Northwood Senior Vice President Emeritus Timothy G. Nash co-authors an expanded edition of Books and the Founding Fathers with George H. Nash; volume features a foreword by President Kent MacDonald and an endorsement from former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.
A new edition of Books and the Founding Fathers unites the scholarship of prominent American historian Dr. George H. Nash with the free-enterprise insight of noted economist and Northwood Senior Vice President Emeritus Dr. Timothy G. Nash. The book explores the books, habits and principles that shaped America’s founding generation, as well as the Founders’ influence on modern-day America.
The book features a foreword by Northwood University President Kent MacDonald and new material connecting the Founders’ intellectual legacy to free enterprise, entrepreneurship, civic virtue and the responsibilities of liberty as America prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The release of the book comes during a summer of American celebration, including the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, and the 239th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17. It precedes Dr. George H. Nash’s visit to Midland, Michigan, on Sept. 15, as part of the Northwood University Freedom Seminar at 6 p.m. in Griswold Lecture Hall.
Dr. George H. Nash is widely recognized for his scholarship on American intellectual history, including “The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945” and his multi-volume biography of President Herbert Hoover. First published in 2007, the original volume of “Books and the Founding Fathers” examined the books, habits and intellectual influences that helped shape America’s founding generation. The expanded Northwood edition, Books and the Founding Fathers and Their Influence on America Today, builds on that foundation by connecting the Founders’ commitment to learning with the economic principles that helped create America’s unprecedented prosperity.
Dedicated to “the students of Northwood University and students of liberty everywhere,” the book reflects Northwood’s ongoing commitment to preparing principled, entrepreneurial leaders for a free society.
“This expanded Northwood University edition invites readers to embrace the seriousness the Founders brought to learning, to see books as instruments of freedom, libraries as engines of opportunity, and education as preparation for responsible action,” MacDonald writes in the foreword. “It also invites Northwood students and all who value liberty to remember that freedom carries lasting obligations.”
The volume also includes new stories highlighting three American entrepreneurs — Karen Buchwald Wright, Willie Davis and Rich DeVos — whose lives reflect The Northwood Idea in action. Their stories connect the Founders’ principles to the habits, character, prudent risk-taking and service that continue to strengthen free enterprise today.
The book has received endorsements from national leaders in government, business and education, as well as leaders of free-enterprise organizations.
Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence praised the work, stating, “This book will inspire Americans to rediscover the cultivation of virtue.”
Gleaves Whitney, executive director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, said the book helps readers better understand the intellectual foundation of the American republic.
“To understand the Founders’ words, we must first understand their minds,” Whitney stated. “This book opens an extraordinary window into the intellectual moorings of the American republic.”
Bill Cole, a 1978 Northwood alumnus and chair of Cole Automotive Group, said the publication “provides the next generation of leadership with the foundation to preserve and strengthen this country.”
Jim Holcomb, president and CEO of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said the work “powerfully illustrates the Founding Fathers’ deliberate commitment to freedom, free enterprise, and a just society.”
Jonathan Williams, president of the American Legislative Exchange Council, said the book is especially timely as America prepares to celebrate 250 years of independence.
“As we celebrate 250 years of our grand American experiment, publications like this one are essential to keep our flame of liberty burning brightly,” Williams stated.
Joe Serra, chairman of Serra Automotive Group, termed the volume “A brilliant bridge between the Founding Fathers’ love of learning and America’s entrepreneurial spirit today.”
“The best of George and Tim shine brightly in this book,” added O. Temple Sloan Jr., founder of General Parts International (GPI) and Carquest.
Amity Shlaes, New York Times best-selling author and chair of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, has also acclaimed the new volume. The Foundation purchased a number of copies and invited Dr. George Nash to speak at the 2026 Coolidge Senators Summit earlier this month in Vermont.
Additional endorsements were provided by Robert Chatfield, president and CEO of the Free to Choose Network, and Roger Ream, president of The Fund for American Studies.
In the book’s foreword, MacDonald emphasizes how Northwood’s mission remains closely aligned with the lessons of the Founders. He notes that while today’s students have access to more information than previous generations could have imagined, the essential responsibility remains the same: turning information into wisdom, knowledge into judgment, and education into action.
“At Northwood, we do not teach students simply to gather information,” MacDonald writes. “We help them test it, use it wisely, and act with integrity in business, civic life and service.”
“Books and the Founding Fathers and Their Influence on America Today” is available for purchase here. For more information, including how to place a bulk order, email or call 989-837-4630.
