The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny

by William Strauss

If the Great Event is successfully resolved, its enduring memory imparts to people in each phase of life a unique location in history—and a generational persona. In particular, it marks young adults as collective heroes, around whom grand myths later arise. When this hero generation reaches midlife, its leaders show greater hubris than their predecessors. As elders, they issue more demands for public reward. Meanwhile, the generation following them—the trembling children of the Great Event—bring a more deferential persona into later life-cycle phases, altering their social roles accordingly. The generation born just after the Great Event will likely be seen in hopeful colors as the golden-age children for whom the triumph was won. And, as the Great Event echoes still further through time, this generation may, in turn, judge later generations according to whether they measure up to its own standards.