This volume looks at how, as America went through the 1960s, its achievement of superpower status invited both deep “Progressive” political changes at home (Johnson’s Great Society) and aggressive “Democratic” involvement abroad (Vietnam)—in both instances resulting in social catastrophe. The narrative continues, describing the battle to hold America’s traditional Christian political-moral foundations (based on the American family and local community) against the urge of Congressional Progressivists, a Liberal media, idealistic academics, a Boomer generation, and federal judges to rewrite those same standards along more Secular lines. It covers Nixon’s diplomatic successes abroad—yet his humiliation at home (Watergate); the resultant collapse of all social order in Indochina with the retreat of America from the region; Carter’s discovery that diplomatic “niceness” is not a good substitute for real power; the restoration of American national pride during the Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton years (thanks to strong but carefully measured policies); the disaster that hit when Bush Jr. decided to “democratize” Afghanistan and Iraq; the deep “Change” that Obama attempted to bring to a centuries-old traditional America; and finally the arrival of Trump, deeply contested by political adversaries. It looks at the moral-spiritual character (rather universally Christian) of America’s national leadership since 1960 and how that had its own impact on the country, even during this distinctly “post-Christian” period. The narrative concludes with a review of the various political-moral lessons we should draw from America’s own national narrative—particularly the necessity of getting back into an all-important Covenant relationship with God.

This volume looks at how, as America went through the 1960s, its achievement of superpower status invited both deep "Progressive" political changes at home (Johnson's Great Society) and aggressive "Democratic" involvement abroad (Vietnam)-in both instances resulting in social catastrophe. The narrative continues, describing the battle to hold America's traditional Christian political-moral foundations (based on the American family and local community) against the urge of Congressional Progressivists, a Liberal media, idealistic academics, a Boomer generation, and federal judges to rewrite those same standards along more Secular lines. It covers Nixon's diplomatic successes abroad-yet his humiliation at home (Watergate); the resultant collapse of all social order in Indochina with the retreat of America from the region; Carter's discovery that diplomatic "niceness" is not a good substitute for real power; the restoration of American national pride during the Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton years (thanks to strong but carefully measured policies); the disaster that hit when Bush Jr. decided to "democratize" Afghanistan and Iraq; the deep "Change" that Obama attempted to bring to a centuries-old traditional America; and finally the arrival of Trump, deeply contested by political adversaries. It looks at the moral-spiritual character (rather universally Christian) of America's national leadership since 1960 and how that had its own impact on the country, even during this distinctly "post-Christian" period. The narrative concludes with a review of the various political-moral lessons we should draw from America's own national narrative-particularly the necessity of getting back into an all-important Covenant relationship with God.

This book is part of a three-part series on America as a Covenant Nation. This volume begins with the period in the early 1600s when two very different English societies were established in the New World, one in Virginia and one in New England. The Virginia society simply re-created the rigidly class-based feudal society of the times. The New England society was a most unusual democracy of social equals, covenanted to live under God’s—not man’s—personal rule. These two American social types would find themselves in rather constant struggle—as Americans found keeping covenant with God to be very difficult because of man’s natural tendency to want to control life, including the lives of others. This volume will take the American narrative through the Christian “Great Awakening,” the War of Independence, the founding of a new American Republic, the early years of social spread across the continent, a “Second Great Awakening,” mounting tensions over the slavery issue, the American Civil War, and finally the period of Reconstruction afterward. This study goes deeply into social, political, and economic dynamics (a study in social power)—but also blends this analysis with an equally deep inquiry into the cultural-spiritual character of American society during these time periods and events.

The long battle between exclusionary and inclusive versions of the American story Was America founded as a Christian nation or a secular democracy? Neither, argues Philip Gorski in American Covenant. What the founders envisioned was a prophetic republic that would weave together the ethical vision of the Hebrew prophets and the Western political heritage of civic republicanism. In this eye-opening book, Gorski shows why this civil religious tradition is now in peril—and with it the American experiment. American Covenant traces the history of prophetic republicanism from the Puritan era to today, providing insightful portraits of figures ranging from John Winthrop and W.E.B. Du Bois to Jerry Falwell, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama. Featuring a new preface by the author, this incisive book demonstrates how half a century of culture war has drowned out the quieter voices of the vital center, and demonstrates that if we are to rebuild that center, we must recover the civil religious tradition on which the republic was founded.

"God's Covenant with America" provides a detailed look at Christian American history through the nineteenth century. It is a call for us, as Americans, to return to our forefathers' vision of "one nation, under God."

This book is part of a three-part series on America as a Covenant Nation. This volume covers from the rise of America’s industrial revolution in the late 1800s to America’s taking the position in the Cold-War 1950s as the leader of the “Free World.” It is a typical social (political, economic, and military) history of America—untypical however in how it connects the intellectual, moral and spiritual character of America with those same social events. It takes the reader through the days of Western imperialism, World War One, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, World War Two, the beginning of the Cold War, and finally the age of Middle-America’s grand success (the 1950s). It focuses heavily on the leaders (most frequently the country’s presidents) and how their own personal spirituality shaped their times—and the way the Christian community in particular responded to both the social challenges facing it and the spiritual leadership attempting to inspire and guide it. It seeks to give the Christian reader (or Secular reader if he or she is willing to be challenged) a highly-detailed knowledge of the historical path—social and spiritual—that has brought us to today’s world ... and its enormous challenges.