Updates from Senator Lee

KEY FOUNDERS WERE “WRITTEN OUT” OF HISTORY, LEADING U.S. SENATOR CHARGES

New Book by Sen. Mike Lee Chronicles Women, Minorities, and Iconoclasts Who First Fought Big Government

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the earliest days of our nation, a handful of unsung heroes—including women, slaves, and Indian chiefs—made crucial contributions to our republic. They pioneered the ideas that led to the Bill of Rights, the separation of powers, and the abolition of slavery. Yet their faces haven’t been printed on our currency. Their busts haven’t been carved into any cliffs. Instead, they were marginalized, silenced, or forgotten—sometimes by an accident of history, sometimes by design.

In WRITTEN OUT OF HISTORY: THE FORGOTTEN FOUNDERS WHO FOUGHT BIG GOVERNMENT, Senator Mike Lee, one of the most consistent and impassioned opponents of a vast and abusive federal government, tells the story with passion and care of liberty’s forgotten heroes who first fought -- and warned against -- what Washington, D.C. would become. In these pages, readers will learn the true story of:

• Aaron Burr, depicted in the popular musical HAMILTON and forever known by history as a villain, who was a far more complicated figure  -- a man who fought the abuse of executive power and who Thomas Jefferson, in an outrageous demonstration of that abuse, sought to systematically destroy.
• Mercy Otis Warren, one of the most prominent female writers in the Revolution and a protégé of John Adams, who engaged in vigorous debates against the encroachment of federal power and ultimately broke with Adams over her fears of the Constitution.
• Canasatego, an Iroquois chief whose words taught Benjamin Franklin the basic principles behind the separation of powers.
• Elbridge Gerry, who championed individual rights and greater power for the states over the new federal government—and without whom there would be no Bill of Rights today.

The popular movement that swept Republicans into power in 2010 and 2016 was led by a generation of Americans who rediscovered the majestic blueprint to renewal in the Constitution. As a result, most know the names of Hamilton, Madison, and Washington. But we should also know the names of the contrarians who argued against them and who have been written out of history.  If we knew of the heroic fights of these lost founders, we’d never have ended up with a government too big, too powerful, and too unresponsive to its citizens. The good news is that it’s not too late to remember and to return to our first principles. Restoring the memory of these lost individuals will strike a crippling blow against big government.

AUTHOR BIO: Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) is a tireless advocate for our founding constitutional principles. A former Supreme Court clerk, he serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the Joint Economic Committee. He was recently named chairman of the Senate Steering Committee. His previous book is Our Lost Constitution: The Willful Subversion of America’s Founding Document.