About The Book

The Decline And Fall Of The American Way traces the undoing of those very practices that had made America preeminent. This story is grim. But there is hope, for to comprehend the descent is to find the way back. 
           Ten great policies and one supreme intangible were central to America’s rise. Our story dwells upon the upending of these policies and spirit. The book ends with a plan for America’s recovery. 
           The book is not a discourse on the Constitution. It follows instead such things as theoney supply, national debt, trade and tariffs, taxes and spending, the courts, foreign policy, education, immigration, land use, our peculiar energy policy and the patent system. It traces the career of fundamental policies not only at home but also abroad.
          The book begins with the necessary warning. Important indicators show that our economy is malfunctioning, and headed for a severe correction, perhaps even a depression more serious than that of 1929. Even worse, some of the elite evidently would shut down the Republic altogether, merge our country into Mexico and Canada and some time later add more and more countries south of Mexico. A policy of merger is no remedy at all, but a horrific compounding of the error. The American Way was stupendously successful. The further we have moved away from it, the more trouble we have encountered. Our troubles are home-grown, not stemming from economic competition from abroad, as many assert. 
          Thomas Jefferson championed the American Way. Its prerequisite spirit--morality and love of country--went into decline sometime after the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The aforementioned ten great policies remained more or less intact until 1913, however. Terrible blows befell the American Way in the period 1913 to 1934; the American Way held on, tattered but recognizable, even as recently as the Kennedy Administration. 
          President Reagan wanted, as a major interim goal, to restore an approximation of the policies found in the Kennedy Administration years. By the mid-1990s, nine of the ten great policies would be shattered or nearly so, and the assault upon the one policy not yet harmed would begin. But there is this love of country that will not die. The final chapter exhorts us to take measured steps, after the fashion of the Reagan strategy, toward a complete recovery.        
         In the compact space of 144 pages, including 12 economic charts and 4 maps, an objective measurement of leadership is provided. If a leader today promotes all of or most of the ten great policies, then he or she is in the tradition that made America preeminent, that is, is a patriot or nationalist. If someone does not promote these policies, then they must bear responsibility for the trouble we are in. The book should help us weed out the good leaders from the bad. It points us toward the rekindling of prosperity and perpetuation of liberty.