Ok. Guys. As someone who has researched #AmericanExceptionalism a lot, I have A THREAD. #protests2020
First, what is #AmericanExceptionalism? It is helpful to view it as a national identity or narrative (which says that the US is inherently morally superior to other nations, and therefore will rise but not fall like previous great powers, and therefore should lead others).
I write about how this narrative has influenced US foreign policy through history in this book: routledge.com/American-Excep…
This perspective is opposed to those who think #AmericanExceptionalism is some kind of objective claim that can be scientifically proven. See, for instance, amazon.com/American-Excep…
Second, this narrative about the US being normatively exceptional (i.e. better than others) has always been contested and fought over. Indeed, a powerful way to produce change in the US has been to challenge those in power to *live up to* the idea that the US is exceptional. 
Thirdly, this "civic" kind of national identity (i.e. ideas-based) has always battled with an ethnic kind of identity (white supremacy: slavery -> segregation -> systemic discrimination and sustained inequalities between whites and minorities).
Fourthly, I believe this era of Trump signifie a battle royale between these two versions of what the "real" United States is and who get to be defined as "real Americans." It defines Trump's entire agenda - domestic & foreign. I write about that here: tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…
In conclusion, #AmericanExceptionalism was always an idea, not a reality. But it was a hugely influential idea that affected how the US defined its role in the world and its soul at home. Its death has been announced many times, for instance by Harvard sociologist Daniel Bell in
1975, when he wrote that this was "the end of American exceptionalism." It has always been just around the corner. It's the contestation, the battle, the definition of what, if anything, makes the US special, which matters. Now, more than ever. nationalaffairs.com/public_interes…
