Jack Norman Rakove (born June 4, 1947) is an American historian, author and professor at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. He is a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

winner.

Biography

Rakove was born in Chicago to

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Professor Milton L. Rakove (1918–1983) and his wife, Shirley. The elder Rakove taught at the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a Public university, public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus esta ...

(1957–1983) and

Barat College Barat College of the Sacred Heart was a small Catholic college located in Lake Forest, Illinois, north of Chicago. The college was named after Madeleine Sophie Barat, founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Barat College was purchased by De ...

(Lake Forest, Illinois). Jack Rakove earned his AB in 1968 from

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

and his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in 1975 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He was also a student at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

from 1966 to 1967. At Harvard, he was a student of

Bernard Bailyn Bernard Bailyn (September 10, 1922 – August 7, 2020) was an American historian, author, and academic specializing in U.S. Colonial and Revolutionary-era History. He was a professor at Harvard University from 1953. Bailyn won the Pulitzer Pri ...

. Rakove is the W.R. Coe Professor of History and

American Studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...

and professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, where he has taught since 1980. He also taught at

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

from 1975 to 1980. He has been a visiting professor at the

NYU School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

. Rakove won the 1997

Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished book about the history ...

and the 1998 Cox Book Prize for '' Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution'' (1996) which questioned whether

originalism In the context of United States law, originalism is a theory of constitutional interpretation that asserts that all statements in the Constitution must be interpreted based on the original understanding "at the time it was adopted". This conce ...

is a comprehensive and exhaustive means of interpreting the Constitution. ''Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America'' (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), was a finalist for the

George Washington Book Prize The George Washington Book Prize was instituted in 2005 and is awarded annually to the best book on the founding era of the United States; especially ones that have the potential to advance broad public understanding of American history. It is admi ...

. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 2007.

Works

* ''The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress'' Alfred Knopf, 1979; reprint: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982, * ''James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic'' Scott, Foresman/Little, Brown Higher Education, 1990, * '' Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution'' A.A. Knopf, 1996, ; reprint: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010, * ''Declaring Rights: A Brief History with Documents'' Bedford/St. Martin's, 1998, * Making a Hash of Sovereignty, Part I, '' The Green Bag'' (Autumn 1998), pages 35–44 * Making a Hash of Sovereignty, Part II, The Green Bag (Autumn 1999) * * * Beyond Belief, Beyond Conscience, The Radical Significance of the Free Exercise of Religion. (2020)

References

External links

"Jack Rakove: Faculty Webpage"
Stanford University
Alan Pell Crawford, "A Revolution from Below"
''The Wall Street Journal'', May 21, 2010
"Faculty Focus: Jack Rakove,"
NYU School of Law, Autumn 2003

University of Illinois at Chicago
Video of discussion/debate with Rakove
and

Eugene Volokh Eugene Volokh (; born February 29, 1968 as Yevhen Volodymyrovych Volokh ( uk, Євге́н Володимирович Волох)) is an American legal scholar known for his scholarship in American constitutional law and libertarianism as well as ...

Bloggingheads.tv Bloggingheads.tv (sometimes abbreviated "bhtv") is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast onl ...

*
Jack Rakove: Reflections on the Founding Period
1947 births Living people Haverford College alumni Harvard University alumni Colgate University faculty New York University faculty 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Pulitzer Prize for History winners 20th-century American Jews Stanford University Department of History faculty Stanford University Department of Political Science faculty Evanston Township High School alumni Historians from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American Jews Historians from Illinois {{US-historian-stub