We have been meaning to read No Apology: The Case for American Greatness by Mitt Romney for about a year since it came out. That desire got lost in the shuffle of moving, but since we finally started visiting the library, we remembered and checked it out. In a desire to finally show some degree of political non-apathy, I decided to publicize my feelings about the book. So here goes my book review.
While Mitt states that this book is written to fill a desire to share the message that he wasn't able to share during his previous campaign, it is a political maneuver for a future campaign, a detailed explanation of what he would want to do as the President of the United States. He considers the main problems/challenges of our government today: Foreign Policy, Social Security, Health Care, Education, and Energy.
The impetus for the title was President Obama's apology to foreign audiences for America's misdeeds and mistakes. Not only is this an apology, it is a break from past ideology. Since WWII, America's view of it self has been as a world superpower, the policeman of the world. We have stepped in to other conflicts to uphold democracy and our nation's ideals, but have never tried to claim land or sovereignty. President Obama was effectively conceding our role in the world and saying that we should just become equal to all other nations. Mitt contends the opposite: We need to be involved and should not break with tradition.
The main theme of the book is that American's need to work to achieve their destiny. American prosperity and the American dream is based on the fact that if you work hard enough, you can accomplish what you want. There will be hard times that we as individuals and as a country must work through: "creative destruction" of jobs in the economy to increase productivity and eventual prosperity, the stressful relationships with other nations. But as we work hard individually and fulfill our duties as citizens, we can keep the great status that previous generations have earned for our nation.
His book is very conversational; he does not point a finger of blame, merely outlining what he sees as the best way to keep America great. He focuses on what is right, not who is right. I wanted to read the book so I wasn't voting for him like I did in 2008; just because I knew his name and he is LDS. Having read the book, I feel that his vision for America is one that I want to support and, as a member of the church, I can trust him to do what he preaches. That doesn't mean that other candidates will not, but I trust him to lead our nation. I would highly recommend reading No Apology: The Case For American Greatness to anyone and if you want to discuss it, please feel free. Just do it soon because we have to return the book to the library!
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