According to a new Rasmussen survey, the vast majority of Americans believe their country is more exceptional than other nations across the globe.
In a national telephone poll performed late last week, Rasmussen found that 59 percent of likely voters agree that the United States is more exceptional than other counties. Only 27 percent of respondents disagreed, and 14 percent were not sure.
American leaders have a long history of invoking the concept of American exceptionalism.
“You can call it mysticism if you want to, but I have always believed that there was some divine plan that placed this great continent between two oceans to be sought out by those who were possessed of an abiding love of freedom and a special kind of courage,” Ronald Reagan said during his famous Shining City on A Hill speech in 1974.
More recently, Newt Gingrich addressed the concept in his 2012 book, A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters.
Gingrich wrote that America is exceptional “because we—unlike any nation before or since—are united by the belief and the promise that no king, no government, no ruling class has the power to infringe upon the rights of the individual. And when such a government attempts to do so, we will vigorously reject them.”
But at least one world leader — who happens to be exactly the kind of oppressor Gingrich says Americans would reject — says that kind of thinking is out of line.
“It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation,” Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote in a recent op-ed published by the New York Times.
Putin wrote the article after a speech made by President Barack Obama in which he explained what he believes makes America exceptional.
“…When, with modest effort and risk, we can stop children from being gassed to death, and thereby make our own children safer over the long run, I believe we should act,” Obama said. “That’s what makes America different. That’s what makes us exceptional.”
Obama may not truly understand what makes America exceptional, but by at least admitting that we are, he finds himself on the right side of public opinion for the first time in a while.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters was taken September, 12-13, by Rasmussen Reports. The survey has a margin error of +/- 3 percent.
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