By 1980, Americans believed it, and elected Ronald Reagan. The Reagan economic boom had the unintended consequence of boosting trust in government, which rose to 44 percent in 1984, but nowhere near where it used to be. And only until the next recession. Right now, times are pretty good. The economy is booming.
Crime is down.
The U.S. is the world's only superpower. That's nowhere near where the country was before Watergate. In fact, it's just about where the country was after Watergate. Watergate also heightened public contempt for professional politicians and created a market for outsiders and non-professionals, like Jimmy Carter, Reagan, Ross Perot and Colin Powell. People expect them to rescue the country from all that cynicism.