But it did change. There was a time when things like childhood immunizations were ubiquitous in the US. There was a time when STEM education was heavily funded.

Then the cold war started to wrap up. And the anti-vaxxers came on the scene. And now everything about vaccinations is political. So we've seen a drastic change again.

Consider the CDC's data on pertussis over the last century to see an illustration of the outcomes. Note that death rates are still down, these are reported infections:

https://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/surv-reporting/cases-by-year.h...