The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream by David M. Rubenstein

The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream Reviews

• 
  Donald Powell

  An excellent compendium of important people on important topics about America and its history. It was good to read the actual words of the interviewed people, adding depth and meaning to the topics. The problem with books like this is the topic can be covered in only the most superficial way. It leaves one wanting more, so more books to read I guess.
• 
  Mike

  * Supposedly asked if we had a monarchy or republic while leaving Independence Hall, Ben Franklin replied, "A republic if you can keep it."
  * America's 13 key genes: Democracy, Voting, Equality, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Rule of Law, Separation of Powers, Civilian Control of Military and Peaceful Transfer of Power, Capitalism and Entrepreneurship, Immigration, Culture, American Dream
  
  Promise and Principal (Jill Lepore)
  * Technology we have to communicate matters as to what government forms. Columbus says indigenous people had no language because he didn't understand it.
  * Vast natural wealth of N. America and slavery makes capitalism possible
  * Portugal heavily involved in slavery and helped seed it in America
  * Amerigo Vespucci made case of the New World so German map maker honors him with name America.
  * There were 26 colonies including the Caribbean. Caribbean needed Britain's power due to being severely outnumbered by slaves. Caribbean was more profitable for Britain. Britain gave up on the less profitable northern colonies.
  * Only a govt can grant rights. Needs citizens participation.
  * "We hold these truths... all men are created equally..." is attractive because black abolitionists in 1820s framed it universally. Jefferson was simply thinking of white men when he wrote it although it is never explicitly stated leaving door open to reframe.
  * Confederacy is allowed to win the peace during Andrew Johnson's presidency and for Lepore is the worst thing that happened in American history.
  * Democratize bankruptcy because risk is good.
  * Worst military decisions have been made by those who haven't served. End of the draft worsened American policy.
  * Technology of communication shape our political orders. 7 realignments of political order coincide with technology advancement.
  * Obama's legacy is his election. Trump's crisis of epistemological knowledge.
  * We can know things by reading poetry. But, all knowledge is sought in data these days and it's always looking to the future and not to the past.
  
  Declaration of Independence (Danielle Allen)
  * Preamble to Declaration of Independence has become better known than the Decarlation itself
  * Right to govern is derived from the population
  * James Wilson from PA signed Declaration and Constitution said C rested on D
  * James Otis "No taxation without representation"
  * Olive Branch petition gets no response. British attacking coast. Colonists take that as what King George's intentions are.
  * VA wants revolution because British Gov there said any slave who escaped and fought for British would be free. VA says that interferes with their property.
  * Life Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness... thinking at the time was Property not Pursuit. John Adams thought govt should have same goal as man... happiness. Also, was strike against slavery changing those words.
  * Religious compromise good one and slavery a bad one July 3rd-4th
  * Adams says only men can govern but all can pursue happiness. Abigail Adams essentially says one must be able to govern to be able to pursue happiness.
  
  Religious Freedom (Katherine Breckis)
  * First bible printed in US was to convert Algonguins
  * People who fled to colonies to practice religious freely but could be quite opposed to others doing so
  * Pilgrims said there was no reforming Church of England. Puritans wanted to reform it.
  * Puritans felt threatened by Quakers and 4 were hung on Boston Common
  * Jefferson was a Deist... God created the world but is no longer involved
  * Catholics first place was Maryland, Jews was NY
  * Slaves were indigenous African religions, Muslim, and Catholic from modern Angola (Congo then) because king there had converted earlier
  * Reconstruction Klan fought right of newly freed slaves to vote. Birth of Nation makes Reconstruction Klan heroes. 2nd Klan forms from this renewed pride. 2nd Klan focuses on black, Catholic, and Jews.
  * Hebrew bible slavery was not race based. Curse of Ham was way of trying to shoe horn it (never mentions skin color).
  
  First Amendment (Donald Graham)
  * Should press feel protecting the national security as part of its job?
  
