I loved being a child of the 80's. Even as recent as the 80's, things were so much simpler. People still respected the President and the President earned it. Even though that particular government was involved in some shady things, Reagan seemed genuine. But then...I was a kid. Everything wasn't black or white (figuratively speaking), and every person didn't think that everyone else was stupid but them.
It was before that lovely think tank called "The Project for a New American Century". I believe that this is a big part (besides the internet and all of our self-proclaimed geniuses) of why our country is so screwed up. PNAC is one of the reasons so many countries hate the US.