That Time When America Was Great

I had a debate/conversation with a MAGA (Make America Great Again) believer the other day, and one question I asked him was “at what period of time do you consider that America was great so that we can return to it?” He kind of waivered a bit and eventually changed the subject. Our conversation didn’t improve from there.

And this got me to thinking: What period of time is considered a period of time when America was great?

Was it the late 1800s, soon after the United States became a country? I could see an argument for that time period, as we had the Founding Fathers alive during this period, laying the foundation for what our country was to become. People like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Thomas Paine, James Monroe and John Hancock (known mostly for his very large signature). But it could also be argued that while our founders were great, the country wasn’t really great yet. They were just laying brickwork for what would one day be the foundation of our great republic. Also, there was cholera, dysentary, remnants of the plague, witchhunts (the witches being outspoken women) and overt racism. So, I can’t imagine this was the time people are thinking about when America was great.

How about in the late 1900s? The country was moving, the rest of the world left us alone, and the Supreme Court was…