For one thing, presidents after Kennedy let the people down. Johnson deceived them about Vietnam. Nixon deceived them about Watergate. Reagan deceived them about Irangate. In the 1980s President Reagan led an all-out attack on government.
Government is the problem.
Politicians trashing each other in television sound bites further undermined public confidence in the profession to which they all belong. The media, transgressing older rules of restraint, made cynicism a national industry. And today, stirred up by the furious flow of Speaker Gingrich's unending words, many regard the national government not just as the problem but as the enemy. This demonization of government is having consequences far beyond anything that initial critics like Reagan and Gingrich intended. The Reverend Pat Robertson delights American historians by resurrecting the old hysteria about the sinister and enduring influence of Adam Weishaupt and the Illuminati of 18th century Bavaria.