A Reading of “Tom Paine, Liberty’s Hated Torchbearer” by George Ford Smith
July 16, 2026
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Why did one of America’s greatest champions of liberty become one of its most hated figures?
To accompany our recent reading of Common Sense and my conversation with George Ford Smith, I’m pleased to share this reading of his outstanding essay, “Tom Paine, Liberty’s Hated Torchbearer.”
Remembered as one of the architects of American independence, Paine’s story didn’t end with Common Sense. George traces Paine’s journey from the man whose words ignited a revolution to the political and cultural outcast who was smeared, abandoned, and largely erased from the nation’s memory.
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Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., former editorial assistant to Ludwig von Mises and congressional chief of staff to Ron Paul, is founder and chairman of the Mises Institute, executor for the estate of Murray N. Rothbard, and editor of LewRockwell.com. He is the author of Against the State and Against the Left. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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