  Presidential Election of 2020 (Michael Bechloss)
  * 1876 Election was contested as well. Compromise to end Reconstruction is what resolved the issue but led to Jim Crow. But, in 2020 there was no serious reason to contest results.
  * Nixon felt he won 1960 due to close totals in Illinois and TX. Said so privately for rest of his life but gave elegant speech as VP confirming Kennedy won when counting Electoral College votes in Senate. This feeling led to actions leading to Watergate. Wanted book written "It didn't start with Watergate" saying presidents had abused power for long time but he was singled out.
  * Gore "For the sake of our democracy, I offer my concession" in Dec. 2000 meaning he wouldn't contest Supreme Court decision.
  * Trump had no reason to hold onto presidency other than immunity for himself.
  * Insurrection in Capitol was a domestic terrorist attack.
  * Not surprised Trump was impeached. Was surprised how many Republicans supported Trump rather than impeach.
  * Need to make laws now to address issues discovered in election 2020 to insulate us against future demogague presidents
  
  Suffering and Sorrow
  Native American History (Philip J. Delorea)
  * Columbus' second voyage was principally to capture natives and sell them into slavery in Spain.
  * To become a state you needed 60K "free" people which encouraged removal of Indians.
  * Look at the West during the Civil War. There were massacres. Then, in the 1880s, the rest were taken care of.
  * Jefferson wants Indians to think in present while US thought in the future where treaties would be broken. Wounded Knee is Custer's 7th Cavalry exacting revenge. Indians on reservations are left dependent on US.
  
  Death and the Civil War (Drew Gilpin Faust)
  * @750K dead in Civil War or 7 million these days
  * Families went to battlefields to find their dead. Oliver Wendell Holmes left on a train from Boston after Antietam hearing his son and future Supreme Court Justice was wounded.
  * Arlington chosen as a place to put Union soldiers to rest on Robert Lee's grounds. Essentially a fuck you. Also, Southern soldiers could not be buried in such National graveyard. Southern private groups did similar work identifying and burying Southern soldiers.
  
  Vietnam War (Ken Burns)
  * Nixon and Johnson administrations knew war could not be won militarily
  * Saw it as a domestic political undertaking rather than a military one. Re-election figured heavily in military decisions.
  * Wants films to reveal us to ourselves.
  * A thing and the opposite of a thing can be true at the same time
  
  Military Service (Jack Jacobs)
  * Hillel saying "If not you, who? If not now, when?"
  * Saving yourself and others is not mutually exclusive. Saving others saves yourself.
  
  Restoration and Repair (Henry Louis Gates Jr.)
  * Lincoln's assassination led to the end of Reconstruction. Johnson put in place economic structure of slavery minus the slavery.
  * Conservative Supreme Court limited the equal protection clause of 14th Amendment and many of them were appointed by Lincoln
  * White Supremacy originated in 1824 but became big during the rollback to Reconstruction which is called Redemption
  * Louisiana there were 130K black men to vote 1898, 1904 it dropped to 1,342
  * 80% of eligible black male votes registered to vote and 500K voted for grant in 1868 which essentially elected Ulysses Grant which scared whites of the black voting power.
  * Andrew Johnson took away 40 acres and a mule
  * Formerly enslaved black men in South got to vote 3 years before the free black men in the North. Oliver Otis Howard who founded Howard University went south to tell them face to face they had to give that land back.
  * Jim Crow was a white man minstral in the 1830s
  * 1860 more free black people were living in the slave states compared to the north
  * New Negroes were northern blacks who wanted to separate from the agricultural former freed slaves
  * Plessy V. Fergusson in 1896 said all black people were unequal before the law showing there really couldn't be separate classes within African Americans
  * People surprised Civil Rights came out of the South... Adam Clayton Powell from the North was leading it until MLK came along. James Baldwin comes back to join the movement in 1957 to fight for Civil Rights.
  
