Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman are two men whose backgrounds were very dissimilar but whose achievements proved to be roughly comparable-both became President of the United States. It is, for example, ironic that the wealthy Roosevelt is best known for his social programs and that Truman, who came from modest circumstances in the Middle West, achieved his greatest success in foreign affairs. This study demonstrates, with some flair, the variety and the breadth of the American experience and provides, in part, a credible basis for the existence of an American Dream.