By John J. Waters and Adam Ellwanger, Chronicles, December 15, 2025
This article was originally published by RealClearHistory and made available via RealClearWire.
Since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers, many have designated Sept. 11, 2001 as the true close of the 20th century. That event indeed changed many things in the United States and in the world. It was a sign that the American-led global order established after World War II had become fragile and hollowed out. But in the decades that followed, our leaders clung to the pieties and perspectives of the pre-9/11 period, applying obsolete solutions in a new era with much different problems.
In retrospect, Donald Trump’s 2015 presidential campaign was the true start of the 21st century. He was the first political figure to offer a coherent account of where America had gone wrong—and the first to propose a genuinely different prescription for fixing the rot in our institutions. More than that though, he restored national pride to the center of politics. Approximately 80 percent of Americans said they were proud of their country in January 2001. By the mid-2020s, only 60 percent of Americans said they were proud of their country, with younger Americans being significantly less proud than their Baby Boom and Silent Generation elders. We cannot blame the precipitous decline solely on political polarization. Many Americans across the political spectrum believe both parties have failed to act in the best interests of the nation and its citizens. …