  Frederick Douglass (David W. Blight)
  * Father was white but didn't know. Two owners were the best bet though.
  * Literacy is power and path to dignity... therefore illegal to teach slaves.
  * Wife of husband whom Douglass was loaned to taught him to read. Husband said you can't teach him to read because then he'll write and then he'll want to escape. Douglass called it the first abolitionist speech he heard.
  * Recounted well how slavery breaks the mind more than the body
  * Columbian Orator is a book Douglass loves and taught him oratory
  * Escapes Baltimore for NY, wife Anna does the same shortly after. Heads to New Bedford and is discovered there by associates of William Lloyd Garrison. 1839 registers with $1.50 poll tax to vote in New Bedford.
  * Writes book summing up the life story he was telling on the abolition circuit. Traveled to Ireland and England. Sold over 30K of his autobiography. Still a fugitive slave and there was worry he'd be captured again.
  * Changes name from Bailey to Douglass based off Lady in the Lake poem which only had one "s"
  * British friends purchase his freedom while in England. Returns to US in Rochester and with $2K to start the North Star newspaper.
  * Had two white women help with the newspaper edit and fundraise while living in the house... also Ossing German Jew reporter woman who also helped and maybe even had a relationship with Douglass
  * Douglass attacks Lincoln early in Civil War calling him the most powerful slave catcher in the land
  * Douglass meets Lincoln 1863 to protest black soldier conditions, 1864, and 1865
  * Briefly felt he (abolition) wasn't needed after the Civil War
  * Married Helen Pitt after Anna died. Said first marriage honored his mother and his second honored his father (black and white).
  
  Women's Suffrage (Elaine Weiss)
  * TN last state to ratify 19th Amendment
  * Men didn't want to share power but some women (generally well off and connected like Eleanor Roosevelt although not officially anti-suffrage) didn't want the vote either because it would upend private life aside from public life
  * New Jersey allowed women to vote when it became a state and then lost it
  * Seneca Falls 1848 believed to be the beginning of Women's Suffrage
  * Susan B Anthony and others do civil disobedience and vote in the 1870s arguing already have the right to vote under the 14th Amendment, won't pay the fine but judge also won't send to jail to avoid martyrdom
  * Wisconsin and Illinois first to ratify 19th Amendment, failed in Deleware
  
  John Lewis (John Meacham)
  * Bloody Sunday March 7th, 1965
  * Lewis was the antidote to current trends in the country. Believed working together could make heaven on earth essentially
  * Politicians often start out doing good and end up doing well but not Lewis who stayed in the arena his whole career
  * Preached to chickens, didn't see white people until 14 or so, great grandson of a slave
  * James Lawson saw non-violence in India could work in America. Was at Oberlin. Came to Nashville at MLK's request and began teaching John Lewis.
  * Meacham argues Lewis was a saint... not removed from humanity but a bit more virtuous and more faith than average person.
  * Lewis says he was in more danger when in police custody than when protesting
  * June 11th, 1963, Wallace in school house door, Kennedy speech on civil rights, and Medgar Evers is assassinated
  
  Ingenuity (??)
  * Cotton Gin invented in 1790s, Louisiana Purchase provides land, slave labor is engine
  * Telegraph speed huge change
  * Henry Ford and $5 day very game changing
  * Carnegie started as a child laborer in a boiler room
  * Railroads biggest industrial asset in 1860 dwarfed by value of slaves
  * 16th Amendment income tax during WWI
  * Computers traced back to 1890s with punch cards for census eventually leading to IBM
  
  Innovation (Walter Isaacson)
  * Innovators have curiosity and reside at intersection of arts and science
  * Universities, Govt, and Corporations work together in tech starting after WWII
  * Software originally looked at as women's work. Grace Hopper and other women did software. Gates realizes software more important than hardware.
  * We could lose the balance intellectual property protection and use to partisanship and lose our innovative capabilities
  
  Race to Moon (Douglas Brinkley)
  * Operation Paper Clip brought Nazi rocket scientists to El Paso TX to work for US after WWII. Wernher Van Braun leader of rocket team. Huntsville AL became rocket city.
  * Lots of contracts went south which helped R be ok staying quiet on D work on civil rights
  
  Human Genome (Francis Collins)
  
  Creation and Culture (Winston Marsailes)
  * Degree you're willing to fight is the degree to which you can accept the pain of fighting it (racism etc.)
  * Jazz has improvisation, swing (working with other musicians well), and blues
  
  Movies (Rita Moreno)
  
  Visual Arts (Mark Bradford)
  * "You have to let the painting win... the material win" You go in with an idea but then must be open to what direction it takes.
  
