I Don’t Trust Uncle Sam

I was born in the second half of the second term of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bobby Darin was climbing the charts with “Mack the Knife” and “Dream Lover,” while the Chicago “Go-Go” White Sox had just claimed the American League pennant before losing to the LA Dodgers in the World Series. “Gigi” was named Best Picture in April, but Ben-Hur, starring Charlton Heston, was packing them in at theaters across the country.

1959 was also the last year that the vast majority of Americans trusted their government.

President Eisenhower was a reassuring grandfatherly figure in the White House. Having successfully shepherded us through World War II and then making good on his promise to bring our troops home from Korea, “Ike” now oversaw eight years of relative peace and prosperity. Then, on May 1, 1960, Francis Gary Powers was shot down during a top-secret spy mission over the Soviet Union and captured. Despite President Eisenhower’s initial and very emphatic denials, Power’s subsequent admission of guilt and televised trial proved an enormous embarrassment for Ike and the United States.

In 1960, Americans voted for change, passing over Vice-President Richard Nixon for the freshman senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy. Perhaps trading in our oldest-serving president for our youngest-elected one was a way of saying that, while still somewhat wary, we were willing to give our federal government a second chance.

But then came the Bay of Pigs fiasco, for which Kennedy rightfully assumed full responsibility and blame, followed by the Cuban Missile Crisis. And then, just when it seemed that JFK had regained his presidential footing, he was gunned down in Dealey Plaza in Dallas. The 888-page Warren Commission Report raised more questions than it answered, and John Q. Public started suspecting a cover-up. Was the C.I.A. involved… or Russia… or Castro and Cuba… or the Mafia?

Next came Vietnam, a sad saga that began with glowing (and falsified) Pentagon briefings, but which eventually brought down both LBJ and his hand-picked successor, Hubert Humphrey. However, that failed war effort paled in comparison to the fall-out from Richard Nixon, Watergate, and the first-ever resignation of a sitting president.

America had hit rock bottom as far as trusting the White House and its occupants.

Gerald Ford, a perceived “nice guy,” tried his best to steady the ship of state, but he was no match for a peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, who looked into the camera and promised Americans that he would never lie to us. Jimmy Carter’s well-intentioned, but mostly incompetent presidency had some highlights such as the Camp David Accord; but soaring inflation, long gas lines, and the Iran hostage crisis were enough for Ronald Reagan to win in a landslide in 1980.

Despite a robust economy and defeating the Soviet Union and its "Evil Empire," even the “Gipper” made a few missteps, the Iran-Contra affair being the most notorious. He was succeeded by George H.W. Bush, who won the First Gulf War but broke his “Read my lips, no new taxes” pledge. Enter Bill Clinton, stage left, and too many womanizing rumors to count. A televised denial – “I never had sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky” – and an impeachment over perjury before a grand jury (not sex with a White House intern) sealed the deal and the average American had truly had enough with our duly elected leaders.

Al Gore and the contested 2000 election… George W. Bush and WMDs… Barack Obama, Benghazi, and Fast and Furious… and Donald Trump and January 6th came next in rapid-fire succession. Now we have Joe Biden and Hunter’s laptop, and Joe Biden and his classified documents, and Joe Biden and the self-inflicted border crisis, and Joe Biden and Chinese spy balloons.

Good grief, America! It’s no wonder that we all suffer from PTSD as a result of one presidential lie after another.

When Jonas Salk announced on live radio in 1953 that he had successfully developed and tested a polio vaccine, Americans rejoiced… and lined up for their shots as soon as they were approved and available. Like the rest of my fellow Baby Boomers, I still have the scar from the first 4-prong shot and vividly remember the booster being administered via a sugar cube. Conversely, when Operation Warp Speed produced three different COVID vaccines, skeptics balked at Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson… and with good reason. Not just because they didn’t trust Big Pharma, but mostly because they didn’t trust Big Government.

Sorry, Uncle Sam, but you’ve burned us one too many times. Even worse, I don’t know if we can ever go back. In my humble opinion, it will take a statesman of Churchillian proportions – with the integrity of Billy Graham – to earn our trust again.