The Second Bill of Rights: FDR’s Unfinished Revolution - and Why We Need it More Than Ever

This book offers a bold resurrection of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s forgotten call for economic justice for all citizens. In 1944, Franklin D Roosevelt gave a State of the Union Address that was arguably the greatest political speech of the twentieth century. In it, Roosevelt grappled with the definition of security in a democracy, concluding that unless there is security here at home, there cannot be lasting peace in the world. To help ensure that security, he proposed a Second Bill of Rights - economic rights that he saw as necessary to achieve political freedom. Many of America’s great legislative achievements of the past sixty years stem from Roosevelt’s vision. Using this speech as a launching point, Cass R Sunstein shows how these rights are vital to the continuing security of the nation. This is an ambitious, sweeping book that argues for a new vision of FDR, of constitutional history and the current political scene.