When did we loose our respect for our public officials and their office?

Here are some examples from the library of congress regarding jefferson* and the types of attacks a couple hundred plus years ago. *note, jefferson is my all time favorite president/founder. The Jeffersonian Republicans' first newspaper Partisan politics spurred newspaper growth in the United States from 92 in 1790 to 329 at the end of Thomas Jefferson's presidency.

All but 56 were identified with a political party. Philip Freneau's National Gazette was the first official Republican newspaper. Jefferson and James Madison provided encouragement, money and a position in Jefferson's Department of State to Freneau to establish a Republican newspaper.

The National Gazette was the leading critic of Federalist political programs durings its two year existence. Jeffersonians expose Hamilton's sexual liaison James Callender's (1758-1803) History of the United States for 1796 was the original public venue for reports of financial dealings by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton as well ... more.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.