Ark of the Liberties: America and the World

Hill and Wang, 2008. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. The United States stands at a historic crossroads; essential to the world y et unappreciated. America's decline in popularity over the last eight years has been nothing short of astonishing. With wit, brilliance, and deep affe ction, Ted Widmer, a scholar and a former presidential speechwriter, remind s everyone why this great nation had so far to fall. In a sweeping history of centuries, Ark of the Liberties recounts America's ambition to be the wo rld's guarantor of liberty. It is a success story that America, and the wor ld, forgets at its peril. From the Declaration of Independence to the Gettysburg Address to the Unive rsal Declaration of Human Rights, the United States, for all its shortfalls , has been by far the world's greatest advocate for freedom. Generations of founders imbued America with a surprisingly global ambition that a series of remarkable presidents, often Democratic, advanced through the confident wielding of military and economic power. Ark of the Liberties brims with ne w insights: America's centuries-long favorable relationship with the Middle East; why Wilson's presidency deserves reappraisal; Bill Clinton's underap preciated achievements; how America's long history of foreign policy immedi ately touches on the choices we face in 2008. Fully addressing America's di sastrous occupation of Iraq, Ark of the Liberties colorfully narrates Ameri ca's long and laudatory history of expanding world liberty. Editorial Reviews Review "In this exploration of the United States' promotion of liberty across the globe, Ted Widmer offers an examination of our history that should influence the way we think about our place.