I first met Gordon Wood in the late 1980s, when I was a graduate student attending a roundtable organized by the Institute for Humane Studies, an organization dedicated to exploring ideas of freedom and open society, now based at George Mason University. For a young student, it was an important event, bringing together several prominent scholars of American history. Two stand out in particular for their obvious interest in the work of young historians: Gordon Wood and Jack Greene.
Our discussions differed on the nature of historical context, the place of autobiographical evidence in interpreting the past, and the art of combining narrative and analysis. I have never forgotten that exchange. The enthusiasm for this subject and my generosity, at the time I was just starting, drew me to questions that have been on my mind ever since. As I later learned, Wood and Greene had been friends for a long time, and their example showed what friendship could mean between scholars dedicated to understanding history—especially when differences of opinion were not only acknowledged but embraced in the pursuit of truth.
Years later, when I joined the academic foundation where I would spend most of my working life, I had the great pleasure of continuing to work with both scholars. Each had long been involved with the Liberty Fund in various capacities—as conference participants, directors, and later as book editors.
Wood’s focus on the early Foundations drew him naturally to the Liberty Fund’s centennial programs on the creation and ratification of the Constitution, organized by two of the leading political theorists of the time, Eugene Miller and William Allen. In those seminars, Wood became a prominent voice in challenging the long-standing liberal Lockean definition of American scholarship and in furthering the republican views of his Harvard mentor, Bernard Bailyn.
That translation framework, was first developed in Creation of the American Republic1776–1787 (1969), placed the classical republican consensus at the center of the debates over the making of the Constitution. From that point forward, Wood’s teaching and his work with the Liberty Fund continued in tandem, returning again and again to major themes in American political culture.
Wood later explored the challenge of freedom and democracy to republicanism The Radicalism of the American Revolution (1992) and its eventual rise in the early republic in The State of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (2009). One of the enduring controversies he left for future generations to ponder was the emergence of a liberal democratic culture within the constitutional order of the old Republic. Although these three books are often recognized as Wood’s contributions to the field, they were far from his only contributions. He also produced many monographs and respected studies, including The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States (2011), Different Friends: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (2017), and Power and Liberty: The Constitution in the American Revolution (2021).
In recognition of those achievements, Wood has received numerous honors, including the Bancroft Prize in 1970, the Pulitzer Prize in 1993, and the National Humanities Medal in 2010. The Liberty Fund similarly honored his lifelong contributions to the understanding of American ideas and institutions by naming him the first recipient of George F.2’s Will4 Award.
That work was ongoing as the nation neared the centennial of the Declaration of Independence.
Wood was already heavily involved in the initial planning of the 250-mark foundation plansth monument to American freedom and was scheduled to appear several times online and in person, including programs with his longtime friend, fellow historian, and spokesperson, Jack Greene. These efforts were intended to draw on Wood’s vast knowledge and insight and deepen the intellectual engagement of younger generations of scholars as they enter the ranks of teachers and faculty.
Those programs will continue as he wanted, but in that effort there will be a big deficit that will not be filled. We will miss his unfailing charm, his generosity of spirit, and that infectious curiosity that made all investigations in the past not just a scientific enterprise, but a long journey.
Our hearts and thoughts go out to his family, friends and students.
Hans Eicholz is a Senior Fellow at the Liberty Fund.