  Activism (Billie Jean King)
  * People in leadership positions (often men) can "change things overnight" but "people don't like to give up power"
  * Athletes hesitant to get involved in society because "they want to sell things"
  * "Never take anything personally" because it hinders you. Forgiveness if necessary.
  
  Baseball (Cal Ripken Jr.)
  
  Becoming and Belonging
  * It was "We the people... not we the white male citizens..." Susan B. Anthony
  
  Gay Struggle (Lillian Faderman)
  * Homosexuality was acceptable in ancient Greece. Judeo Christian teachings in Leviticus etc turned it into a sin and pathology
  * 1952 Homosexuality listed as a disorder as the American Psychiatric Association
  * Regan presidency wouldn't deal with AIDS... pushing effective treatment to the 90s
  * Frank Kameny (knew coming out was important and that APA classification had to removed) and Harvey Milk important roles for gay rights
  
  Immigration (Jia Lynn Yang)
  * roughly open borders until about 100 years ago
  * 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act first law to single out people not desired
  * 1920s WASP won't believe Jewish and Italian immigrants could assimilate = ethnic quotas with most people desired coming from N. Europe and eugenics backs it up
  * 1950s immigration thought of as the past
  * JFK plays up immigration in initial Congress run because MA was heavily immigrant. By the time he's president, the quotas were not defendable morally compared to USSR. LBJ continues immigration fight along the lines of Civil Rights.
  
  Immigrant's Point of View (Madeligne Albright)
  * Born in Prague. Was in London during Blitz as a child. After WWII, returned to Prague. Father didn't want her going to school with communists.
  * Difference in her family's experience of America was "It's awful what happened in your country, how can we help? when will you become a citizens?" Other countries would ask when you're going back.
  
  Civics (Sonia Sotomayor)
  * Sandra Day O'Connor founded iCivics to make games for learning civics as it has fallen by wayside of education
  * STEM subjects after Sputnik bounce civic education
  * O'Connor concerned about dangers of electing judges (promises made would close minds) and also concerned about civics education not being engaging
  * $50 per student spent on STEM and 5 cents on civic. Students who get good civics become better students overall.
  * 91% immigrants pass immigration test. Native born Americans fail it by a majority.
  * "Nothing more amazing in life than living further than your dreams" speaking of being sworn on to the Supreme Court with her mother bearing witness
  * Florida institutionalized civics into education. Cannot graduate unless you too can pass the immigration test.
  * Leaders need passion, commitment, dedication, hard work, do things right
• 
  Marilee

  This is a compilation of interviews that David Rubenstein has had over the years with both historians and people who are a part of the history books themselves. They give a great overview of American history with a bit of commentary of how it applies to life today. I recommend listening to the audiobook, which is mostly just recordings of the interviews themselves. Great book, two thumbs up.
• 
  Brian Fiedler

  I read most of the 27 interviews. My favorite: David McCullough on the Wright Brothers. I will sample the remainder in audio book, which I can freely obtain with scribd.
  
  I have done a little investigation for you all. I was not successful in finding the 27 interviews consolidated at Youtube, Bloomberg or the New York Historical Society websites. The NYHS site looked promising, but as of 11/29/2021 the "on-demand" offering is dysfunctional:
  https://programs.nyhistory.org/register
  
  I recommend browsing the paper book. I found mine in the new book section of by local public library, was pleased enough, and took it home.
• 
  Dave

  In an earlier book, "The American Story," Rubinstein interviews historians on key moments and themes in American history. With this book, Rubinstein broadens the range of interviewees - still a number of historians but also business leaders, sports legends, artists, writers, statesmen (and women), and even a Supreme Court Justice - to examine many aspects of the American Dream. For some, it is a dream attained, for others, we're still working on it. Many of the interviews come from a program that Rubinstein hosts in conjunction with the Library of Congress. Rubinstein introduces each of the individuals and themes with an essay that sets the stage concisely but thoroughly.
  
