Introduction: The Magnetism of American Exceptionalism, Charles W. Dunn
Old Wine in New Wine Skins; The Silver Thread of American Exceptionalism; Debating the Magnetism of American Exceptionalism.

PART I: The History of American Exceptionalism

1. The Origins and Character of American Exceptionalism, James W. Ceaser
An Exceptional War: Liberals versus Conservatives; Exceptional Objections. Defining “Exceptionalism” (or Redefining It for Some); Anti-Exceptionalism: American Declinism; The Mission Expressed Through History; Separating the Matrix of Thoughts in America’s Mission; Conclusion.

2. The Varieties of American Exceptionalism, Hugh Heclo
A Brief History of the Term “American Exceptionalism;” Framing Our Identity; Exceptionalism of Condition; Exceptionalism of Mission; Exceptionalism of Character.

PART II: The Foundations of American Exceptionalism

3. The City on a Hill: Life in a Morally Demanding Place, Hadley Arkes
The Moral Truth: We are to be Governed by Our Own Consent; The Moral Character Defines a Citizen; Which to Use: The Obvious Moral Basis or The Commerce Clause?; Conclusion.

4. A Peculiar People in “God’s American Israel,” Daniel L. Dreisbach
Beginning America’s Sacred Mission; Two Views about the Colonists’ Beliefs; Divine Providence in Early American Political Thought; A Chosen, Elect, and Covenanted People; Christian Hebraism in Early American Political Discourse; America: God’s New Israel? The Founders and Ancient Israel’s Governmental Model; Conclusion.

PART III: The Challenges to American Exceptionalism
5. Taking Exception to Exceptionalism, T. David Gordon
The Religious Idea of American Exceptionalism (and why I oppose it); Historical Considerations; Theological Considerations; The Secular Idea of American Exceptionalism (and why I disapprove it also, though less zealously); Is America Still Exceptional? Probably not. Should America Strive to be Exceptional (Probably not).

6. Is Exceptionalism a Myth?, William Kristol
The Declaration of Independence: Un-exceptionally American; The Federalist Papers: Unexceptional and Exceptional; Gettysburg Address: Universal Principle and Special Responsibility; The Patriotism of Universal Principles; The Burden of American Exceptionalism.

PART IV: The Future of American Exceptionalism

7. Ronald Reagan’s Vision of America, George H. Nash
The Colonial Perspective; More Recent Perspectives; Reagan and American Exceptionalism; Reagan’s Oration on American Exceptionalism; Reagan Addresses Foes of American Exceptionalism; Reagan’s American Exceptionalism v. LBJ and Academic Elitism; Reagan’s Addition to American Exceptionalism; Freedom and Destiny: The Underpinnings of Reagan’s Vision; Remember Our History or Lose Our Liberty; Reagan and the YouTube Generation.

8. Killing the Lone Ranger: American Exceptionalism and the Western, Marvin J. Folkertsma
The Code: American Exceptionalism Through the Western Lens; Plunging into a New Frontier; From East to West: Let the Best Man Win; Americans Are the Good Guys; American Exceptionalism: Riding Off Into the Sunset?

9. Restoring Reaganesque Exceptionalism in American Politics, Michael Barone
A Burden of Responsibility, Not a Position of Privilege; The Influence of the Glorious Revolution; Opposing Hegemonic Tyrannies; A Renaissance Time-Traveler.

10. Back to the Future: Ronald Reagan’s Exceptionalism, Steven Hayward
Reagan’s Body-Snatching Project; The Tale of the Tape; Constitutionalism and Original Intent; The Constitution and the Making of Citizens.