You should also have mentioned the Kennedy administration with is 'The Best and the Brightest' also fed into this prejudice against academics in Government because they fucked up in Vietnam so badly.

The problem of teaching to the test has also affected education in the UK negatively as well although secondary education in the UK is still generally better than in the US.

It is truly a sad state of affairs the degree to which anti-intellectualism is prevalent in American life. And despite the educational background of someone like Vivek, the country is possessed by a willful ignorance that it glories in. Unfortunately, many of the people in public positions believe that their ignorance is to be lauded and embraced. We are about to witness not only the most corrupt administration in US history but the most gleefully ignorant one as well.