What makes America great? Just ask America's elders.
Sue Smith, an 81-year-old former recruiter for the GI Bill at Penn State, says she saw the greatest America as a child, when her patriotic aunt would drive around and knock on the doors of strangers who had their flag out in the rain and ask them to bring it in.
Eleanor Jensen, a former secretary from New Jersey who just celebrated her 98th birthday, says she saw the greatest America during World War II, when 鈥渆verybody did their part.鈥�
And John Clinton, a former political professor in Maryland and Washington born at the start of that war, says he sees the greatest America today.
At a time when Americans are talking about whether there鈥檚 a need to make America great again, these members were among those who made it great the first time.
The Greatest Generation 鈥� Americans born before 1925 鈥� and their close contemporaries, the Silent Generation, differ in their views of the country, but on one idea they tend to agree: patriotism used to mean something deeper.
Donald Trump鈥檚 slogan 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� inherently honors another time in US history 鈥� a time that Trump supporters remember as better, a country that they look upon as more moral, secure, and prosperous. But members of the Greatest and Silent generations say America was great not because those things came easily 鈥� it was great because they worked harder for greatness.
John Harrison, an 81-year-old retiree from Florida, sees it in little things, like when he asks his grandchildren, 鈥淲here does milk come from?鈥� And, having never milked a cow, they say, 鈥淔rom the store.鈥�
鈥淲e used to really work together because that鈥檚 the way we survived, and that self-reliance really built a lot of character in that society,鈥� says Mr. Harrison, who says he doesn鈥檛 see the same kind of universal respect or commitment to family and religion these days. 鈥淣ow our society focuses on 鈥榃ho can help me?鈥欌��
Trump is both an effect and a cause of this problem, say America's elders: Americans physically fight one another at political rallies and debates have become a place of schoolyard taunts and PG-13 rated rhetoric.
鈥淟ooking back, I can recall that the grown-ups all seemed to have a sense of purpose that was evident even to someone as young as four, five, or six,鈥� writes former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw, who coined the term 鈥淭he Greatest Generation鈥� in his 1998 book. 鈥淲hatever else was happening in our family or neighborhood, there was something greater connecting all of us, in large ways and small.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 largest lead is among 65-plus crowd
To appeal to the national loyalty built into almost every older American, Trump 鈥� himself a member of the Silent Generation 鈥� is refurbishing the cornerstone catchphrase of US politics: the American dream.
鈥淪adly, the American dream is dead,鈥� in his campaign announcement in June 2015. 鈥淏ut if I get elected president, I will bring it back bigger and better than ever.鈥�
According to a poll released last month, Trump leads Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by in the 65-plus age bracket, his largest lead of any age group.
鈥淎bsolutely鈥� Trump directs his rhetoric to older Americans, says Michael Cornfield, director of the Global Center for Political Engagement at George Washington University.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the 鈥楢gain鈥� in 鈥楳ake America Great Again.鈥欌��
But David Steigerwald, a professor of history at The Ohio State University and director of the department's World War II study abroad program at OSU, says the nostalgic view of a once-great America is 鈥渁 false memory.鈥�
鈥淲hen were things really tranquil from my perspective? There never was such a time,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a creation of recent sensibilities of older white Americans 鈥� they are reacting to demographic change from the mid-1960s.鈥�
Hershey bars for returning soldiers
Charlotte Miller, an 86-year-old retired schoolteacher and mother of six from Lincoln, Neb., says patriotism used to produce camaraderie among Americans 鈥� friends and strangers alike. She remembers going to the airport with her mother to hand out Hershey bars to soldiers and sailors returning home from war, and helped out at a hospital as an 11-year-old, feeding people and bringing them flowers.
鈥淚t was easy to have unitedness then because we thought we were all white Americans. There wasn鈥檛 an effort to get to know others,鈥� explains Mrs. Miller, who says she could count on one hand the number of black and Hispanic students at her grade school in Illinois. 鈥淲e鈥檙e mixing it up more and that鈥檚 upsetting to a lot of people.鈥�
Indeed, Trump has played on fears that the rising numbers of immigrants and increased integration of minorities are undermining American security and prosperity.
鈥淢any people fear the immigrants, because they feel that they鈥檙e taking their jobs away. But I don鈥檛 believe that,鈥� says Miller, whose church group reaches out to Muslim neighbors. 鈥淢any immigrants are very hard workers and I have great admiration for them.鈥�
Calls for greater civility
Despite greater opportunities for immigrants and minorities today, Hetlyn Lyles, an African-American woman living in Boston, says there is still segregation 鈥� and an element of civility that is missing.
It鈥檚 not that she didn鈥檛 experience the formal segregation of past decades. She recalls accidentally sitting in the front of a segregated bus when she moved to Georgia with her husband, and feeling embarrassed and hurt.
But Mrs. Lyles, 86, also remembers a day when she had worked all day to make a nice garden, and went inside to cool off and saw a white man from the neighborhood planting a rosebush in her front yard in recognition of her effort.
鈥淸Segregation] is never going to go away, on both sides,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut at least people knew how to act when I was a kid.鈥�
Mr. Clinton cautions against the nostalgia that makes everything look better in the rear-view mirror. But he echoes some of what Lyles says.
鈥淲e鈥檙e lucky to be alive in the time we live in 鈥撀爐here鈥檚 nothing we need to go back to,鈥� he says. 鈥淯nless it鈥檚 to pick up the spirit of the Founding Fathers, which was civility.鈥�
(Editor's note: This article was updated to reflect the correct age range of those referred to as the Greatest Generation.)
