In this thesis, I explore liberty as a requirement for living well. As Aristotle argued, happiness is the end at which all things aim, and the way to pursue happiness is to strive for virtue, which can only be achieved voluntarily, not through coercion. This brings us to the topic of tyranny and its unfortunate rise in America today. I will show how this complicates the pursuit of happiness and therefore the ability to live well. I will then present an alternative: a return to America’s founding principles—and will show why they work and how they are better. In order to live well, men must pursue happiness, and to do this, strive to be virtuous, and to do this, be in a state of liberty. In other words: in order to live well, man must be free.