Elon Musk’s Biographer, Walter Isaacson on the “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written”

America is at an extraordinary moment in its history.We are one quarter of the way through the 21st century, and in 2026 we will celebrate our 250th birthday.I am asking a series of extraordinary Americans - many without fame or fortune, speaking from lived experience as well as poetry - to take the temperature of America in 2026.What is the American idea?What do we stand for?Which values do we need to remind ourselves of?How is this country doing politically, economically, culturally, and as a force for good in the world?Walter Isaacson has long served as one of America’s great interpreters of ideas, leadership, creativity, and power.He has held senior leadership roles at some of the most influential institutions in American media and civic life, including Editor of TIME, Chairman and CEO of CNN, and President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He is currently a Professor of History at Tulane University.Isaacson is the author of nine books, including acclaimed biographies of Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci, and Elon Musk.His newest book, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, steps back from biography to focus on a single line from the Declaration of Independence:“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”It is a sentence that has echoed throughout American history—invoked by Lincoln at Gettysburg, challenged by generations who saw its promise unfulfilled, and returned to again and again during moments of national crisis.As America approaches its 250th birthday, Isaacson asks what that sentence still means - and whether it can continue to bind a deeply divided nation.Born in New Orleans, educated at Harvard, and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Isaacson has spent a lifetime examining how societies innovate, how democracies endure, and how human creativity advances both science and freedom.Walter Isaacson has been - and is - many things:father, husband, teacher, Rhodes Scholar, Harvard graduate, TV commentator, journalist, editor, writer, son of New Orleans, CEO, and yes, biographer - often chosen by the famous when they want their story told.He has been described as a bridge between power and ideas, science and the humanities, the past and the future, and creators and consumers.