Dr. Michael Auslin joins Mitch Daniels to discuss his new book National Treasure and the remarkable story behind the Declaration of Independence as it turns 250. They explore the document’s improbable physical survival, myths about July 4th, Jefferson’s lost “fair copy,” and the passages Congress removed. The conversation moves to the Declaration’s enduring power as a statement of natural rights, its role in debates over slavery, equality, and liberty from the Civil War through the civil rights movement, and how movements around the world have claimed its language for vastly different purposes. Auslin and Daniels reflect on the founders’ spirit of compromise, civic friendship, and what the Declaration still has to teach Americans in 2026.