The American people during the 20th century were governed by very different presidents. Their leadership styles were different as were their personalities and policies. Their time in power and their approach to communicating with the public influenced the trust the American people had in them and how they are viewed today. People's confidence in the presidency changed during this period due to the impact during and after World War II, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War. Technological advances (space race), the explosion of nuclear weapons, and the cultural growth of government have changed the style of the presidency and thus distrust has become more evident and spread among the American people. It can be said that mistrust has increased but also a fundamental mistrust towards the presidency from the beginning. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay World War I was a war of heroism and power, Americans were called to war to help fight not only for themselves but for their allied countries together to end the war and friction between the countries involved . During World War II the American people were shown a greater reality of the war, Pearl Harbor, etc. And that affected people's confidence in Roosevelt's decision to help and whether it was right when they were still hurting from World War I. However, according to Robert Dallek, "he was an important transformational leader." and created and left America as a superpower, "able and willing to exert its influence throughout the world" - as the people had lost their friends and families, the war had dented the people's faith in Roosevelt also if he couldn't stop the war. However, World War II led to the Cold War and there was a hysterical reaction to communism and the fear of its spread, which led to the Red Scare and people wondering what the president and the government were going to do about it. The government's solution was to join the Vietnam War and fight the North Vietnamese communists alongside the South Vietnamese, however this period was at the height of media broadcasting, radio and television were current and people could see and feel the war in its most real and intense form firsthand what was happening to American troops, their brothers, fathers, sons and, even though America was the greatest superpower in the world, how powerless they were against the Vietcong. This created a lot of distrust because the president (Johnson) seemed to do nothing and thousands of people were dying. The media used this and basically staged how presidents should be perceived, this created a sense of mortality, presidents had been seen as powerful and important but the media created images of them and shared the their background with people who showed them as more “normal” and “human”: trust decreased because the media showed the horrible truth and they saw no results. Nixon was known for being very paranoid and didn't trust the press, he ignored it and this made it turn against him, they put him in a bad light and criticized him at every turn. However, one could argue that there was no change in people's trust in the presidency because there has always been distrust and opposition towards presidents. Even some of the “best presidents” like Roosevelt, who led America and the Allies to victory in World War II, were still not trusted. The American people's distrust in.