With the conclusion of Memorial Day weekend, the summer season is upon us, and nothing says summer in the United States like a good old-fashioned family road trip. This summer is particularly noteworthy for it is the nation’s semiquincentennial, celebrating 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. This year promises to be a delightful and patriotic summer, and there might not be a better book to enjoy this year’s summer patriotism than Fox News Books’ All American Patriotism by Rachel Campos-Duffy, host of Fox News’s Fox & Friends Weekend.
It is a thoroughly charming novel that beams with patriotism from cover to cover. However, what sets it apart from other books is that this patriotism embodies a breathtaking sense of verisimilitude about being a family in the U.S. in the 20th century and carrying on those traditions in the 21st. In her introduction, Campos-Duffy says that she hopes her book “reminds us of who we are,” and this collection of essays does just that. Containing anecdotes of the family summer adventures of yesteryear of Fox News personalities, each chapter is like a literary home-cooked meal for the American soul.
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If an American pride, cross-country summer road trip in a 1996 Ford Windstar — my family’s road trip vehicle of choice — could be a novel, it would be All American Patriotism. From the story of Sean Duffy’s journey on the Grand Canyon rim with his mother and siblings to Jesse Watters’s family trips to Maine during his youth to Abby Hornacek’s family football games to Charlie Hurt’s family plays with his “Granny,” each story provides a little peek into their lives to deliver what truly makes America exceptional.
Their stories symbolize the American spirit, but not in the traditional sense. It offers the reader insight into America through the lens of different people’s lives at different times and in different places, separately, yet in a strange, heartwarming way, also together. These unique stories and different perspectives represent an all-American patriotic allegory of E Pluribus unum, the country’s motto that appears on the Great Seal of the United States at the request of Founding Fathers John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, meaning “out of many, one,” an important theme that Campos-Duffy highlights in the book.
The book opens with a touching foreword by Erika Kirk, who details her late husband’s love for the country and his favorite pastimes, including watching the Chicago Bears and Oregon Ducks play football in the fall. She likened his fondness for football and the intricacies of the game to a symbolic representation of what makes America great. Football was a “symbolism for America at play.” Without giving too much away, Kirk’s beautiful words are almost guaranteed to leave the reader teary-eyed. Campos-Duffy explained to me why she included it in the book.
“For those of us who knew and loved Charlie Kirk, there’s a sadness knowing that he’s not alive to celebrate America’s 250th birthday,” Campos-Duffy told the Washington Examiner. “He was such a passionate patriot & cheerleader of our country, her history & people. Including Erika’s foreword was important to me because no one taught the young the reasons we should love and cherish America more than Charlie Kirk.”
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It goes without saying that the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent formation of the U.S. are among the most pivotal moments in human civilization. As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary in a little over five weeks from now, it is important to remember what we are celebrating and, perhaps, more importantly, who we are celebrating — the American people. From colonial times to the tumultuous mid-19th century to the ups and downs of the 21st century, it is the American spirit, the American experience, and the American journey that have changed history and set us apart from the rest of the world.
In All American Patriotism, Campos-Duffy shows why what makes America great goes beyond its founding documents, showing it is the country’s people — of the past, the present, and ultimately the future, in which we are one. Different stories of summer adventures, different tales of family experiences, all uniquely American.
With the country’s 250th anniversary upon us, All American Patriotism is truly a story of “out of many, one.”
