All You Need is Love by Elizabeth Cobbs-Hoffman: Review - Book Report/Review Example

To this the author states that “Paradoxically when the United States has been at its most expansionist, it has been most subject to idealism”. (Hoffman, 5). In the twenty years that followed World War II, America went though a growth in economic, political and military arena. This created conflicting emotions in the minds of the American people that power corrupted American virtue. After witnessing the extreme racism in Germany by the Nazis, the Americans began to take the path of universalism where they believed that every human being deserved the same rights and privileges.

In the 1950s everyone in America including scientists, novelists, theologists and politicians began to fear that the American idealism was facing a crisis. During the McCarthyism there has been burning of books and purging of libraries. Respected citizens were hauled to do un-American activities. People from movie moguls to professors to union officials began to compete with each other to seek the attention of McCarthy. This situation forced the intellectuals to worry where the nation has gone wrong.

Americans were supposed to have freedom of speech, and in McCarthy era it was becoming “a nation of people who are afraid to speak of unpopular issues” (Hoffman, 16). . All the men and women who formed the Peace Corps started a generation that had faith in its power. The feelings ran parallel to those of the nation which had gained enormous strength in economic, politics and military in the preceding two decades. Although this newly gained power was a source of pride for the Americans, but at the same time they feared what has always been seen in the history of America that power corrupts politicians.

From the time of its foundation the nation rejected power politics although the reality often differed. George Washington had stated that the United States could preserve its security by staying away from “European ambition, Rivalship, Interest, humour, or Caprice” (Hoffman, 1). This situation did not stay in the 1960s. The two world wars and unprecedented economic growth brought enormous power in the hands of the Americans. Now it was upto the people of the United States to use the power for evil or for good.

Americans were not ready to admit the presence of ‘power politics’ due to the growth although the nation had a history of corrupting the weaker nations to ensure its own expansion. The statesmen of the nation practiced realpolitik but “only to protect a free world in which right, not might, could rule” (Hoffman, 2). If the United States could prove that the power that it has gained can be used for altruistic purposes, then it could have created a new human history. This was termed as a New Frontier by John Kennedy.

Kennedy was known as the most attractive hero of America. His effort to bring forth the altruistic side of the nation is noteworthy. He initiated programs like Peace Corps to fulfill his mission. His motto was that