American IndividualismIn late 1921, then secretary of commerce Herbert Hoover decided to distill from his experiences a coherent understanding of the American experiment he cherished. The result was the 1922 book American Individualism. In it, Hoover expounded and vigorously defended what has come to be called American exceptionalism: the set of beliefs and values that still makes America unique. He argued that America can make steady, sure progress if we preserve our individualism, preserve and stimulate the initiative of our people, insist on and maintain the safeguards to equality of opportunity, and honor service as a part of our national character. American Individualism asserts that equal opportunity for individuals to develop their abilities is "the sole source of progress" and the fundamental impulse behind American civilization for three—now four—centuries. More than ninety years have passed since this book was first published; it is clear, in retrospect, that the volume was partly motivated by the political controversies of the time. But American Individualism is not simply a product of a dim and receding past. To a considerable degree the ideological battles of Hoover's era are the battles of our own, and the interpretations we make of our past—particularly the years between 1921 and 1933—will mold our perspective on the crises of the present. |
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Abraham Lincoln According to Hoover achievement administration advance AIMME altruism American Individualism American Relief Administration American system autocracy capital centuries Challenge to Liberty character civilization collectivism comfort Commerce Papers constructive coöperation December destroy Divine Right Edgar Rickard election emotion equal opportunity equality of opportunity Europe experience failure fair division Frederick Jackson Turner frozen strata fundamental greater groups Herbert Hoover hindmost Historic Liberalism Hoover Institution Press Hoover Papers Ibid ideas impulse increasing industry initiative injustices insisted instincts intellectual intelligence John Maynard Keynes labor leadership maintain Mark Sullivan mass million misery moral motivation Newborn Democracies numbers organization political philosophy preserve President Presidential principle production and distribution progress radicalism responsibility revolution safeguard Safety of Newborn secretary of commerce selfinterest sense of service social ferment social forces social philosophy social system society standard of living statism steadily stimulation strata of classes tyranny Undated United