Basically I agree with Vincent. The 'American Dream' (a phrase which dates only to the early 20th century, and frankly isn't used that much here anymore) isn't meant to be a vision of what the country itself should 'stand for', much less what role we should play in international affairs--it's more an *ideal* about what kinds of life opportunities the 'average American' (and in particular the immigrant) can expect to have; that you don't need to be 'Old Money', or descended from upper-class stock, to achieve a comfortable middle-class standard of living. The inevitable accuracy issues, qualifications and contradictions aside, this was a very appealing thought to the (mostly very poor) millions of people who emigrated here from Ireland, Italy, Poland etc. during that time, convinced they could never expect the kinds of opportunities for socioeconomic advancement there which they could here.
