In his book At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends,[6] Eisenhower wrote that his inspiration for the Assembly went back to his concerns about how to resolve the enormous social, economic, and political quandaries that had been thrust upon the nation after World War II.

Over the years the Assembly, has perfected a technique to allow thousands of participants representing a range of views, interests, and backgrounds to come together to discuss major public policy issues and work out wise solutions.

The American Assembly has met Eisenhower's goals by sponsoring research on a vast range of topics, domestic and foreign, organizing meetings, issuing reports of findings and recommendations, and by commissioning books.

Through its published reports and books, it has provided leading law, policy, and decision makers and the general public, schools, and other educational institutions with materials for their own Assembly projects.

In 2006, The American Assembly's Next Generation Project set out to discover fresh perspectives about US global policy by identifying and engaging the best emerging young talent from a wide range of vocations and regions of the country growing in economic and political importance.

Nearly 300 of the country's brightest emerging leaders with a diverse range of views and interests, from multiple professional, geographic, and demographic backgrounds, were identified as Next Generation Project Fellows and participated in the Assemblies.