General Description
The Fountainhead has become an enduring piece of literature, more popular now than when published in 1943. On the surface, it is a story of one man, Howard Roark, and his struggles as an architect in the face of a successful rival, Peter Keating, and a newspaper columnist, Ellsworth Toohey. But the book addresses a number of universal themes: the strength of the individual, the tug between good and evil, the threat of fascism. The confrontation of those themes, along with the amazing stroke of Rand’s writing, combine to give this book its enduring influence.
Why the President Should Read This Book
Although the book is needlessly disturbing in parts, the themes of individual freedom and the innate drive humans have to excel, contrasted against the greed that motivates one to look for shortcuts to the top, serve as superb examples of true human nature, what can be accomplished when individuals are free to pursue their own courses, and how those who do not follow their dreams can become envious of those who do, and like the crabs in a bucket work to prevent those who would succeed from achieving it. A President who read and understood this book would be more likely to have the self-restraint to hold back and not step in to “help” those who struggle in life, knowing that such struggles often lead to greatness, and that to interfere often leads to tragedy.