In her new collection of columns from the Wall Street Journal, Pulitzer Prize winner Peggy Noonan takes readers on a journey through the essence of our nation's character.

With her trademark blend of storytelling, historical insight, and journalistic rigor,

Noonan explores what unites us as a people, even in divisive times.

She sat down with Jeff Bennett yesterday to discuss a certain idea of America.

Peggy Noonan, welcome to the News Hour.

Thank you.

You say this book is about loving America and enjoying thinking aloud about it.

Tell me more about the intention behind the book.

Oh, gosh.

An editor and I went through

the past few years of columns that I've written for the Wall Street Journal. And what we found

was that we liked the most, enjoyed the most, had the most fun with and also felt the feeling of satisfaction

about those columns that deal with history, mostly American history, and mostly with America

and its essence and what it is now and what we're trying to make it.

To me, America has been simply a great subject of my life.

Maybe it's been the great subject of everybody's life.

But I was very conscious in going through my stuff that it's about America.

Reading these columns, it made me wonder,

how do you view your role and your responsibility

as a public thinker, a public writer, a columnist?

Oh, that's a great question. I think maybe both David Brooks and I think, and many columnists

simply think, try to columnists simply think,

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