A pioneering spirit.

Question: What forces have shaped America most?

Robert Menendez: I think that spirit that everything is possible; the spirit that says, “We can do this,” whatever this is; the spirit of independence, both individually and, to some degree, collectively as we say and speak about it in the rest of the world. But certainly in America that spirit of individualism; that spirit of “can do”; a pioneer spirit. I think those are things that have shaped America over the last . . . since its inception and continue to be forces today that shape America; that unique American mindset that we can do this; we can achieve this; and I individually have the independence to do that, and to shape my own personal course of events as well as maybe in a broader, collective mindset be able to do . . . have America do anything that needs to be done in the world.

Recorded on: 9/12/07