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An American presidential tradition: 'America is back'
March 23, 2021The famous quote thought to have been said by Leo Tolstoy states that “all great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.”
The famous quote thought to have been said by Leo Tolstoy states that “all great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.”
In U.S. presidential politics, many stories of presidents’ tenures start with a single phrase: “We are back.” Many different U.S. presidents have asserted the statement over the years, promising that with their arrival to the Oval Office, America will go back to its “default settings.”
According to many U.S. presidents, these “default settings” refer to a strong America that is willing to be a global leader. As mentioned previously in this column, it is never specified which period of U.S. history Joe Biden or any of his predecessors planned to take the U.S. back to.
It seems to be an amalgamation of different periods in history when the U.S. economy was stronger, its leadership was unchallenged and the country held a moral high ground around the world.
The term today is considered synonymous with the Biden presidency but it has a history of its own.
It is true that “America is back” is one of the most frequently used phrases by Biden in the last two months. In all of his policy remarks, Biden asserted to his domestic and foreign audience that “America is back.”
During his address to State Department staff on Feb. 4, at the very beginning of his speech, he repeated the phrase twice and said
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