America, as you know, has a two party system. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the general population is also divided into two major groups: democrats and republicans. Springsteen may represent the left (liberal democrats), however, he by no means represents the right (republicans or conservatives). The person who truly represented the spirit of the US in the past was Ronald Reagan. He was able to appeal to both democrats and republicans and is still fondly remembered by many.
You know what, one of the things that I think is best about the U.S., is that if you ask 1,000 people this question you will get 1,000 different answers, any one of which could be correct depending upon your perspective. I suppose that @qwikad.com is on an important path with this discussion because presidents are chosen by a majority (or at least a plurality) of citizens to become their leader and representative to the rest of the world. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan immediately come to mind. But, then I have to think about captains of industry like Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Lee Iacocca, Jack Welch, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs. Of course, from a sheer name/face recognition angle, one would have to think of musical and acting entertainers like Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Robert DeNiro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Jackson, etc. Looking over all of these names, I would pick Ronald Reagan if forced to choose one. Some of that may be because I was around when he was president and recall those times fondly. But, when I also consider what he was able to accomplish on behalf of America in eight years, it is still a bit mind-boggling to me.
It is very hard to say. What people forget or just overlook about America is that some of its states are larger than countries and farther away from one another than some countries are to others. Hawaii is a state in the USA, and it is absolutely nothing like Texas and neither is anything like Vegas or New York.