First Principles: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country

Placeholder author icon
By Thomas E. Ricks

Published Nov. 7, 2020

First Principles details the classical philosophical learnings of America’s first presidents and how those ideas came to shape both their ideology and the country they helped to found. Among these accounts is the story of James Madison 1771’s politically active life while studying at Princeton.

Paw in print

Image
The September 2026 cover of PAW, featuring the headline "Minds at Play" written in game pieces — crossword, Scrabble, and Rubics Cube.
The Latest Issue

September 2026

Princetonians who puzzle; inside ORFE’s rise; how 9/11 changed lives.