American exceptionalism

American exceptionalism is the claim that the United States is inherently different from other nations. Its proponents argue that the values, political system, and historical development of the U.S. are unique in human history, often with the implication that the country is both destined and entitled to play a distinct and positive role on the world stage.

We are, as Lincoln said, 'the last, best hope of earth.' We are not just one more nation, one more same entity on the world stage. We have been essential to the preservation and progress of freedom, and those who lead us in the years ahead must remind us, as Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Reagan did, of the unique role we play. Neither they nor we should ever forget that we are, in fact, exceptional. ~ Dick Cheney

Arranged alphabetically by author or source:
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z · See also · External links

A

• A nation that should never do wrong must necessarily govern the world.
  • John Adams, Journal entry (6 August 1796)

B

• We are different from other nations, I know professors, it drives them crazy to say American Exceptionalism - they hate that. The average length of a constitution in the history of the world is seventeen years. This year we're two hundred and thirty two years under the same constitution, so we are unique, we're the exception; not the rule.
  • David Barton, The Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special Ep. 57

• In 2010, 80 percent of Americans polled by Gallup said the U.S. is the "greatest country" in the world. Of the 20 wealthy "democracies," the U.S. citizens were the most proud of their nationality and most supportive of attacking other countries without the U.N.'s consent. Younger generations were less likely to share these beliefs...
  So what is the reality? When we look at the indices of economic, social, health and even the level of "democracy," the U.S. comes out behind other countries...
  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. comes in 31st for life expectancy.
  The World Bank found that for equitable distribution in wealth, the U.S. ranks 147 out of 152 countries.
  In December 2017, the UN Special Rapporteur for Extreme Poverty in the United States found that the U.S. has highest youth poverty rate across the 36 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries....
  • American exceptionalism harms all of humanity, Longmont Times-Call Carolyn Bninski , (24 September 2018)

• The UN Rapporteur also found that the U.S. ranks 36th in water and sanitation and has the highest incarceration rate in the world. What about education? The Programme for International Student Assessment found that U.S. students rank 38 out of 71 countries.
  • American exceptionalism harms all of humanity, Longmont Times-Call Carolyn Bninski , (24 September 2018)

C

We are situated differently in this respect from any other country. All the other great powers have a comparatively homogeneous population, close kindred in race and blood and speech, and commonly little divided in religious beliefs. Our great Nation is made up of the strong and virile pioneering stock of nearly all the countries of the world. We have a variety of race and language and religious belief. ~ Calvin Coolidge

• We are, as Lincoln said, 'the last, best hope of earth.' We are not just one more nation, one more same entity on the world stage. We have been essential to the preservation and progress of freedom, and those who lead us in the years ahead must remind us, as Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Reagan did, of the unique role we play. Neither they nor we should ever forget that we are, in fact, exceptional.
  • Dick Cheney, Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America, Threshold Editions, New York, 2015. pp. 259

• Powerful states have quite typically considered themselves to be exceptionally magnificent, and the United States is no exception to that.
  • Noam Chomsky, Interview with The Young Turks, October 26, 2010

• With regard to nuclear weapons, the situation is far more dangerous than the last Doomsday Clock report. New weapons systems under development are much more effectively dangerous. The Biden administration, expanding upon Trump’s confrontational approach, has Chomsky at a loss for words to describe the danger at hand. Only recently, Biden met with NATO leaders and instructed them to plan on two wars, China and Russia. According to Chomsky: “This is beyond insanity.” Not only that, the group is carrying out provocative acts when diplomacy is really needed. This is an extraordinarily dangerous situation.
  • A World of Total Illusion and Fantasy: Noam Chomsky on the Future of the Planet, Robert Hunziker, CounterPunch (12 July 2021)

• According to Chomsky... Twenty-five (25%) percent of Republicans believe the government is run by an elite satanic group of pedophiles. Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans believe that the election was stolen. Only fifteen percent (15%) of Republicans believe that global warming is a serious problem. Therein lies an insurmountable problem to solving the main issues that continually tick the clock ever closer to a disaster scenario that will likely be unprecedented in the annals of warfare and environmental degradation. As a result, Chomsky says: “We’re living in a world of total illusion and fantasy.... Unless this is dealt with soon, it’ll be impossible to deal with the two major issues within the time span that we have available, which is not very long.”
  • A World of Total Illusion and Fantasy: Noam Chomsky on the Future of the Planet, Robert Hunziker, CounterPunch (12 July 2021)

• America is great because America is good.
  • Hillary Clinton, Speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention (July 28, 2016)
    • This statement of American exceptionalism can be found in a contribution by Reverend Clarenca Reynolds to the September 6, 1922 issue of the Herald and Presbyter. The statement is sometime falsely attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville.

• Perhaps there has been, at some point in history, some great power whose elevation was exempt from the violent exploitation of other human bodies. If there has been, I have yet to discover it. But this banality of violence can never excuse America, because ... America believes itself exceptional, the greatest and noblest nation ever to exist. ... One cannot, at once, claim to be superhuman and then plead mortal error. I propose to take our countrymen's claims of American exceptionalism seriously, which is to say I propose subjecting our country to an exceptional moral standard.
  • Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me (2015), p. 8

• We are situated differently in this respect from any other country. All the other great powers have a comparatively homogeneous population, close kindred in race and blood and speech, and commonly little divided in religious beliefs. Our great Nation is made up of the strong and virile pioneering stock of nearly all the countries of the world. We have a variety of race and language and religious belief.
  • Calvin Coolidge, "Ways to Peace", speech at Arlington (31 May 1926)

K

To this day, the United States remains the only superpower capable, and at times willing, to commit real resources and make real sacrifices to build, sustain, and drive an international system committed to international law, democracy, and the promotion of human rights. Experience teaches that when the United States leads on human rights, from Nuremberg to Kosovo, other countries follow. ~ Harold Hongju Koh

• To this day, the United States remains the only superpower capable, and at times willing, to commit real resources and make real sacrifices to build, sustain, and drive an international system committed to international law, democracy, and the promotion of human rights. Experience teaches that when the United States leads on human rights, from Nuremberg to Kosovo, other countries follow.
  • Harold Hongju Koh, "On American Exceptionalism" 55 Stan. L. Rev. 1479 (2003) quote at p. 1487

P

It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal. ~ Vladimir Putin

• It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.
  • Vladimir Putin in A plea for caution from Russia, The New York Times, (12 September 2013)

R

I, in my own mind, have thought of America as a place in the divine scheme of things that was set aside as a promised land. ~ Ronald Reagan

• I, in my own mind, have thought of America as a place in the divine scheme of things that was set aside as a promised land. . . . Any person with the courage, with the desire to tear up their roots, to strive for freedom, to attempt and dare to live in a strange and foreign place, was welcome here.
  • Ronald Reagan, America the Beautiful: Commencement Address, William Woods College, Fulton, Missouri, June 2, 1952

S

• Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires, as if one shouldn't trust the evidence of one's eyes watching the destruction and the misery and death brought by the latest mission civilizatrice.
  • Edward Said, Orientalism (1978)

T

• The position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no other democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.
  • Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, (1840), part 2, p. 36

See also

• American benevolence
• American imperialism
• History of the United States
• Manifest Destiny

External links

• Encyclopedic article on American exceptionalism on Wikipedia