God save the Queen

In our divided and opinionated age, very few people still earn nearly universal respect. Maybe the most notable of these, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away last week at the age of 96.

Her death was met with outpourings of sadness and remembrance across the globe. The world seemed to stop on a dime to recognize her life and service.

But why, asks Phillip Blond in First Things, did the Queen merit such honor?

Blond, who spoke at ISI’s American Economic Forum this summer, argues that the world loved Elizabeth because she embodied everything good about a Christian monarch. 

She worked to care for each person… fought for the common good… and always pointed to God as the source of her power.

Blond says the Queen stood as a singularly stable and loving figure in the midst of a chaotic and polarizing time. And that status is what made her death so remarkably tragic.

Read more of Blond’s eloquent tribute here.

The minds that made America

If you’ve studied American history to any great extent, you’ve probably read The Federalist Papers. The newspaper editorials written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton have shaped our view of the Founding period for many years.
 
But are we missing something? Dr. Brad Birzer, who delivered ISI’s virtual convocation this month, thinks so.
 
Writing in The Imaginative Conservative, Birzer offers a whole series of primary sources from our Founding Fathers as better indicators of what they really believed. He starts with James Madison’s notes on the Constitutional Convention, which give a firsthand account of the long battles over what to include in our nation’s most valuable document.
 
Birzer then lists a series of invaluable original works by statesmen like John Adams, Edmund Burke, John Dickinson, and many others.
 
Find out here why he believes these essays and speeches ought to be our priority when studying America’s birth.

Gala for Western Civilization 

October 13 will be a night to remember.

At ISI’s sixteenth annual Gala for Western Civilization in Washington, D.C., you and hundreds of other ISI friends and supporters will partake in an evening that will be unforgettable.

This year ISI will be showcasing top academic talent across three disciplines: political theory, economics, and history. We want to provide our alumni and supporters with an opportunity to experience some of the greatest conservative minds of our generation. The evening’s speakers include:

• Chair of the Department of History at the University of Dallas, Susan Hanssen, who will give the keynote address
• The William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Government, Harvey C. Mansfield, who will receive ISI’s Charles H. Hoeflich Lifetime Achievement Award
• Merton P. Stoltz Professor of Economics at Brown University, Glenn Loury, who will receive ISI’s Faculty Award

It should be a wonderful evening full of great conversation.

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