A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters - Hardcover

Gingrich, Newt

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1596982713 ISBN 13: 9781596982710

Publisher: Regnery, 2011

Synopsis

It’s become fashionable among the liberal elite to downplay, deride, even deny America’s greatness. The political correctness police insist that America is hated” around the world for being too big, too powerful, too rich, too successful, too loud, too intrusive. And besides, it’s not nice to brag.

They are completely missing the point.

America’s greatness, America’s exceptional greatness, is not based on that fact that we are the most powerful, most prosperous—and most generous—nation on earth. Rather, those things are the result of American Exceptionalism.

To understand American Exceptionalism, as Newt Gingrich passionately argues in A Nation Like No Other, one must understand our unique birth as a nation. American Exceptionalism is found in the simple yet utterly remarkable principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal, that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.”

Our nation is exceptional, continues Newt, because we—unlike any nation before or since—are united by the belief and the promise that no king, no government, no ruling class has the power to infringe upon the rights of the individual. And when such a government attempts to do so, we will vigorously reject them.

Sadly, many politicians and leaders today have forgotten our sacred commitment to these ideals. Our government has strayed alarmingly far from the scope of limited powers framed by our Founders. Meanwhile, the liberal media seek out, and sometimes create, stories intended to portray America as a bully and a thief. Even our own president seems clueless, assuring us that yes, yes, he believes in American exceptionalism, just like the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism and the British in British exceptionalism.

But American Exceptionalism is not about cheerleading for the home team. It’s about recognizing and honoring the history-making, world-changing ideals our Founding Fathers enshrined to make this a nation of the people, by the people, for the people. And, as Lincoln warned, we must rededicate ourselves to those principles, lest our truly exceptional nation perish from this earth.

About this title

About the Author:

Speaker Newt Gingrich is well-known as the architect of the Contract with America” that led the Republican Party to victory in 1994. Newt and his wife Callista host and produce historical and public policy documentaries. Recent films include A City Upon a Hill: The Spirit of American Exceptionalism, Nine Days that Changed the World, and Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny. As an author, Speaker Gingrich has published twenty-four books, including thirteen fiction and non-fiction New York Times bestsellers. He resides with Callista in McLean, Virginia, and has two daughters and two grandchildren.

Review:

"Belief in American Exceptionalism leads inexorably to a smaller, more effective, accountable, and limited government. The American revolutionaries did not shed their blood for the welfare state; nor did they aim to replace the arbitrary rule of King George and his 'multitude of New Offices' and 'swarms of Officers, ' as stated in the Declaration of Independence, with their own oppressive bureaucracy. Instead, they fought for individual liberty--and that made America an exception among all other nations."

--From the introduction

About this edition

• Publisher: Regnery
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1596982713
• ISBN 13: 9781596982710
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 264