Chapter 3: Self Summary and Analysis

That America along with the presidency is devolving into ruin is not a modern concept. Henry Adams was convinced over 100 years ago that the the evolution from President Washington to President Grant would upset Darwin. Emerson found that patriotism was weak. In more modern times, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., warned against the disuniting of America. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., announced the "end of loyalty" in American society. Columnist William Safire spoke of the "death of outrage" in the New York Times. America's favorite pastime has evolved into a self-centered event. The designated hitter was devised for the American League to keep over-the-hill baseball players in the game. Astroturf was introduced to make ground outs into singles. Low fences were installed to allow home run hitters to become home run phenoms.

America struggled from Lincoln's assassination to the turbulent 1960s to...