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

The prophet archetype is born in a first turning, or a high era. Highs are upbeat eras when large institutions are seen as powerful and effective, and individualism is weak. In highs, a new civic order implants and the old values regime decays (124). Prophets grow up in a post-crisis high with the indulgence of parents and society. They come of age and enter young adulthood during awakenings as narcissistic crusaders, develop into moralistic midlifers in an unraveling, and emerge as wise elders during the next crisis. The most recent prophet generation was the Boom Generation, or Baby Boomers, born between 1943 and 1960. Famous examples of the prophet archetype include Franklin Delano Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, W.E.B. Du Bois, Winston Churchill, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, and Tony Blair. 

The nomad archetype is born in a second turning, or an awakening era. Awakenings are passionate eras of spiritual upheaval when the old civic order comes under attack and the social discipline of the