James Wilson Archives | Washington Monthly

The official portrait of founding father and Supreme Court Justice James Wilson. Review of The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People’s Constitution. By Jesse Wegman. Celedon Books. 384 pp.

Get Smart: Our Summer Reading Roundup

by Anne Kim August 2, 2026August 10, 2026

Here are some of our editors’ and reviewers’ top picks so far this year for policy and political nonfiction.

The official portrait of founding father and Supreme Court Justice James Wilson. Review of The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People’s Constitution. By Jesse Wegman. Celedon Books. 384 pp.

Books

The Most Important Founder You’ve Never Heard Of

by George Thomas June 23, 2026June 23, 2026

What if? A look at how the structure of the U.S.. Senate was hotly debated in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention in ways that changed America, Here, is the painting "Scene at the Signing of the Constitution" by Howard Chandler Christy from 1940.

Law and Justice

The Great Might-Have-Been of the Constitutional Convention

by Jack Rakove September 17, 2025September 17, 2025