Re-Making the American Dream: Change from Values

Book excerpt: WHAT HAPPENS? When the Values of Duty, Honor, Country clash at West Point with the religious teachings of the Liberty Baptist Church in Burnt Prairie . . . Join us on this journey in the Vietnam War era when the author was confronted by Colonel Al Haig, soon to join President Nixon's White House and later to serve as President Reagan's Secretary of State, . . . And Admiral Moorer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a federal courtroom. . . Waging a vigorous official defense of compulsory chapel, while the author stood up for freedom of religion under the First Amendment, Despite them all having sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States . . . In such a clash and its aftermath, the answer . . . The American Dream is Re-Made. The author updates this clash in the 1960's with more recent clashes of values: In the closing days of the term of Illinois Governor Dan Walker; Against the Illinois political establishment and legal system in the fight to expand the initiative power of Illinois voters; On two different elected school boards, where some put their own interest ahead of students; In the controversies over restoring fiscal balance in the Illinois budget during the administration of Governor Pat Quinn; and In his entrepreneurial endeavors on behalf of investment clients. Such clashes demonstrate the enduring influence of grassroots Americans in upholding and improving the American Dream.