The foremost anthem for mid-century America was the monumental “Fanfare for the Common Man” penned in 1942 by composer Aaron Copland, and inspired in part by a speech made earlier that year by Vice President Henry A. Wallace, in which Wallace proclaimed the dawning of the “Century of the Common Man.” As Figure 5.3 shows, the term “common man” had appeared first in American literature in the Progressive Era, rose steadily in the first half of the century (except for the familiar pause in the 1920s), peaked in 1945, and then faded in cultural salience throughout the rest of the century, its
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