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The Declaration of Independence is a loaded gun—like Chekhov’s rifle, you cannot just expect it to hang there on the wall without anybody ever trying to use it.
But ignore that document was precisely what the founding generation did—the Declaration looms large in our political imagination today, but Washington, Jefferson, et al., kept it at arm’s length.
Kevin D. Williamson is national correspondent at The Dispatch and is based in Virginia. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he spent 15 years as a writer and editor at National Review, worked as the theater critic at the New Criterion, and had a long career in local newspapers. He is also a writer in residence at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. When Kevin is not reporting on the world outside Washington for his Wanderland newsletter, you can find him at the rifle range or reading a book about literally almost anything other than politics.
