As the United States attained superpower status after 1945, this relationship transformed as well. These complex dynamics also highlight the possibilities—and the limitations—in which the government may act contrary to the election promises or public opinion. Ambrose and Brinkley provide several examples of this relationship throughout the text.

The first major case study was the path toward America’s entry into the Second World War between the late 1930s and December 1941. At this time, the public opinion favored isolationism and neutrality. Many regretted the experience of the First World War and opted to stay out of another European crisis. President Franklin Roosevelt exercised similar caution. As late as 1941, the president pledged to refrain from using boots on the ground to “keep war away from our country and our people” (7). Of course, the indirect participation in this conflict through supplying the Allies through Lend-Lease indicated that the US was not a completely neutral observer. At the same time, the Congress was more assertive in this regard. The US entered this war only after the Japanese strike and the German declaration of war.

The latter part of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and early 1970s stands in contrast to the American entry into World War II.