwest College, he has an MFA in theater from Temple University.