America's Identity Crisis

This newly revised edition of The Fate of America examines the national character of the United States against the backdrop of its history, popular culture, and media. Michael Gellert suggests that the deterioration of America's “heroic ideal,” the heart of its national character, is responsible for the country's deepening social ills and the erosion of its vital institutions. He calls for a spiritual and intellectual renaissance and a renewed sense of national purpose in order to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. With an updated Preface and a new Appendix on the Trump phenomenon's paradoxical effect, Gellert profiles the development of the American heroic ideal and how this concept expresses the nation's aspiration toward greatness and its sense of identity.