I love this comment. I suppose that there could be reliable tracking by polls which illustrate your thesis. At an intellectual level, it makes tremendous sense to me. I would put in two further comments to ponder. The first is that 9/11 was an incredibly successful attack on American soil, considerably more impactful than the difficult periods - Vietnam, the OPEC crises, the Trump era - that you explained. 9/11 was a terrorism event that was shock and awe in a way the world had never seen (in terrorism). It came as a complete surprise - to ordinary Americans. It was televised live in unsparing detail - who can unsee people jumping out of skyscrapers? And the enemy was to most people, relatively unknown for some time. If they could pull off that, why could they not blow up 10 Walmarts at exactly the same moment a month or two later. The attackers showed power and daring. Who knew what they were capable of? Then followed the futility of two wars, the creation of the Dept. of Homeland Security, the daily humiliations at airports when we went to travel again. Du ta was arrogant but Americans soon learned how stupid his response was - and how all sympathy was squandered in pursuing bin Laden and al Qaeda. On a macro scale it just kept worse and worse. The second point I’d make is this. In Vietnam Americans learned slowly and painfully that they could lose a war. That was a new thing. And it certainly must have drained away confidence. But the nation was far, far stronger then than it was in 2001. The pillars of any society, rock solid community organizations were virtually fully intact. People went to mainstream churches in high numbers. Schools were trusted. The government was seen as a force for good, although less so as Vietnam dragged on. Family units were stronger. The service club ethos was a binding force (Kiwanis, Lions Club etc). The Boy Scout organization was at the height of its influence. The union movement was at its apex. And so on. For many reasons middle class Americans believed in the concept of America. On the other hand 9/11 came at a time when America seemed to be crumbling internally. Despite your very persuasive points, I still cling to my belief that the 21st century has been one bad year after another for Americans. I do not think confidence suddenly eroded in 2017.