Are we on the verge of the fourth major upheaval in American history, one that will reshape U.S. politics for decades to come?

There are signs to suggest that we are. The challenges of public debt, the retirement of the “baby boom” generation, and slow economic growth have reached a point where they require profound changes in the role of government in American life. At the same time, the widening gulf between the two political parties and the entrenched power of interest groups will make it difficult to negotiate the changes needed to renew the system.

In this lecture, James Piereson suggested that Americans have faced and overcome similar trials in the past, in relatively brief but intense periods of political conflict. While others claim that the United States is in decline, Piereson argued that Americans will rise to the challenge of forming a new governing coalition that can guide the nation on a path of dynamism and prosperity.

About the Speaker

James Piereson is president of the William E. Simon Foundation and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He is the author of Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Kennedy Assassination Shattered American Liberalism(Encounter Books, 2007) and editor of The Pursuit of Liberty: Can the Ideals That Made America Great Provide a Model for the World? (Encounter Books, 2008). His essays on politics and culture have appeared in many newspapers and magazines, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New Criterion, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, and The American Spectator.