Heroes and American politics

Who counts as a hero in the 21st century?

How is heroism adapting to an age of nonstop news, hyper-partisanship and intense political scrutiny?

Research I recently conducted with my colleague Krista Jenkins focuses on the evolving profile and significance of U.S. heroism over the past century.

After examining decades of survey data, presidential political rhetoric from William McKinley – elected in 1896 – to Barack Obama, thousands of news stories and four generational focus groups, we can confidently say that ordinary people and political and media leaders talk about heroes in different ways. These often striking differences highlight important political challenges we face today.

Abundant talk

Talk about heroes has certainly been abundant in the early days of the Trump administration. In just over three months in office, the president has made more than 20 different hero references in speeches and tweets.