Why is World War 2 considered the last good war?

Answer 1

The perception of WWII as a "good war" may be mostly an American one.

The US was very clearly attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor, and Germany and Italy declared war on the US a few days after. The US, thus, did not start the war, and had not sought the conflict.

The American public was almost universally completely behind the war effort. Everyone felt very patriotic, and everyone was willing to make whatever sacrifice might be necessary to bring victory closer.

Men volunteered in huge numbers. After a year or two potential volunteers were sent home and told to wait for their draft notice, so manpower could be mobilized in an orderly fashion. Most men went to war willingly, understanding that before they could pick up their civilian lives, the war was something that had to be finished.

The enemies the US was fighting were so clearly brutal, cruel and inhuman that there could be no doubt that the US was on the right side, and that the cause of the US was the cause of humanity everywhere. When these enemies were defeated the US could feel very pleased, and were the recipients of gratitude of freed peoples around the globe. The defeat of the fascists and militarists seemed the beginning of a new era of great promise for little people everywhere.

Very little of this can be said for any war the US has engaged in since. The description of WWII as "The Good War" is taken from a book by that name by Studs Terkel, which is a collection or oral histories of people who lived through the war. This book had its genesis late in the Vietnam years, which was emphatically NOT a good war.