The work occupies a place between David Hackett Fischer and Joel Garreau in that he elaborates upon the epic struggle between individual liberty and the common good. The work is flawed though by an elaborate and imprecise use of libertarian. Virtually anyone the author disagrees with is a libertarian.

Obama and Ike would be surprised to learn that they were both"a pragmatic national liberal in the mold of Eisenhower" (p. 235). The author says Obama "decisively won" re-election (p. 236) although in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, Obama received fewer popular votes compared to the 2008 election. In 2008, Obama received approximately 69.5 million popular votes, while in 2012, he received around 65.9 million popular votes. Therefore, Obama received about 3.6 million fewer votes in 2012 than he did in 2008. The controversial Obamacare measure is simply described as "health reform" (p. 236). Moreover, the agitator Obama is described as "center-right" by West European standards and a "liberal Republican" by US metrics.

The author is not responsible for the movement that swept 45 into office during 2016 since he was not aware of it when he wrote; however, his misunderstandings of American politics prevented him from concluding correctly about America.

Who are we Americans?

American Character: A History of the Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good by Colin Woodard (Viking, $29).

Any student of American history knows that we’ve had ongoing conflict between the idea of individual rights and the greater good. Are we to put the commonweal ahead of ourselves, or does being “free” mean that we needn’t worry about how our decisions affect our neighbors?

If we’re to have a just nation built on equality, then the individual cannot do whatever she wants, and the opposite is true, as well; if we are to have a free nation, then we will not all be equal. Inevitably, some will prosper more than others–there’s the end to equality. But by the same token, unrestrained self-interest–while it’s no doubt attractive to the already-wealthy and 15-year-olds who’ve just read Atlas Shrugged–also inevitably leads us down an ugly road.

Colin Woodard, in his new book American Character: A History of the Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good, provides a good summary of this conflict, the reason that Americans are so notoriously hard to govern. He also offers some useful political theory by way of reminding us that we will, at the same time we ask for government assistance, insist that we are standing on our own two feet.

This book is timely and necessary context for our current political discourse, making clear that the contradictory populist rhetoric from the notorious presumptive Republican nominee has a long history in the American political and social conversation.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com ( )

I was giving this book by Goodreads First-Reads program in exchange for a review.

This was a very entertaining and interesting and readable book. Very intelligent, interesting, engaging, and showing the 'character' of America from landfall to 2015-2016. The book does a great job detailing libertarians, and conservatives, spenders and cut-backs; Republicans and Democrats (and Whigs - and Tea Party - and even independents to a degree). For the majority of the book there is no real leaning or political bias or any bias of any sort... until you get to the end, and then it comes shining through a bit - but it's not 'rose tinted glasses' biasness and it doesn't really detract from the work or the information. Overall, a very informative book that many should read to get a better grasp of American politics and how people view spending vs. not-spending, view things like Welfare, Medicare, Social Security, gun control, etc. ( )

What is more important? An individual's right's or the common good of the community? This is the subject Woodard has taken on. He discusses the struggle between the two over the length of our countrie's history. I was surprised that the question first came up long ago, way back during the original conventions to draft our Constitution. Woodard does an admirable job of describing the problem throughout our history, finding that sometimes the pendulum swings towards the individual, sometimes towards the overall good of society. It is evident that the struggle will continue in the future, and that it is important that the balance does not tilt to far either way. Along the way, the author presents a good job of presenting facts, seemingly not having an agenda towards either side of the argument. I feel that this is an important book for the current times, as our government seems to be frozen in place, with neither side willing to work towards an acceptable, balanced solution. If we don't fix it soon, woe onto us!The book was well written, flowed nicely, and was extensively documented with footnotes. A good read! ( )