  There are some wonderful stories here and i highly recommend both of the books. If there is any flaw, it is that occasionally Rubinstein doesn't follow up a statement from one of the interview subjects with another question that struck me as obvious and necessary, especially when the person doesn't quite answer Rubinstein's original question. Ah well. Really a minor thing because there are so many interesting things to get you thinking in this book.
• 
  Mandi

  5/5 Audiobook via Scribd. Fabulous interviews of some of our nations greatest authors, innovators, and minds by David Rubenstein. I could listen to these all day. Excellent!
• 
  Shauna

  This book was very interesting. I appreciate that, since it is written in interview format, the information is in bite sizes so it is much easier to absorb. I really liked the interviews with Ken Burns, Bhu Srinivasan, David McCullough, Madeline Albright, and Sonia Sotomayor. The author, David M. Rubenstein, put a little too much of his own opinion of the varying subjects into the introductions. I found that frustrating.
• 
  William Bahr

  A reader's dream of a book!
  
  This outstanding book is presumably the American Dream (going to the top of their class) as it’s been experienced by 27 notable interviewees. For a good overview of the book, check out the “Look inside.” However, the “Look inside” is not available for Kindle, so check out the hardcover “Look inside.” Regardless, to possibly save you some time, here are the 27 interviewees in alphabetical order by last name, along with their interview topic.
  
  -Madeleine Albright on the American immigrant
  -Danielle Allen on the Declaration of Independence
  -John Barry on pandemics and public health
  -David Blight on Frederick Douglass
  -Mark Bradford on the Visual Arts
  -Catherine Brekus on Religious Freedom
  -Douglas Brinkley on the Race to the Moon
  -Ken Burns on war
  -Francis Collins on the Human Genome Project
  -Philip J. Deloria on Native American History
  -Lilian Faderman on the Gay Rights
  -Henry Louis Gates, Jr on Reconstruction
  -Drew Gilpin Faust on Death and the Civil War
  -Donald E. Graham on the First Amendment
  -Walter Isaacson on innovation
  -Jack Jacobs on Military Service
  -Billie Jean King on sports
  -Jill Lepore on the promise of America
  -Wynton Marsalis on music
  -Jon Meacham on John Lewis and Civil Rights
  -David McCullough on the Wright Brothers
  -John Meacham on civil rights
  -Rita Moreno on film
  -Cal Ripken, Jr. on Baseball
  -Sonia Sotomayor on Civics and Civics Education
  -Bhu Srinivasan on 400 Years of American Capitalism
  -Elaine Weiss on suffrage
  -Jia Lynn Yang on Immigration
  
  The book starts off with Rubenstein’s introduction. Of note is his discussion of America’s 13 Key “Genes”(qualities that make America work): 1. Democracy 2. Voting 3. Equality 4. Freedom of Speech 5. Freedom of Religion 6. Rule of Law 7. Separation of Powers 8. Civilian control of the military 9. Capitalism & entrepreneurship 10. Immigration 11. Diversity 12. Culture 13. American Dream (essentially to better one’s life often without a limit).
  The book follows with its alliterative six sections of interviews: 1. Promise & Principle 2. Suffering & Sorrow 3. Restoration & Repair 4. Invention & Ingenuity 5. Creation & Culture 6. Becoming & Belonging.
  
  As in Rubenstein’s previous books, this book’s 27 interviews are punctuated by his probing questions bringing out fascinating responses by interviewees One learns much about their lives, guiding principles, character, winning strategies to excel in their fields, and other enlightening and entertaining thoughts.
  For example, one strategy by Jack Jacobs on military service: “When you’re in a situation like that [in Vietnam[ where you don’t know exactly where the enemy is, you have to apply yourself in the following way. You don’t attack with your main body, because you lose all the optionality if you’re engaged. You send the smallest possible unit forward to contact the enemy, and then you can maneuver around.”
  
