All We Say - The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches

What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? This sweeping history of the United States told through fifteen speeches relives the battle over American identity, from a New York Times bestselling author and one of President Barack Obama’s former speechwriters. For 250 years, we have debated what it means to be American. This question shaped the compromises in our Constitution and the arguments we’ve been having ever since—spawning abolitionism, secession, and civil war; populism, mass migration, and global leadership; movements for reform and the backlashes to them. In All We Say, Ben Rhodes tells the story of fifteen speeches—some iconic, others long forgotten—which have both shaped and reflected the argument Americans have been having from our founding to the intense divisions of our time. Through riveting and beautifully rendered accounts of the people, movements, and moments that produced these speeches, Rhodes traces the history of our battle over identity. The result is a singular and revealing portrait of America itself: a nation divided between two stories—one of inheritance, power, and exclusion, the other of equality, striving, and belonging.