For Sale: Most Important Document in the History of Democracy

Who knew you could buy the Magna Carta? But apparently it was up for sale back in December last year. The only privately held copy was being sold by the Perot Foundation to raise money for medical research and other charitable reasons. Who would buy such a document? The co-founder of the Carlyle Group ... for $21.3 million! He was worried it would be purchased by someone outside the U.S. He's a quote:

Mr. Rubenstein: I had read about it going on sale in a newspaper, and I thought it was surprising that the U.S. government wasn't buying it and that the National Archives didn't have the money to do it. I thought that maybe someone from outside the United States would buy it and thought, "Jeez, wouldn't it be a terrible thing if one of the most important documents in Western civilization were not available for Americans to see anymore?"

Very admirable. Unfortunately, it wasn't on display when I visited the National Archives in late December.

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