[oblio]

The thing is, the common misunderstanding is one of the core American tenets.

It's one of the core American myths which is directly transmitted through American education, and the vast majority of Americans believe it. Even those that say they don't will recoil when you disprove or contest some key aspects, it's a very ingrained idea.

Everyone wants to be part of an exceptional nation because then there's a chance they're personally exceptional, too :-)

[kentonv]

I'm American and the first time I remember hearing the term "American exceptionalism" was when I was about 30 years old. Even then, I've almost always heard it brought up in the context of questioning it. Maybe once or twice I've heard a politician on TV professing to believe in it. To this day I'm still not sure I know what the phrase is supposed to mean.

So I don't think it's as widespread as you say, though I can easily imagine that it's a popular idea in certain segments of the population.

[wahnfrieden]

extremely popular in certain right wing circles

[bitshiftfaced]

The "misunderstanding" that the parent poster was referring to was the meaning of "exceptionalism."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the misunderstanding that you seem to be referring to is whether or not the nation actually is the thing that people misunderstood exceptionalism to mean, which is "great," "superior," etc. That's more of an opinion, so I wouldn't say "misunderstanding" is the right word for it.

[starkd]

Many people use the phrase with the assumption of extraordinary greatness or superiority. Like in that aaron sorkin video clip the article references. Exceptional can mean better performance or better results, but it can also mean that its exceptional to the rule of what a nation state was traditionally founded on. That's what the revolutionary origin of it intended. The criticism people make of it is founded on a strawman, because it was never meant that America is superior.

[starkd]

Well, any successful nation cannot be successful without believing in itself. True.

[oblio]

True, but ask the average Brit or German and compare notes with the average American ;-)

[cowtools]

If it is a myth, then it's a noble lie.

[s1artibartfast]

It might even be an exceptional myth