The Essential America: Our Founders and the Liberal Tradition

McGovern, George

ISBN 10: 0743269276 / ISBN 13: 9780743269278

Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2004

About this Item

ix, 176 pages, [1] p. Index. Dust jacket slightly worn: sticker residue, soiling, and slight edge wear. Liberalism is the oldest and most enduring American tradition, a philosophy and way of life we inherited from the Founding Fathers. This is the central idea of "The Essential America" by George McGovern, America's best-known (and most consistent) liberal. Seller Inventory # 57726

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Essential America: Our Founders and the ...

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, New York

Publication Date: 2004

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very good condition

Dust Jacket Condition: Very good

Edition: First edition. First printing [stated].

About this title

Synopsis:

Liberalism is the oldest and most enduring American tradition, a philosophy and way of life we inherited from the Founding Fathers. This is the central idea of The Essential America by George McGovern, America's best-known (and most consistent) liberal.

Referring us to our moral and spiritual foundations, McGovern not only presents a resounding defense of liberalism as "the most practical and hopeful compass to guide the American ship of state" but offers specific proposals for keeping the tradition vibrant.

The Essential America proposes programs for feeding the world's malnourished children. Rather than sending our armies abroad, McGovern spells out policies that confront the causes of terrorism. He proposes cutting our military budget (echoing Dwight D. Eisenhower's powerful warning about the military-industrial complex). He condemns preemptive war, criticizes tax cuts for the rich, and warns against government for the powerful minority.

Americans have traditionally stood for progress, generosity, tolerance, and protection of the needy, McGovern states -- as well as for multi- lateralism in foreign policy and "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind." He reminds us that while creative tension between liberalism and conservatism is the genius of American politics, it is the liberals who have been responsible for every forward step in our national history. They built "the Essential America."

About the Author:

George McGovern, the Democratic Party's nominee for president in 1972, served in the House of Representatives from 1957 to 1961 and in the Senate for eighteen years. He was the president of the Middle East Policy Council in Washington, D.C., for six years and then served as ambassador to the UN Agencies on Food and Agriculture in Rome under President Clinton. He holds the Distinguished Flying Cross for service as a bomber pilot in World War II and the Presidential Medal of Freedom for humanitarian service.