This paper examines how the reinvigoration of the exceptional American historical experience appears as a solution to some of the leading neoconservatives, considering Nathan Glazer and Irving Kristol as emblematic, regarding the "fall" of the American empire, beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, after its rise during the Cold War, the so-called 25 glorious years. We note that the arguments of these authors is rooted in the revival of reactionary rhetoric as an antidote to the decadence of American virtue supposedly caused by Communism, by the counterculture movement and the alleged perverse effect of the welfare state.
neoconservatives; American exceptiona-lism; post 25 glorious years; counterculture; welfare state