The American Presidency

The principle of Exceptionalism stems from the idea that America is 'unique', in so much that the feudal histories of Europe are not a factor in the workings of the USA; America's roots as a British colony that gained its independence through revolution (McKay, 2007: 41), only to become the global hegemony only emphasis how the state was "created differently, developed differently, and thus has to be understood differently" (Lipset, 1991: 1, Shafer, 1991: v). Biblical thought, Republicanism and Liberalism are all key concepts embraced throughout the history of the USA and the understanding of them is integral to the understanding of American culture and the growth of its political system.This essay is going to analyze the idea that the concept of American Exceptionalism, strictly in the form of being 'unique', is rooted in the three aforementioned elements of American thought and will attempt to conclude whether a convincing case for Exceptionalism can be formed from them.

Overall, each of the three elements that are potentially the basis of Exceptionalism may have specific points that give a case for this concept of 'uniqueness' amongst Americans, however, there are also key contradictions within them that weaken and discourage the idea, as well as the argument that Exceptionalism itself is a dying concept in a modern world.American Biblical thought can be interpreted in many different ways. Stemming from the initial steps of the first settlers, the puritan movement that occupied the new territory can be seen as being intrinsically linked to many elements of Biblical thought in the modern day nation, as Tocqueville said: "I think I can see the whole destiny of America contained in the first Puritan who landed on those shores" (Gandziarowski, 2005: 3).When considering the context in which the Puritans came to America, the shaping of the Church and religion within the USA can be linked towards the Puritan movement, for example the First Amendment, which set the principles of 'free exercise' of religion and not allowing the state to establish a church, as seen in Europe (McKay, 2007: 313). This can be seen as being vastly differentiating in terms of the sociopolitical structure of the nation compared to its 'ancestors'.

The fact that the USA has no established church, actively reflects America's position of lacking a history of feudalism or monarchy (Greeley, 1991: 107), and opens up the idea that religion is of their own choosing, which ultimately suggests that choice of religion to the American people is potentially more intimate and personal than it otherwise might be if coming from a non-secular state where religion is overt (Greeley, 1991: 114).One of the most obvious examples of Biblical thought and American Exceptionalism can be said to be the belief in Manifest Destiny; the principle that it is the working of Providence that calls for, and allows, the American people to expand themselves ideologically and physically, promoting and defending democracy (Dunn, 1963: x). The idea of Manifest Destiny has been used historically to allow the government to justify and promote agendas, for example, claiming that the opposition to the construction of a large sea power was simply a "struggle against fate" (Weinberg, 1967: 253). It can be suggested that the idea of Manifest Destiny, which links closely with Biblical thought, and the divine right to expand, does not give a convincing case to Exceptionalism.It is simply a way of justifying expansion without encroaching on the anti-colonial and anti-empirical thought that America holds as a nation; it is hardly a 'unique' principle (Reynolds, 2009: xx). Some particular elements of Biblical thought, while important to the general American consciousness cannot be regarded convincing cases for Exceptionalism.

While it can be said, in the case of the puritanical beliefs from the first settlers for example, that America has been 'raised' with a strong sense of religion, it cannot be out rightly claimed that Biblical thought is as strong as it ever was in past. David Noble writes that the increase in higher education towards the turn of last century saw the "authority of Protestantism [being] replaced by the authority of science" (2002: xxxii).This could denote that while America's roots in religion are 'exceptional', in a modern day context they may not be. However, the Biblical thought process of America is indeed unique amongst other, namely European, nations in the sense that its creation, as stated by Shafer, was indeed vastly different from any European state before it. Even with a rise in industrialization and urbanization, opposing Nobles view slightly, it can be seen that unlike in places such as Great Britain, 'secularization' did not occur amongst the people (Greeley, 1991: 107).

A possible assumption can be made then, that the firm religious identity within the American people is unique in its latency, and thus somewhat 'exceptional' when seen in context to similar situations outside of America that had the opposite result. Overall it can be said that the general belief system surrounding religion, the emphasis on freedom of faith and the notions of a secular state, do not give a convincing case for American Exceptionalism. America may claim religious freedom but such a strong protestant origin ultimately contradicts itself on many occasions; it took almost two hundred years before a practising Catholic became President and there is yet to be a Jewish one, even as a Vice-President (Reynolds, 2009: xxiv).