  Another strategy was mentioned by Jon Meacham regarding John Lewis and Civil Rights: “I think [James] Lawson maybe be the most important living American about whom not enough people know. Lawson was a Methodist minister. He was a conscientious objector during Korea. He went to jail for refusing to be drafted into the conflict. He went to India, he met with Gandhi’s lieutenants. Gandhi was dead by then, but Lawson saw that the tactics of nonviolence that had worked so well in India could be applied to the segregated order in the South. He had come back to the United States and ran into Martin Luther King….”
  
  An interesting counterpoint to the proposed strategy of the Civil War North just buying the slaves from the South was the fact that, per interviewee Srinivasan, all the American railroads at the time cost about $750 million to build. To buy all the slaves would likely have cost between a likely prohibitive $3 to $4 billion.
  
  These are just a very small sample of the hundreds of educational gems found in the book, with numerous examples given about how character and “doing the right thing” saved the day.
  
  The book ends with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and her correlation between civics education and civility, both of which have been in decline since the focus on STEM to vault America ahead of Russia’s space effort beginning with Sputnik in 1957. Included in the justice’s comments is a recommendation to check out the iCivics organization (website online), which former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor helped start.
  
  Bottom-line, this is another outstanding book in the tradition of David Rubenstein’s illuminating interviews.
  
  Of possible interest, a book on strategy:
  Strategic Advantage: How to Win in War, Business, and Life and a book on the importance of character to see one's strategy succeed:
  George Washington's Liberty Key: Mount Vernon's Bastille Key - the Mystery and Magic of Its Body, Mind, and Soul, a best-seller at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
• 
  Jordan Anderson

  3.5 stars
  
  Overall, what Rubenstein did with this non fiction book is mostly enjoyable.
  
  As a fan of history (especially American history), the moments discussing the founding of this country, as well as key moments in the advancement of technology and science that led this country to the envy of other countries made for informative and interesting reading. The interviews with Cal Ripken Jr., Billie Jean King, and McColough discussing baseball, tennis, and the Wright Bothers respectively, were easily the amongst the best.
  
  Unfortunately, the political interviews felt engineered and unemotional…unless Rubenstein was finding ways to interject his own political beliefs into the conversation. Of course when you’re discussing the sides of the political spectrum, you’re gonna have to talk liberalism or conservatism but that shouldn’t be an excuse as an author/editor to interject how you lean on the spectrum. I feel like knowing Rubenstein supports BLM, gay rights, and hates Trump led to conversations that were politically one sided and didn’t leave room for debate.
  
  Also surprisingly…Winston Marcellus is a bit of jerk. Lost respect for him immediately.
• 
  Will Norton

  This is a very easy read with a number of interviews that cover a lot of historical ground. This is also a book by a noted interviewer for Bloomberg so perhaps this is why the book is more accessible and covers a larger variety of what makes us Americans from those of high note. It should be a reminder to us in times such as these where our fabric seems to be divided and suffering from the combativeness. The idea of America is found in everything from the Space Race to the simple idea of the Constitution itself. There is history of the religion of the Pilgrims and the experience of the Natives Americans. Rubenstein's previous book The American Story was also interesting and along these lines but the interviews were fewer and more in depth. That book was also interesting, but I think this work surpasses that in sheer strides across a wider spectrum. I found both books enjoyable, accessible reads that are above all stories of history of the Americans.
• 
  Tie Kim

  I love David Rubenstein's approach in addressing the question of, "What is the American culture?" Much to my chagrin and naivety, I did not know several of the esteemed interviewees, who provide scholarly responses to David's artful questions. The result is an erudite conversation with readers as the beneficiaries 😀.
  
  If you only want to read one segment, then I'd highly recommend David McCullough's retelling of his research on the Wright brothers -- it's definitely worth the 10 minutes.
  
  David Rubenstein's subtle humor is injected throughout the book, including some of my favorite questions 😂:
  
  - "King George is sent a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Does he say, 'Hey, you convinced me, and now I'm going to change my position?'"
  
