Making matters more challenging, a new, damning catchphrase had taken firm hold in the American vernacular: the “credibility gap,” a clever appropriation of the U.S.-Soviet “missile gap” of which John Kennedy had spoken during his 1960 campaign. Now the words defined the perceived chasm between what the administration told journalists and the facts they subsequently uncovered. Punctuated by antiwar demonstrations and urban riots, it signaled growing distrust for the entire government notwithstanding its accomplishments.
