America was Great When Nationally Relevant Events Occurred and When Americans Were Young

During his campaign, President Donald Trump promised to “Make America Great Again.” When do Americans think America was at its greatest, and how do they decide on that year? We asked Americans to nominate America's greatest year, their personal greatest year, and to explain why they nominated those years. Americans could not agree on America's greatest year. Instead, some Americans nominated years when nationally relevant events occurred, such as 1776 and 1945. Others nominated years when they were between 0 and 20 years old; people nominated a similar pattern of years when asked the year they were at their personal greatest. Our findings establish, for the first time, a set of memories for the events that shape America's identity. Our findings also add to the literature on the reminiscence bump, showing that decisions about America's greatest time and one's personal greatest time are most likely to occur during one's youth.