Dan Rather’s The American Dream

Dan Rather, the author of The American Dream: Stories from the Heart of a Nation writes about Trung Dung an Internet millionaire. He states that the term Internet millionaire became an obsession with the new economy. He mentioned that they were business heroes and guided American dreams of materialism. In the following literary analysis, Dan Rather explains like most stereotypes, this one obscured the individuals behind the term Internet millionaire.

Dan Rather illustrates how Trungs family had lived in relative steadiness during wartime Vietnam. His family was able to get by with a combination of hard work and resourcefulness, but Trung wanted to pursue in higher education. By 78, the height of the boat people escaping Vietnam, we realized that I can never get into school, into university, because of my background, Trung recalls. The arrangement for Trungs escape would mean that he could establish himself and the rest of the family could join later. Trungs family raised enough so he could be in a better country after selling all their furniture, jewelry, trinkets, extra clothes, and everything else not already confiscated by the government.

The author explicated the conflicts his mother went through and finally paid off in 1984. Trung stated, My mother had absolute confidence in me, and I cannot even imagine what she went through. Imagine a housewife raising three young kids in a very hostile environment and then having to take care of the grandmother and a husband in jail. How she managed to do all that and make sure we are in school and do well in schoolAnd shes personally responsible for me getting out here. Its mind-boggling to me. I have no idea how she did it. I took a year for Trung and his sister to gain admittance to the United States as children of former allies.

The author adds how a refugee from an undeveloped country was haggard so strongly to computer science. The helplessness he had felt in a childhood where others determined his fate. Programming gave him a way to express himself clearly. Within three years Trung had taken every undergraduate and almost every graduate course in computer science and graduated in 1988 at the top of his class. He then was offered a job and a chance to study for the Ph.D. program at Boston University, but Trung left the program and joined a promising e-commerce company. After his mother passed away, he decided to start his own company. Mark Pine, a prominent venture capitalist, was CEO and Trung was chief technology officer. They raised $35 million after four rounds of financing. OnDisplay went public in December 1999, and made over $100 million. The important thing is how do you recover from the mishaps. Theres always more opportunity. Thats what I love about this country. So many opportunities, stated Trung.

In conclusion, Dan Rather illustrates the problems Trung went through as he managed to pursue his education. For example how he did not know enough English to join a class of his contemporaries. Trung Dung is truly a strong leader that never gave up on his dreams and why this one obscured the individuals behind the term Internet millionaire.