I was thinking that this might be a good time to read the Constitution.  For those who would prefer not to get lost in the tall grass of some of those interminably long sentences, the main ideas are right there in the preamble.  It is one very beautiful sentence that tells us in clear language exactly what are the goals of government.  The rest of the Constitution just fills out the details.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

No goal stands alone.  They exist in a delicate balance that can be easily upset, especially during a crisis such as our current COVID-19 emergency.  It is during a crisis, however, when we are tested on what we truly believe.  Are these words just pretty window dressing or are they the rock-steady values upon which we make our decisions?

We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union

In 1787 we were already a union, otherwise we could not have come together as a people.  We were far from a perfect one.  An economic crisis, bickering among the states, and a central authority that no one paid attention to, had the nation on the brink of falling apart.  To meet the crisis, a convention was held in Philadelphia to set about establishing a new government that would, as the Declaration of Independence stated that it must, “seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”  The common good—the essence of the good life—is safety and happiness, and the founders listed the five objectives that will bring that about.

establish Justice

Justice must come first.  Reaching back to Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Ethics the idea of justice is central.  These are the rights and duties we have to each other, and what the society owes to each individual.  It is impossible to have unity or live peacefully if there is no justice.  The laws must be lawful—clearly understood, known in advance, and fairly applied.  How our system of justice would be arranged was the purpose of the Constitution.  No crisis can ever allow us to set that aside.

insure domestic Tranquility

This is the job of justice.  The flip-side is civil unrest and crime.  Our representatives do not always get the law making and implementing process right, however.  We cannot acquiesce for the sake of tranquility when the lawmakers veer off track.  That, after all, was the first lesson that our revolutionary founders taught us!

provide for the common defense

No question here.  James Madison said this was the primary role of government.  The devil is in the details, more so now than ever.  Is the shared enemy the economic crisis or the virus?  Can we defeat both enemies at the same time? Where and how should the authority be constitutionally placed?  How can the common defense be promoted without threatening the other objectives?  One thing the founders agreed to was that the authority for fighting a war must be placed in the national government.  Alexander Hamilton wrote, “[The] transfer of the care of the common defense from the federal head to the individual members [would be] a project oppressive to the States [and] dangerous to all.”[1]  During national emergencies, it is particularly important to have clear-headed and articulate leadership.  In more words from Hamilton, “a feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government. A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government.”[2]  The personal qualities of the president are of the utmost importance.  As Dwight Eisenhower, a man who knew a thing or two about leadership said, the qualities of a great man are “vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the power of articulation, and profundity of character.”

promote the general Welfare

The penultimate goal dovetails nicely with the Declaration’s requirement that government must promote our “safety and happiness.”  We see this term again in the taxing clause of Article I.  The answer to the question—how general is general? —ignited one of the earliest ideological debates in our country that is at the root of our two-party system.  James Madison did not believe that the phrase expanded the powers of government, Alexander Hamilton believed that it did.  As it has played out, the Hamiltonian view has generally prevailed. The great crisis moments in history have generally resulted in a tectonic shift in what will be included, along with an increase in the role of government to carry out the new vision. As with all the other goals—justice, domestic tranquility, common defense—when promoting the general welfare we need to be careful not to let it interfere with what most clearly defines us: liberty.

and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity

If the preamble were to be put to music, the crescendo symbol would be here.  Also notice the important shift in the type of verb.  For the other goals, government plays a role in bringing them about: it establishes, provides, and promotes.  Not so with the blessings of liberty.  The only thing that can happen to liberty is that it can be lost.  The saying goes that “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”[3]  This is why it’s a good idea to think about those goals listed in the preamble.  They exist in a delicate balance, with liberty the most precious of all.  Liberty is always the potential victim of the misuse of power.

[1] Alexander Hamilton, “No. 29,” in The Federalist Papers: The Gideon Edition, ed. James McClellan and George W. Carey, gideon ed. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2001),

[2]  Alexander Hamilton, “No. 70,” in The Federalist Papers: The Gideon Edition, ed. James McClellan and George W. Carey, gideon ed. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2001).

[3] This quote is often wrongly attributed to Thomas Jefferson.  Although it seems like something he would have said, there is no evidence that he ever did.  See Anna Berkes, “Eternal Vigilance,” Spurious Quotations, last modified August 22, 2010, accessed May 9, 2020, https://www.monticello.org/site/blog-and-community/posts/eternal-vigilance.