—Thomas Perez, U.S. Secretary of Labor
“When we make college more affordable, we make the American Dream more achievable.” —William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the U.S.
“A basic element of the American dream is equal access to education as a lubricant of social and economic mobility.” —Nicholas Kristof, journalist
“I am the epitome of what the American Dream basically said. It said you could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country.” — Whoopi Goldberg, actress and comedian
“The promise of the American Dream requires that we are all provided an equal opportunity to participate in and contribute to our nation.” —Charles B. Rangel, U.S. Congress
“To me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. To be able to do what you want to do is incredible freedom.” —Maya Lin, architect
“For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.” — Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator
“I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream.” — Bruce Springsteen, musician
“My father worked in the Post Office. A lot of double shifts. All his friends were in the same situation – truck drivers, taxi cab drivers, grocery clerks. Blue collar guys punching the clock and working long, hard hours. The thought that sustained them was the one at the center of the American Dream.” —Gary David Goldberg, writer
“In the end, the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don’t always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor.” —Julian Castro, U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development
“I think the American Dream used to be achieving one’s goals in your field of choice – and from that, all other things would follow. Now, I think the Dream has morphed into the pursuit of money: Accumulate enough of it, and the rest will follow.” —Buzz Aldrin, astronaut
“To realize the American Dream, the most important thing to understand is that it belongs to everybody. It’s a human dream. If you understand this and work very hard, it is possible.” -Cristina Saralegui, journalist
“There are those who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American Dream.” -Archibald Macleish, poet.
“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I feel that I am a citizen of the American Dream and that the revolutionary struggle of which I am a part is a struggle against the American nightmare.” -Eldridge Cleaver, writer and activist
“The American Dream may be slipping away. We have overcome such challenges before. To recover the Dream requires knowing where it came from, how it lasted so long and why it matters so much.” -Jon Meacham, editor
“The American Dream belongs to all of us.” -Kamala Harris, California Attorney General
“The faith that anyone could move from rags to riches – with enough guts and gumption, hard work and nose to the grindstone – was once at the core of the American Dream.” -Robert Reich, economist and former U.S. Secretary of Labor
“The American Dream is a phrase we’ll have to wrestle with all our lives. It means a lot of things to different people. I think we’re redefining it now.” -Rita Dove, poet
Selected Books by Speakers at the Roosevelt University 2016 Conference on the American Dream Reconsidered