  - "When you're the Medal of Honor recipient, how does one let people know without appearing to be bragging about it?'"
• 
  Sher

  This is a wonderful audiobook of interviews. My favorite chapters were:
  
  Part 1: Promise & Principle
  Declaration of Independence (Danielle Allen)
  Religious Freedom (Katherine Breckus)
  Presidential Election of 2020 (Michael Beschloss)
  
  Part 2: Suffering and Sorrow
  Military Service (Jack Jacobs)
  
  Part 3: Restoration & Repair
  Reconstruction (Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr.)
  Frederick Douglass (David W. Blight)
  
  Part 4: Invention & Ingenuity
  The Human Genome Project and Scientific Research (Francis Collins)
  
  Part 5: Creation and Culture
  Jazz, America’s National Art (Winston Marsalis)
  The Actor’s Life (Rita Moreno)
  Tennis and Activism (Billie Jean King)
  Baseball (Cal Ripken Jr.)
  
  Part 6: Becoming and Belonging
  The History of Immigration (Jia Lynn Yang)
  Being an Immigrant (Madeligne Albright)
  
• 
  Patti

  I only rate books as “5 stars” if the book will vie for a position in my heart for a long, long time to come. In this regard, “The American Experiment” has qualified. The most succinct review I’ve read comes from Katie Couric, “A stirring reminder of what our American experiment has achieved so far and what’s at stake as we move forward.”
  The author conducts stimulating interviews with many of our most distinguished historians, great diplomats, sports giants and music legends. The American spirit comes alive as they discuss setbacks, slammed doors, ingenuity and social movements that continue to shape the vision of what we are and what we can be. An absolutely delightful and thought-provoking read!
• 
  Chrissy

  OK minus a half a star because they didn't include the talk with David McCullough (who they have an interview with so WTH?). Anyway, I LOVED this book. So many interesting interviews and perspectives. I didn't want it to end. Interviews are all done within the last 5 years and the depth and breadth of them really does speak to so many aspects of American life. I really appreciated him branching out to figures in sports, finance and so on. I am even forgiving the fact that he can't seem to help himself from cutting off these noted figures while interviewing them because he seems better in this book than the last (but honestly it's an annoying trait).
• 
  John Ronald

  The interview subjects are a good deal more interesting than the interviewer. David Rubenstein is a billionaire and member of the Carlyle Group and his rapturous praise of the unique wonders of American capitalism are as grating as they are asinine. But if you can set that aside, the people he is interviewing are noteworthy and worth a listen and by the end of the book we have a composite sketch of American life and culture....not a complete picture but a suggestive one, something to ponder about the American character, etc.
• 
  UChicagoLaw

  "A fascinating collection of conversations with leading thinkers, artists, statesmen, and athletes about the essential values of America. At a moment of anxiety and reflection in our country, the book’s many perspectives on America’s strengths and shortcoming will inspire thought about America’s future, its democracy, and continued leadership in innovation and ideas."
  
  - Thomas J. Miles, Dean, Clifton R. Musser Professor of Law and Economics
• 
  Colin Adams

  Yeah, I mean.... I learned a lot... however, the interviews felt very engineered. Like I know the author probably went in with a list of questions, but there were a lot of missed opportunities where interviewees said really interesting things, and there were rarely any follow-up questions from the author. It did not feel very much like a dialog.
  
  Speaks volumes that like 80% of the historian interviewees were Harvard-affiliated (probably not in a good way).
• 
  Jenn

  This collection of great conversations taught me a great deal! I highly recommend the audio version and the ensuing conversations each 30-45 ish minute recoding provoked. Listen with someone who likes to think and share!
• 
  Alyssa J Cori

  It took me a while to get through this book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It is a series of interviews conducted by David Rubenstein with historians, athletes, and leaders all about what makes America unique.
  
  I learned about all different periods of history and loved getting perspectives on how America was formed and developed to become the great nation it is. While there were certainly sections about where improvements can be made, by and large the argument that America is an unparalleled country is indisputable.
• 
  William

  3.5
  The parts I liked, I really liked. The parts I didn't were few and far between.
• 
  Solon Liberman

  OUTSTANDING!