AEI emeritus scholar Walter Berns wrote "Making Patriots" in 2001. Published by the University of Chicago, it was reviewed at the time by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and many others. AEI included a summary of the book in its June 2001 newsletter, a copy of which has been reprinted below.

"Walter Berns brilliantly and gracefully explains how our nation’s future depends upon the patriot’s understanding that freedom must service the great cause of ‘government of ,by and for the people’ and not only our individual interests.”

Thus, John McCain a hero of the Vietnam War and senior U.S. senator from Arizona, identifies the central theme of Berns’ "Making Patriots."  The Washington Post’s reviewer says that the book, which was released by the University of Chicago Press on Memorial Day, is “useful” and “brave.” George Will writes, “This book, like the decades of timely writings that have preceded it, confirms (Berns’) reputation as a leading student of America’s political culture and constitutional principles.”