What Makes America Exceptional?

Alex Adrianson / July 04, 2010

In this final part of our series highlighting the thoughts of conservative and libertarian leaders on American Independence and the Founding, we asked: What do you think makes America exceptional?

Lawrence W. Reed, President of the Foundation for Economic Education: America is exceptional because Americans after the Founding showed that they really did take their new freedoms seriously. They did not expect much from their new government, other than to protect the peace and otherwise leave them alone. They didn’t wait for government to show them how to build a vibrant civil society; they just did it, and to a greater extent than any people before or since. In the 19th Century, they settled the continent; they formed endless and powerful problem-solving, private entities; they cultivated the virtues necessary for freedom to survive; and they welcomed millions to their shores to share the freedom experience with them. (more…)