The Most Distrusted Administration in History

In 2006, a relatively unknown U.S. senator named Barack Obama told an audience at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, that one of the most important values a government should foster is openness and integrity. “In the end, if the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists — to protect them and to promote their common welfare — all else is lost,” Obama said. In 2007, as a candidate for president, he announced a plan to restore trust in government. “The American people want to trust in our government again,” he said. “We just need a government that will trust in us.” Throughout his presidency, Obama has repeatedly made a big deal out of restoring trust in government. And in June 2014, he declared, “Government is simply the name we give to the things we choose to do together.”

And then on Saturday, Gallup released a poll...