Rediscovering the American Dream: Defining the Complex Creed in the Inaugural Addresses of President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama

In each of the four inaugural addresses delivered by George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the presidents referenced the American Dream, a concept that has grown to represent a shared set of values in American society. After explaining the origins of the American Dream and the ways in which certain values associated with the term have been emphasized or neglected over time, this analysis illustrates how each president invokes the term in those inaugural addresses, allowing the reader to understand the extent to which both presidents define the Dream on a spectrum ranging from meritocratic individualism to society-building communitarianism that all Americans can recognize and apply to their everyday lives. The entanglement of these values suggests the importance of maintaining balance between individual initiative and a community commitment to the preservation of the equality of opportunities inherent in “our nation’s promise.”