The Peace Corps wasn’t so bad; “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.
People will rally behind a common purpose and accept sacrifices when it’s clear what the upside of doing it is and the downside of not doing it is. Bush failed to do that with 9/11; “ask not what you can do for your country: shop.” Obama failed to appeal to the better angels of our nature with the Great Recession, instead focusing on a weak healthcare bill, bailouts, etc.
Americans were ready to rise to the occasion in both cases, and in both cases were disappointed and embittered.
