The emphasis on individual achievement is highly regarded in the United States. No feature of our society is more prized than the opportunity for each person to reach his maximum potential. Most of us would like to believe that the humblest and poorest who are smart and gifted can lift up their heads and achieve new heights. The sky is the limit, in our folklore, not only in terms of becoming a super athlete like Tiger Woods or Alex Rodriguez, a captain of industry like Andrew Carnegie or Bill Gates, but also in becoming the president of U.S.—as with Andrew Jackson and Abe Lincoln who grew up in log cabins or in the case of Barack Obama who grew up in a broken home and is black.