Jon Meacham's "The Soul of America"

 

    I have just finished reading Jon Meacham’s 2018 history, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels.” It is the story of how the United States worked over our 2050-year history to solve problems whose solutions helped to define our national character.  It is a remarkable look at how the citizens of the United States and their leaders struggled over the generations to address fundamental issues surrounding our society’s commitment to serving all of its people. 

    Meacham looks at key moments in American history that shaped our sense of ourselves as a nation, with stories of leaders have faced the issues and shaped our common culture.  He looks at how the concept of the presidency—and the nature of our democracy—evolved from the Revolution through the presidencies of Washington, Jefferson, and Jackson and how American society continued to be refined as later Presidents dealt with immigration, the Great Depression, the continuing struggle for voting rights and inclusion, political extremism, and the more recent changes brought about by technology.

    It is a powerful book, and the way that Meacham engages our response to seven major social issues to illustrate how our sense of ourselves as a nation evolved is a powerful way to see and understand our history as a nation and a culture.

    Meacham quotes Harry Truman, who won the Presidency in 1948 running against three other candidates—segregationist Thurmond, progressive Wallace, and republican Dewey— “You can’t divide the country up into sections and have one rule for one section and one rule for another, and you can’t encourage people’s prejudices.  You have to appeal to people’s best instincts, not their worst ones.  You may win an election or so by doing the other, but it does a lot of harm to the country.”  The Soul of America explores how Presidents throughout U.S. history have approached that challenge to some of the most intractable issues facing our culture.

    The Soul of America is also a great example of how history should be taught, as a saga built around the ongoing challenges facing leaders in a constantly evolving society.  I thank Jon Meacham for his insight into our culture and his lessons for how we should continue to address change.  I heartily recommend it.