Behold, America: The Entangled History of "America First" and "the American Dream"

by Sarah Churchwell

Overview

A Smithsonian Magazine Best History Book of 2018

The unknown history of two ideas crucial to the struggle over what America stands for

In Behold, America, Sarah Churchwell offers a surprising account of twentieth-century Americans' fierce battle for the nation's soul. It follows the stories of two phrases -- the "American dream" and "America First" -- that once embodied opposing visions for America.

Starting as a Republican motto before becoming a hugely influential isolationist slogan during World War I, America First was always closely linked with authoritarianism and white supremacy. The American dream, meanwhile, initially represented a broad vision of democratic and economic equality. Churchwell traces these notions through the 1920s boom, the Depression, and the rise of fascism at home and abroad, laying bare the persistent appeal of demagoguery in America and showing us how it was resisted. At a time when many ask what America's future holds, Behold, America is a revelatory, unvarnished portrait of where we have been.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541673427
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	10/09/2018
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	564,156
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Sarah Churchwell is professor of American literature and public understanding of the humanities at the University of London. The author and editor of several previous books, including the acclaimed Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of the Great Gatsby, she is a native of Chicago, now living in London.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Prologue: First, America First 13

Part 1 1900-1920

1 The American Dream 1900-1916: The Spirit of American Dreams 21

2 America First 1900-1916: Pure Americanism Against the Universe 39

3 The American Dream 1917-1920: What Do You Call That But Socialism? 63

4 America First 1917-1920: We Have Emerged from Dreamland 71

Part 2 1920-1930

5 The American Dream 1921-1923: Salesmen of Prosperity 93

6 America First 1920-1923: The Simplicity of Government 105

7 The American Dream 1924-1929: A Willingness of the Heart 129

8 America First 1923-1929: A Super Patriot, Patriot 139

Part 3 1930-1940

9 The American Dream 1930-1934: Das Dollarland 159

10 America First 1930-1934: The Official Recognition of Reality 173

11 The American Dream 1934-1939: The Pageant of History 187

12 America First 1935-1939: It Can Happen Here 213

13 America First and the American Dream 1939-1941: Americans! Wake Up! 241

Epilogue 1945-2017: Still America Firsting 267

Coda 285

Acknowledgements 291

Notes 295

Selected Bibliography 321

Index 327

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2018
Churchwell (literature, Univ. of London; The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe) adds another detailed volume to her growing collection of 20th-century American histories, here combing over the origins and transformations of two well-wrought concepts: "America First" and "The American Dream." The work begins in the latter 19th century, when various writers, politicians, and others speak of American dreams in highly diversified contexts. The American Dream, like "America First," narrowed in focus and purpose around the 1920s. Churchwell, a scholar of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his era, reveals the nationalism and nativism that flourished during the first decades of the 20th century. The rise of the Ku Klux Klan and American fascist parties during the 1920s and 1930s is particularly chilling. Readers will discover that nativists and social democrats have dueled against one another through long stretches of the 20th century. Many will learn that Trump-era "America First" concepts have deep roots. VERDICT Highly relevant to current U.S. politics, this is a great read for those seeking a scholarly examination of the origin and evolution of common and oft-cited American ideals.—Jeffrey Meyer, Mt. Pleasant P.L., IA

Library Journal

…a timely…provocative [book]. In addition to offering some historical perspective, Churchwell has a point to make. "America first" might never shed the stain of virulent racism and anti-Semitism, but the American dream, she suggests, has a real and discernible meaning located in its origins, one that gives "voice to principled appeals for a more generous way of life"…[Churchwell's] an elegant writer, and when "America First" and "the American dream" come head-to-head in her book during the run-up to World War II, the unexpected (and alarming) historical coincidences begin to resonate like demented wind chimes…Behold, America illuminates how much history takes place in the gap between what people say and what they do.

