Our Messy, Unique, Beautiful American Experiment

Orville Wright flying a Wright glider at Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The flight was officially the first sustained, controlled flight by a heavier-than-air craft. Wilbur Wright runs alongside his brother. Fox Photos/Getty Images

Commentary

When asked in Europe in 2009 whether he believed in American exceptionalism, then-President Barack Obama said he did—in the same way that “the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks in Greek exceptionalism.” In other words, “No.”