Definition of "preeminence"

In an era when political leaders promise deliverance from decline through America’s purported preeminence in scientific research, the news that science is in deep trouble in the United States has been as unwelcome as a diagnosis of leukemia following the loss of health insurance.

2012 January, Philip E. Mirowski, “Harms to Health from the Pursuit of Profits”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 4 April 2012, page 87