The New York Times - Jennifer Szalai

★ 08/27/2018
Churchwell, a historian of modern American culture at the University of London, argues that the simple phrases “American dream” and “America first” have long and complicated histories and that their current meanings are quite different from those they held originally. At the turn of the 20th century, Churchwell explains, the popular conception of the “American dream” emphasized the communal pursuit of equality and justice rather than the individual drive for personal success. For progressive reformers, unfettered capitalism was a danger to these ideals. And when Woodrow Wilson spoke in 1916 of putting America first, it was to urge his countrymen to remain neutral in WWI so that the nation could help both sides at the conflict’s end. But the phrase was soon taken up by opponents of immigration and advocates of isolationism, who feared that the nation would be contaminated by contact with foreign elements; similarly, anxieties generated by communism and the Depression encouraged the reframing of the “American dream” as one of individual material progress. In clear and graceful prose, Churchwell shows that the triumph of these later ideas was far from inevitable; her book is a reminder that “we do not have to accept others’ narrow understanding of our meanings.” Agent: Peter Robinson Rogers, Coleridge & White. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"This is a timely book. It's also a provocative one... [Churchwell is] an elegant writer, and when 'America First'and 'the American dream'come head-to-head in her book during the run-up to World War II, the unexpected (and alarming) historical coincidences begin to resonate like demented wind chimes... Behold, America illuminates how much history takes place in the gap between what people say and what they do."—New York Times

"A fascinating new look at 'the entangled history' of 'America First' and 'the American Dream.'"—New York Magazine

"Churchwell has cast a wide net in her research, drawing into account not only politicians and pundits, but also journalists, novelists, ministers, and ordinary Americans. The result, appropriately enough, is a bit messy... But that messiness illustrates the ways in which these phrases have always been, as the historian Daniel Rodgers memorably put it, 'contested truths.'"—The Nation

"Lively and eminently readable.... Churchwell has produced a timely and clearly argued book that makes a clear case for the intellectual parallels between the first third of the 20th century and our won."—Financial Times

"Behold, America is an enthralling book, almost a primer for the ferocious dialectic of US politics, inspired by the events of 2015/16. It will no doubt take an influential place on a teeming shelf of Trump-lit. Much of its force derives from the echoes of the present it finds in the thunderous caverns of the past, blurred by the distortions of history. Passionate, well-researched and comprehensive, it is both a document of our times and a thrilling survey of a half-forgotten and neglected dimension of the American story."—Guardian (US edition)

"[A] fascinating history of the two intersecting tropes of modern America. ... The complex history of these two ideas, and the personalities of their various champions...is admirably told in Professor Churchwell's book."—Simon Winchester, New Statesman

"[A] bold first step towards the necessary reassessment of the American past in the light of Trumpism."—Eric Rauchway, Times Literary Supplement (UK)

"[A] richly engaging account of the expressions "the American Dream" and "America First"... Behold, America is enormously entertaining. Churchwell is a careful and sensitive reader, writes with great vigour and has a magpie's eye for a revealing story."—Dominic Sandbrook , Sunday Times

"The most intriguing aspect of the book is Churchwell's charting of how 'The American Dream' in the past connoted something less materialistic and more collective than is now the case... a fascinating history."—Independent

"Timely and instructive."—Economist

"In clear and graceful prose...[Churchwell's] book is a reminder that 'we do not have to accept others' narrow understanding of our meanings."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"It's not exactly summery but then we're not exactly living in halcyon days, which is why my summer read recommendation this year is Sarah Churchwell's history of the two phrases 'America First' and 'The American Dream' in her excoriating, brilliant new book Behold, America. It lets us know where we are, and where America is right now, and exactly what kind of fascism is being sold to people all over again right now, and it does it with a combination of intelligence, grace, articulacy and clarity that gives off pure relief."—Ali Smith, The Big Issue (UK)

"Behold, America, like so much of the best historical enquiry, is rooted in an acute sensitivity to language. Chruchwell's primary concern is to unpack, from a trawl of the press, political speeches and literary works, what early 20th-century Americans meant by the common expressions 'America first' and 'the American Dream.' But the book is much more than a study of these catchphrases, and she deftly relates them to wider social, political and cultural developments."—Colin Kidd, Guardian (UK)

"Chruchwell's thoroughness in delineating America's decade-by-decade bigotry through primary sources from speeches to newspapers to novels is a marvel. But it is more than a history lesson. She's constructing the case for how the US elected Donald Trump, a catastrophe many of us struggle to understand."—Prospect (UK)

