ABSTRACT
During the 1988 presidential campaign, George H.W. Bush stated, “I am not going to let that liberal Governor [Michael Dukakis] divide this nation. . . . I think that’s for European democracies or something else. It isn’t for the United States of America. We are not going to be divided by class” (qtd. in Kalra 1). Bush, of course, had a particular political agenda (relating to the upcoming election) in claiming that America desires to, or has the ability to, exist as a “classless” nation. But behind Bush’s comments is an unacknowledged facet of his ideologies as well, one that speaks about the ways in which he sees the American nation in relationship to other nations around the world. Bush’s statement exemplifies an idea that rests on a notion of American exceptionalism-the belief that America is, inherently, set apart from other nations.
