BOOMER DESTINY: LEADING THE U.S. THROUGH THE WORST CRISIS SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION Tom Osenton [...]... Generation through the last American crisis the Great Depression and World War II Those are big shoes to fill and big issues to conquer Besides being the largest and most conspicuously consuming generation of all time, who are the Boomers? Are they up to the task of leading the country through the next American crisis? Boomer Bio We have heard the basic statistics a thousand times: 76 million Boomers... helped them gain confidence early on about their feelings and choices And, as Boomer children grew into the young adults on college campuses across the country, they were not shy about making their voices heard Anti-Establishment Boom Boomers were the rising adults of a society in turmoil during the 1960s and the 1970s, and their self-confidence pushed back against the many injustices of the times Boomers... old, Boomers began to get serious about the future Many of them turned in their tie-dyed T-shirts for Brooks Brothers’ suits and a chance to join the top 1 percent of wage earners Whereas the parents and grandparents of Boomers had just looked for jobs, Boomers expected to build careers They also expected to do better materially than their parents For the most part, they did and they may very well be the. .. coincides with the Fourth Turning crisis of the Great Power cycle Those were the four generations born during the Great Power cycle Boomer Barack Obama, on the other hand, was part of a generation that was born at the beginning of a new cycle—during the First Turning high of the Millennial cycle The following are the nine American generations that are widely discussed in this book, along with their date... of the White House—signaling that change was in the wind for Boomers The Boomers were beginning to enter the workforce, most of them with a college degree that many of their parents A Legacy Not Yet Written 13 never received Boomers now owned a shirt and tie and, in record numbers, poured into the civilian workforce for the balance of the 1970s and into the 1980s The 1970s had it all—a war, an oil crisis, ... recession, the resignation of a president, Republicans and Democrats in the White House, a hostage crisis, and the 200th birthday of the country Change was certainly in the air as the country struggled to find a rhythm As the 1980s dawned, the focus of the United States was off Southeast Asia and on the Middle East—a focus that would stay with the country well into the new century Presidents from the GI... boomers The timing is such that Barack Obama’s Boomers are becoming senior leaders of American society at the beginning of an American crisis just as Benjamin Franklin did as a member of the Awakening Generation through the crisis of the American Revolution, as Abraham Lincoln did as a member of the Transcendental Generation through the crisis of the Civil War,1 and as FDR did as a member of the Missionary... consumers that they have come to be perceived as Yet like FDR’s Missionary Generation the senior leaders of the last American crisis Boomers, led by Boomer President Obama, have a chance to write an entirely new ending to the legacy they will leave over the next 10 to 15 years as the senior leaders of the coming American crisis One last reason that I wrote this book - I care deeply about the world we... helped the United States through the last American crisis Instead, a new line-up of generations has formed—one that has the aging Silent Generation (born 1925–1944) moving out of the role as senior leaders and into its senior years Moving into the role as senior leaders of American society over the next 20 years will be the largest, most written-about, most marketed-to generation of all time: the baby boomers... was their coronation as Yuppies that forever solidified this generation as conspicuous consumers—especially the segment of the population known as DINKs—dual income, no kids Strong Boomer women emerged better educated than their mothers and grandmothers, in touch with their own self-worth and desiring to seek their own career paths Add to the equation the fact that the United States experienced the . BOOMER DESTINY: LEADING THE U. S. THROUGH THE WORST CRISIS SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION Tom Osenton