America is the most powerful, influential nation on the planet today. However, its history has undergone significant debate and revision in recent years. This book provides a unique vantage point into our past by exploring the lives of key Americans and the role they played during pivotal moments. While our union has been imperfect, America has been a force for good, expanding the cause of freedom at home and abroad.

In these pages, there is an exploration of America's eight defining ideals--resilience, fairness, faith, drive, sacrifice, innovativeness, daring, and industriousness--by discussing how forty different Americans, from all walks of life, embodied these traits in their own life. From Presidents like Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt to freedom fighters like Susan B. Anthony and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., business tycoons Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, and even cultural sensations like Bing Crosby and Jackie Robinson, readers will learn about all aspects of American history. The time periods covered include the founding of our country, the Civil War, the Gilded Age, the Great Depression, the World Wars, Cold War, and up through the War on Terror.

As they finish this book, readers will better understand what it means to be an American and what values to espouse in their own lives to ensure they leave an even greater nation for future generations.