Thomas L. Friedman Our Unofficial Anthem Tressie McMillan Cottom ‘An island of democratic possibility’ America did not invent libraries. That was the Assyrians. But when the Peterborough Town Library in New Hampshire was established in 1833, it was the first public lending library continuously funded by public money. Michelle Goldberg Our Refuge In 1788, the year before he assumed the presidency, George Washington wrote a letter to the radical Dutch Mennonite minister Francis Adrian Van der Kemp, welcoming him to the United States: “I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.” John McWhorter Our Strutting, Electric Musicals David French Our Long-Running Debate If you wanted to introduce people to the highest American ideals, what would you point them to? The great documents of the American founding are an obvious answer. Read the Declaration of Independence. Read the Constitution. Frank Bruni ‘A country’s greatness is measured by the good that it’s willing to do’ Jamelle Bouie Our Bravest Selves M. Gessen Our Righteous Anger Jessica Grose Our Unflashy, Unfussy Competence Bret Stephens ‘That sunny, generous confidence’ David Wallace-Wells Our Boundless Ambition Maureen Dowd Our Aspiration to Fairness When I was growing up, if anyone broke a glass in our house, my mother would carefully wrap the shards before she put them out for the trash collectors. “I don’t want them to cut their hands,” she would say. If you broke a glass, it was only fair that you made sure the sharp edges didn’t hurt anyone. Lydia Polgreen ‘To acknowledge our limits and still try again’ Thomas Prior is a photographer based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Over the past month he traveled across nine states and Washington, D.C., to capture the best of America.Produced by Sara Barrett, Ana Becker, Rebecca Chew, Shoshana Schultz and Jessie Wender. Additional production by Kerr Cirilo, Olivia James and Anh Nguyen.