Rampant distrust existed in 1943 America during wartime unity

Evidence

Finally, it is interesting to note that the currently popular thesis that rampant distrust is a recent result of various kinds of contemporary social breakdown might be belied by Robert Merton’s (1946) treatment of the use of Kate Smith to instill trust (or confidence in the role of government) in a generally cynical, distrustful society (as discussed in chapter 4). Rampant distrust was a problem in the supposedly united America that was fighting the just, unifying war at the end of the war-bond drive in 1943. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 747

Categorization

• SHARE: Kate Smith’s 1943 war-bond drive being premised on a cynical, distrustful public is a niche nugget for someone into American political history or propaganda studies.
• CANDY: The supposedly united WWII home front was cynical enough that a singer had to be deployed to sell war bonds — fun reversal of the ‘greatest generation’ trope.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: are there any comparable 1940s survey data, or is Merton’s study one of a kind?
• XREF: connects to: Total war’s demands bred intolerance of any divided loyalty in America — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 1218