Based on over five years of interview and archival research, John Wayne: American explains the appeal of Wayne's abiding Americanness. Indeed, we cannot understand America itself without understanding John Wayne. Born in a dyed-in-the-wool Republican town in Iowa, a football star and student leader, and a scholarship boy at USC, Wayne went to Hollywood because it was the truest meritocracy in America, the one place where his lack of wealth and connections could not hurt him. After spending the first decade of his career on Poverty Row, he emerged as a star in Stagecoach. But it was during World War II that Wayne - and America - emerged as superpowers. Wayne came to politics reluctantly, joining the mainstream of America in its confrontation with communism - and maintaining his opposition ever since. At heart, however, Wayne was a nonideological conservative. He loved his freedom, his friends, his women, and his booze. He believed in simple justice, and common decency, and he will always be beloved as a result.
- ISBN10 0029238374
- ISBN13 9780029238370
- Publish Date 3 April 1998 (first published 11 September 1995)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 15 March 2002
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Simon & Schuster Ltd
- Edition 29th ed.
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 608
- Language English