The Founding Fathers Chased Fame (You Should Too) | UT's Thomas Pangle

Celebrating 250th

What motivated the founding fathers to build America? Fame. They wanted fame.

“The love of fame” declares Hamilton in the Federalist Papers is “the ruling passion of the noblest minds.” He likely had Washington in mind writing that.

Similarly, Franklin confesses in the beginning of his autobiography that it may look like he’s writing it out of vanity… and he is! Because vanity “is often productive of good to the possessor, and to others that are within his sphere of action… it would not be altogether absurd if a man were to thank God for his vanity.”

Of course, the type of fame that the founding fathers were after is different in kind from the fame most of our contemporaries are chasing. It is not just to be known, but to be respected by those whom you respect for accomplishing noble deeds. And I think we need to re-legitimize the desire for this kind of “fame” as a spur to attempt great deeds today. Our society advises us to “stop caring what others think” — while this is a good antidote for the clout-chasers of today, our blanket rejection of “vanity” veers too far in the other extreme. The task should be to discern what types of fame is worth and not worth pursuing.

In this interview, you will learn about the psychology, history, and blindspots of the American founding from one of its most respected commentators, the legendary UT Philosopher Thomas Pangle.