Product Description

In this long season of searing political attacks and angry partisan passions, Peggy Noonan's Wall Street Journal column has been must reading for thoughtful liberals and conservatives alike.

Now she issues an urgent, heartfelt call for all Americans to see each other anew, realize what time it is, and come together to support the next President—whoever he is. Because it is not the threats and challenges we face, but how we face them that defines us as a nation.

The terrible events of 9/11 brought us together in a way not seen since World War II. But the stresses and divisions of the Bush years have driven us apart to a point that is unhealthy and destructive.

Today, Noonan argues, the national mood is for a change in our politics and it is well past time for politicians to catch up. Americans are tired of the old partisan divisions and the campaign tricks that seek to widen and exploit them. We long for leaders who can summon us to greatness and unity, as they did in the long struggles against fascism and communism.

In this timely little book, written in the pamphleteering tradition of Tom Paine's Common Sense, Noonan reminds us that we must face our common challenges together—not by rising above partisanship, but by reaffirming what it means to be American.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37722 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-01
• Released on: 2008-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

About the Author

Peggy Noonan is the best-selling author of seven books on American politics, history, and culture. Her essays have appeared in Time, Newsweek, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and other publications. She lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Peppered with Insight
You read Noonan and you stumble on one of her insights, put the book down, and think to yourself "Yeah, that's right. I never quite saw it that way before." Illustration: the presidency has changed because Bush and Clinton personalized it so that it stopped being about the office and started being about them.Bingo. The passage on the messages and calls made by those who were about to die on the 9-11 flights makes you want to cry. Noonan is right: "crisis is a great editor." They said what needed to be said, what mattered, and not one of their words was wasted or mean spirited. She is fair. On Bush and landing the plane on the carrier deck for the Mission Accomplished speech, she smacks their arrogance, saying "they were looking for trouble." On the Dems and Iraq---they looked for a way to oppose it without any political cost."There is always a cost." Her tone is sad yet hopeful. Her Big Idea? Judge Learned Hand said:the spirit of liberty is the spirit that is never sure that it is always right. I'd think she'd embrace that. Give her new one a read.

A superb analysis of the need for change in America
Without a shadow of doubt, Peggy Noonan is the finest writer when it comes to describing politics, social conditions and personal attitudes of Americans.

She is a gem. This book is her eighth and finest yet. In addition to her facile intellect she presents a genuine cry from the heart about the tragedy of America today. After 9/11, Americans and the world united in support. Now, Noonan writes, "If we had a major terrorist attack tomorrow, half the country -- more than half -- would not completely trust the federal government to do what it has to do, would not trust it to tell the truth, would not trust it, period."

It's not surprising. Noonan was a speechwriter for President Reagan whose philosophy was, "Government is the problem." Now she seems utterly amazed that Americans think government is a problem, not a solution.

It leads me to wonder: What if Winston Churchill, after being named Prime Minister in May 1940 and with Panzers closing in on the British army at Dunquerque, had not said, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." Instead, citing his predecessors, what if he said government was the problem and advised, "Let's go down to the pub and have a Boddy or two."

True to her Reaganesque roots, Noonan still blames government. She's brilliant at this one-note song of sorrow, which makes her book very timely reading. She could be part of the solution if she'd go beyond her anti-government mood and think about how to make government effective and trustworthy again.

Harry Truman did it, when America faced much wider and far more dangerous challenges. Perhaps she's at her limit as a journalist -- defining problems but trusting others to maturely find solutions.

"The greatest generation" of journalists always had quick and ready solutions; journalists today are stuck with whining about problems but never offering solutions. They seem to fear perhaps being wrong. Noonan is as astute as any at such whining; that alone makes her book one of the best and most relevant for today's America.

Noonan writes, "It's beyond 'The president is overwhelmed.' The entire government is overwhelmed." Nonsense. If the government is truly overwhelmed, then America is finished. The answer is to make it work, not to whine about difficulties. Did Churchill whine? Former Sen. Phil Gramm, a McCain advisor, is absolutely right about America becoming a nation of whiners. It's time to stop whining and start working.

This book is a vital start. Buy it. Read it. Loan it to friends. Discuss it. Praise it. Condmen it. It will launch an intelligent conversation among caring people about the nature of America tomorrow.

Noonan offers a magnificent portrait of America today. However, instead of the feel-good "It's morning in America" complacency, the next president must offer some blood, toil, tears and sweat. It's a challenge Americans always respond to with magnificent courage, determination, effort and patriotism.

Noonan is brilliant. America is even better.

Graceful Patriotism
Peggy Noonan is the writer I'd most like to talk with, to respond to her insights and listen to her straightforward opinions. Since we aren't acquainted, the next best thing is reading her new book. Her writing exudes innate decency, old fashioned virtues and enduring values. She decries the extremes on both sides of the political spectrum, and the degeneration of the level of national discourse. She describes the indignity of going through airline security as a middle aged woman, and although I do not travel by plane (since 9/11!), I am a middle aged woman, and I exist on dignity, so can well understand her silent outrage at what our nation has come to. Patriotic Grace is inspiring, uplifting, but also profoundly pessimistic about the future of our nation. I also deeply feel our country has descended to terrible depths of degradation, we have accustomed ourselves to vulgarity and ugliness, both verbal and visual, in the public sphere. That Noonan is aware of this is to her great credit. I hope many people read this small book and identify with its message.