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The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau

A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.

Eli Merritt

The Declaration of Independence holds the key to securing liberty, happiness, and ethical leadership for the next 250 years of America's story.

One of America's Foremost Experts on the Declaration of Independence | Award-Winning Author, Disunion Among Ourselves

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Disunion Among Ourselves (1:09:27)

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The Perilous Politics of the American Revolution (1:19:45)

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We live in an age of division. As Americans search for common ground to hold the nation together, historian Eli Merritt offers a solution: the very document that made us a nation in the first place. Eli is one of America’s foremost experts on the Declaration of Independence, as well as a Vanderbilt professor and award-winning author. He reveals how the Declaration’s four cornerstone principles—equality, inalienable rights, the rule of law, and civic virtue—offer a path forward through today’s polarization and towards a stronger democracy. Americans are increasingly divided over competing narratives about the nation’s past and future—but Eli argues that these principles can hold us together, help us reclaim healthy patriotism, and empower us in the ongoing fight for human liberty and happiness.

“Eli Merritt has performed an invaluable service: to hold the powerful to their word, while holding the rest of us—the people—responsible for protecting the best system of government yet devised.”—Jesse Wegman, Author of Let the People Pick the President

Eli Merritt is a political historian and psychiatrist at Vanderbilt University, an award-winning author, and a frequent public speaker on the American Revolution and the 250th anniversary of the United States. In essays and talks, he presses a simple thesis: ethical leadership is the glue that holds a constitutional republic together.

Other areas of academic expertise include the U.S. Constitution, civic virtue, patriotism, and happiness.

At Vanderbilt, Eli teaches a course called “The American Pursuit of Happiness,” which traces the political philosophy of happiness from the early Enlightenment to the modern era, probing multiple meanings of this pursuit as well as posing a vital civic-personal question: What should the pursuit of happiness mean for us today as we approach the nation’s 250th anniversary?

His book Disunion Among Ourselves—winner of the 2024 American Revolution Institute Prize—reveals how the founders held a fragile nation together through decorum and principled compromise amid extreme division, a lesson that resonates powerfully today. Through “American Commonwealth,” his Substack newsletter, he amplifies on these themes, translating founding-era history into guidance for American citizenship today.

Eli has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Chicago Tribune, among other publications, and he has been featured on more than 40 podcasts as well as on programs like Washington Journal on C-Span and The Briefing with Steve Scully.

He received two degrees from Yale University—B.A. in history (magna cum laude) and M.A. in ethics—and his M.D. from Case Western Reserve, where he received the Humanism in Medicine Award. He trained in psychiatry at Stanford, receiving the Humanistic Medicine Award. Additionally, at Vanderbilt, he has served as a visiting scholar in three departments: 1) History 2) Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and 3) the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society.

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Angela Duckworth

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Alison Wood Brooks

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Derek Thompson

#1 New York Times Bestselling Co-Author of Abundance | Host of thePlain English Podcast | Founder of the Substack Derek Thompson

Clint Smith

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of How the Word Is Passed and Above Ground | The Atlantic Staff Writer

Speech Topics

America250

The Enduring Principles of the Declaration of IndependenceReclaiming America's Founding Vision

We’re 250 years into the story of this country, but our founding document still holds the key to moving forward together. In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the nation, historian Eli Merritt examines the most important political treatise written in world history—the Declaration of Independence—and demonstrates why it continues to be important today and into the future.

Eli is a political historian and psychiatrist at Vanderbilt University and the award-winning author of Disunion Among Ourselves. In this talk, he shows audiences how the Declaration of Independence codified four enduring principles that continue to stand as cornerstones to democracy: equality, inalienable rights, the rule of law, and civic virtue. And he argues that fully understanding these principles will strengthen civic engagement, rebuild our democracy, and bring us all together again.

This heartfelt, accessible talk is essential for anyone interested in the next 250 years of our democracy. Audiences walk away inspired by those who have come before and empowered to build common purpose in a fractured age.

Happiness and Wellness

The Pursuit of HappinessHappiness as a Social, Political, and Personal Force

“The pursuit of happiness” is enshrined in our founding document—but what does it really mean today?

Eli Merritt is a political historian and psychiatrist at Vanderbilt University who teaches “The Pursuit of Happiness,” a course exploring happiness through the dual lenses of political philosophy and psychology. Winner of the 2024 American Revolution Institute Prize for his book Disunion Among Ourselves, Eli uniquely combines historical scholarship with clinical expertise to reveal how the Enlightenment vision of happiness—as found in the Declaration of Independence—differs radically from today’s self-help culture.

In this fascinating talk, Eli blends history and psychology to discuss the “happiness paradox” (how chasing bliss can backfire into mental health struggles) and the nation’s original “happiness hypocrisy” (how the founders’ prejudices led our country to sabotage the pursuit of happiness for marginalized groups). Audiences learn to distinguish fleeting euphoria from enduring states like joy and peace of mind, and compare the pursuit of happiness with the pursuit of emotional well-being, spiritual groundedness, self-actualization, and the “good life,” asking which one holds the greatest promise for personal fulfillment and life satisfaction.

At the same time, Eli guides audiences in tracing the political philosophy of happiness since the early Enlightenment. He illuminates insights that help audiences contemplate not only the ideal of happiness in their own lives but also what it will take for Americans to foster civic happiness in an age of democratic despair. The talk culminates in the exploration of a final civic-personal question: What should the pursuit of happiness mean for us today as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in July of 2026?