Re-Making the American Dream

by David Vaught

Formats

Softcover

$13.99

Hardcover

$23.99

E-Book

$4.99

Softcover

$13.99

Book Details

Language : English

Publication Date : 9/16/2019

Format : Softcover

Dimensions : 6x9

Page Count : 236

ISBN : 9781728326634

Format : Hardcover

Dimensions : 6x9

Page Count : 236

ISBN : 9781728326641

Format : E-Book

Dimensions : N/A

Page Count : 236

ISBN : 9781728323091

About the Book

What Happens? When the Values of Duty, Honor, Country clash at West Point with the religious teachings of the Liberty Baptist Church in Burnt Prairie . . . Join us on this journey in the Vietnam War era when the author was confronted by Colonel Al Haig, soon to join President Nixon’s White House and later to serve as President Reagan’s Secretary of State, . . . And Admiral Moorer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a federal courtroom. . . Waging a vigorous official defense of compulsory chapel, while the author stood up for freedom of religion under the First Amendment, Despite them all having sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States . . . In such a clash and its aftermath, the answer . . .

About the Author

David Vaught is a 1969 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, who took up the challenge to compulsory chapel in his last year as a cadet and twice as a witness in the federal court case that ended it. He later became active in Illinois politics supporting the reform campaign of Governor Dan Walker and as Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget under Illinois Governor Pat Quinn during the Great Recession.

Customer Reviews

This book is a memoir by David Vaught, whose little known story is central to a fight to preserve America’s religious freedom. The narrative begins in David’s childhood, as he is brought up on a farm in southern Illinois and raised in the Baptist traditions of his caring, truth-seeking, freedom-loving family. David’s life progresses as he is slowly introduced to a world much larger and complicated than the small town near his family farm, but his core value of integrity – practicing what he preaches – remains the same. Attending the United State Military Academy during the Vietnam era, David sees his character challenged in a way he didn’t expect. While there are other mandatory cadet chapel options (Catholic or Jewish), his experience at West Point’s Protestant chapel is at odds with his Baptist upbringing. His requests to attend a Baptist service off-post are denied. Together with a very small group of cadets, David seeks legal help to find relief in the American Dream (America’s culture, national character, and way of life) and its written embodiment in the First Amendment of the Constitution. The book then gives a brief history of American religious freedom, showing how immigrants came to America to escape persecution from state religions in other countries, religions that were meant to buttress the power of the state and straying from which meant state-sponsored duress. Early Americans were alarmed the English were trying to establish a state religion in their colonies. After the Revolution, Baptists especially were happy to see Jefferson and Madison lead the charge to pass Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom, a model for the Constitution’s First Amendment. Despite this rich history, a formidable array of obstacles are thrown in the path of David and his group by powers at the nation’s highest military and civilian executive levels. But the US Supreme Court eventually rules in their favor, striking down the mandatory chapel requirement at the service academies. Through force of character, David’s group survives, albeit with varying results and career-affecting scars. David’s short time in the regular Army is curtailed when the Army offers the “trouble-makers” various terms of separation. David accepts an honorable discharge and forges a notably successful career in politics, law, and investment management, interesting portions of which he details in the latter portion of the book. Overall, in his account of helping the country get back on track in this portion of his life, David’s courage and character are inspiring, admirably adding to our culture of freedom – the American Dream. Highly recommended!

William J. Bahr

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