As America celebrates its 250th birthday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is looking back to the nation’s founding—and reviving the book that first laid out the constitutional philosophy that would define his political career.
Only 1,776 signed and individually numbered copies of Dreams From Our Founding Fathers will be printed, each autographed by DeSantis and featuring a brand-new introduction reflecting on the country’s quarter-millennium milestone.
Originally published more than a decade ago, before DeSantis had ever held elected office, the book argued that then-President Barack Obama’s effort to “fundamentally transform the United States” represented a break from the principles established by the Founding Fathers.
Looking back, DeSantis says the warnings proved prophetic.
“If anything, the analysis undersold the sharp leftist turn that marked so much of the recent past—not just by the Democrat Party but also major institutions from universities to corporate America,” the new edition states.
Since writing the book, DeSantis has served in Congress and become one of the nation’s most prominent Republican governors, using Florida as a testing ground for conservative policies on education, government spending, public health, immigration, and the role of the administrative state.
The new introduction argues that America’s founding ideals have faced repeated challenges over the past 15 years, citing “judicial adventurism, profligate congressional borrowing and spending, administrative state weaponization, and public health authoritarianism.”
As a congressman, DeSantis championed efforts to limit federal bureaucracy, restrain spending, and impose congressional term limits. As governor, he says Florida launched a “counterrevolution” against progressive policies, transforming the Sunshine State from a competitive swing state into one of the country’s most reliably conservative states.
The limited-edition release comes as the nation marks its semiquincentennial, with DeSantis arguing that the different paths taken by America’s states demonstrate that the Founders’ vision remains alive.
For collectors and history-minded conservatives, the release is designed as both a commemorative keepsake and a reminder of the constitutional principles that DeSantis believes should guide the country’s next 250 years.