"Revealing...CHurchwell is well attuned to the nuances of this national conversation...[and] right to suggest that an important thread of American national identity has too often been quietened."—Literary Review (UK)

"Lifting up haunting voices that speak truth to the Trump era, Sarah Churchwell exposes a century-deep contest between egalitarian democracy and a quest to preserve corporate dominance and white rule under the banner of "America First." The climactic clash between the gutsy journalist Dorothy Thompson and the anti-Semitic aviator Charles Lindbergh reads like an anticipatory allegory for today's Resistance to the heirs of Lindbergh's authoritarian vision."—Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America

"If we're to ever exorcise America's past demons, we'll first have to learn from them. Churchwell's Behold, America is a vital and unflinching look at our country's inherent contradictions that have hampered our aspirations since its founding. Bold, fearless, and above all beautifully written, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to understand our past, present, and future."—Jared Yates Sexton, author of The People Are Going to Rise Like the Waters Upon Your Shore

From the Publisher

Anne Twomey’s narration effortlessly knits the twin threads—America First and the American Dream—that animate this history. She adroitly shares the despicable actions of the KKK and the terrible stories of lynchings and horrific crowd behavior. The listener is reminded that America First, despite its attracting well-known Americans, was often used as a cover for racism and anti-Semitism. Author Churchwell also examines the development of the term “the American dream,” exploring its original meaning of equality of opportunity and describing how it has turned into a synonym for material wealth. There are villains—Charles Lindbergh, Father Coughlin—and heroes, too. Writers Walter Lippmann and Dorothy Thompson both warned fellow citizens in the 1930s about fascism and decried America First. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2019 - AudioFile

Anne Twomey’s narration effortlessly knits the twin threads—America First and the American Dream—that animate this history. She adroitly shares the despicable actions of the KKK and the terrible stories of lynchings and horrific crowd behavior. The listener is reminded that America First, despite its attracting well-known Americans, was often used as a cover for racism and anti-Semitism. Author Churchwell also examines the development of the term “the American dream,” exploring its original meaning of equality of opportunity and describing how it has turned into a synonym for material wealth. There are villains—Charles Lindbergh, Father Coughlin—and heroes, too. Writers Walter Lippmann and Dorothy Thompson both warned fellow citizens in the 1930s about fascism and decried America First. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2019 - AudioFile

2018-08-13

Investigating two ubiquitous yet murky expressions—"America First" and the "American Dream"—through "a genealogy of national debates" that surround them.

Churchwell (American Literature /Univ. of London; Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby, 2013, etc.) introduces these ill-defined concepts and then uses broad historical research to demonstrate their intersections during portions of the last three centuries. Although the detailed narrative ends in 1941, the author offers an epilogue covering the years 1945 to 2017, mostly focused on Donald Trump and his associates. Churchwell demonstrates that when the concepts of the American dream and "America First" arose in the culture and the language of the U.S., those terms tended to signify the opposites of their meanings today. At any given moment, each term has been linked, for better or worse, to the American concepts of democracy, capitalism, and racial equality—or inequality, as the case may be. Churchwell acknowledges her preferred definitions, but she mostly avoids moral judgments in favor of pointing out shifting historical trends. So when Trump (or others) talk about "America First" or the American dream, their crabbed definitions may have different connotations than in previous decades. For example, "America First" has, at times, suggested isolationism from the remainder of the world, especially leading up to the world wars. At other times, it has suggested unthinking patriotism or even implied racism due to the desire for a whiter population. As for the American dream, Churchwell shows persuasively that, initially, it signified opposing the accumulation of wealth by capitalists, since business moguls rarely cared about the well-being of society as a whole. In 2018, however, it seems many Americans aspire to unabashed self-enrichment.

Churchwell demonstrates a lively intellect, as she exhibited early in her publishing career with The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe (2004). The only weakness of this book, which provides much food for thought, stems from generalizations about the way "most Americans" define the two key concepts. That knowledge is, of course, ultimately unknowable.

Kirkus Reviews