Thinking about this recently, Im not so sure civil discourse ever really did exist in this country. I mean unless you think settling arbitrary arguments with pistol duels is civil and noble. That campaign rhetoric such as telling potential voters that Thomas Jefferson was an infidel and if elected would subdue all wives and daughters to a lifetime of prostitution and debauchery is classy. Or how about Ben Franklins grandson writing about Washington:
"If ever a nation was debauched by a man, the American nation has been debauched by Washington."