> Was America ever together? Perhaps briefly during WWII. <
You might be right. But until the presidency of Barack Obama, liberals and conservatives were at least civil to each other. That's all gone now.
Oh, and here's a photo of Reagan making Mondale laugh during a debate. Those were gentler, more civil times. Nobody called anyone else a "hater" or a "Nazi".
"I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience"
Maybe you're right, but one advantage of being nigh onto 60 years old is that I've lived through a lot. I remember how nasty the Democrats were to Nixon. I remember how the left made fun of Ford. I remember the kid gloves the media used when handling Jimmah Carter and his brother Billy. I remember how nasty Genesis was to Reagan in their music video
Land of Confusion, which summed up the left's assertion that Reagan was senile and was going to start WWIII. I remember how the press vilified H.W. Bush for Gulf War I. I remember how the press broke out those kid gloves again for B.J. Clinton.
I will take back what I said. There was a second time when the country came together again, left and right, for a very brief moment. It occurred immediately after 9/11. That was something to see, and it did make me proud to be an American. But it didn't last very long.
So, no, I generally disagree with your premist that until Barack Obama that liberals and conservatives were at least civil to each other.