The Theo-Political Foundations of American Exceptionalism: A Goal for the "Almost Chosen People"

The book marks the conclusion of some fifty years of research and writing on the foundational principles and structure of the American Republic by Professor Paul Eidelberg, a renowned political scientist. Eidelberg addresses three interrelated objectives. One objective is to revive the foundational principles that made the United States of America the greatest nation on earth: the principles embodied in America’s Declaration of Independence and original Constitution. It is widely known that America is in a state of decline thanks largely to the multicultural relativism of its college-educated elite. This situation, however, is reversible. An uncorrupted and no longer silent majority of Americans has the will and spiritual values to restore American Exceptionalism. The second objective is to revive the source of American Exceptionalism, namely, Hebraic Exceptionalism. Unknown to most Americans, both Protestant and Catholic Hebraists in Europe regarded the Hebraic Republic of antiquity as the most just and wisest polity in history, hence superior to those extolled by Greek and Roman philosophers. This evaluation was shared by the presidents of various eighteenth-century American universities. It is extremely important for Jews to know this because Israel, their one and only homeland, is the only nation on earth threatened with extermination. The Jewish people need to know that what a matured (but yet to be matured) Israel stands for, and what was manifested in the structure of the ancient Hebraic Republic, remains and will ever remain the fondest hope of mankind. The third objective is to articulate the political and meta-political convictions that bond America and Israel, convictions concerning man’s God-given rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—rights which necessitate limitations on the powers or functions of government. Public acknowledgement of these political and meta-political convictions will fortify the will of these two exceptional nations, not only to stand firm against their common foe—Islam’s renewed global ambitions and its “we love death” mantra—but also prompt the West to roll back Islam’s deadly threat to civilization.