Greatest Generation

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The Greatest Generation is a term used to describe those US citizens who fought in World War II, as well as those who kept the home front intact during it.

Some of those who survived the war then went on to build and rebuild the United States' industries in the years following the war.

In the theory of Howe and Strauss, the term means those born in the United States from about 1901 through 1924, and who form the second half of that theory's G.I. Generation.

Broadcast journalist Tom Brokaw wrote of them in his 1998 book, The Greatest Generation. He wrote, "this is the greatest generation any society has produced." He argued that the soldiers fought not for the fame and recognition, but because it was the right thing to do.

US presidents born in this generation were George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

[edit] Sources

• The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw (1998)

• The Great Boom 1950-2000: How a Generation of Americans Created the World's Most Prosperous Society by Robert Sobel