Return to Greatness

Return to Greatness
Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Total Pages : 249
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781400826506
ISBN-13 : 1400826500
Rating : 4/5 (500 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Return to Greatness by : Alan Wolfe

Download or read book Return to Greatness written by Alan Wolfe and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-02-09 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Has America, in its quest for goodness, sacrificed its sense of greatness? In this sharp-witted, historically informed book, veteran political observer Alan Wolfe argues that most Americans show greater concern with saving the country's soul than with making the nation great. Wolfe castigates both conservatives and liberals for opting for small-mindedness over greatness. Liberals, who at their best insisted on policies of national solidarity, have convinced themselves that small is beautiful, prefer multiculturalism to one nation, and are mistrustful of executive political power. Conservatives, who once embraced strong, active central government and an ideal of national citizenship, now support huge tax cuts that undermine America's future ability to undertake any ambitious, long-term project at home or abroad. No great society, in Wolfe's view, has ever been built on the cheap. Wolfe notes that neither the conservatives' call for small-scale faith-based initiatives nor the recent embrace on the left of a grassroots "civil society" can provide health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans or ensure national security in an age of terrorism. To find better solutions, Wolfe looks back at specific moments in our national experience, when, in the face of sharp resistance, aspirations for the idea of national greatness shaped American history. He demonstrates how a bold and ambitious political agenda, championed at various times by Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, Abraham Lincoln, and the two Roosevelts, steered the country toward periods of national strength and unity. Steeped in a colorful, panoramic reading of history, Return to Greatness offers a fresh take on American national identity and purpose. A call to action for a renewed embrace of the ideal of an activist federal government and bold policy agendas, it is sure to become a centerpiece of national debate.


Return to Greatness Related Books

Return to Greatness
Language: en
Pages: 249
Authors: Alan Wolfe
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009-02-09 - Publisher: Princeton University Press

GET EBOOK

Has America, in its quest for goodness, sacrificed its sense of greatness? In this sharp-witted, historically informed book, veteran political observer Alan Wol
America Again
Language: en
Pages: 244
Authors: Stephen Colbert
Categories: Humor
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-10-02 - Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

GET EBOOK

Book store nation, in the history of mankind there has never been a greater country than America. You could say we're the #1 nation at being the best at greatne
American Made
Language: en
Pages: 254
Authors: Dan DiMicco
Categories: Business & Economics
Type: BOOK - Published: 2015-03-03 - Publisher: Macmillan

GET EBOOK

The chairman of America's most successful steel company dismantles myths about the decline of American industry
Return to Greatness
Language: en
Pages: 224
Authors: Clifton Lambreth
Categories: American Dream
Type: BOOK - Published: 2010-01-26 - Publisher:

GET EBOOK

A fictionalized account of the Ford Motor Company's turn-around and the future of American prosperity.
Rise to Greatness
Language: en
Pages: 480
Authors: David Von Drehle
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-10-30 - Publisher: Macmillan

GET EBOOK

"Von Drehle has chosen a critical year ('the most eventful year in American history' and the year Lincoln rose to greatness), done his homework, and written a s