Trust, as Dennis and Michelle Reina discuss in their latest book, The Art of Trust Building, is a crucial factor not only in personal and professional environments, but in the world as a whole. Over the past several decades, there have been significant national and international lapses in trust. What matters most is how that trust—once broken at such a large scale—is repaired. Below are five historical examples of how trust has been rebuilt.
1. Watergate (United States, 1970s)
The Lapse: A sitting president and his administration systematically lied, obstructed justice, and abused power. Public trust in government collapsed almost overnight.
How Trust Was Rebuilt: Several concrete measures, including:
- Open congressional hearings, televised and relentless
- An independent investigation led by a special prosecutor
- Nixon’s resignation—accountability at the top
- Subsequent reforms (ethics laws and campaign finance rules)
Key Lesson: Trust returned not because people felt reassured, but because the system proved it could correct itself—even against the most powerful person in the country.
2. Post–World War II Germany (late 1940s onward)
The Lapse: The Nazi regime destroyed trust internally (citizens informing on one another, enmity between fellow Germans) and externally (war crimes and genocide), culminating in the deadliest war in human history.
How Trust Was Rebuilt: This process was deeply challenging and understandably took time:
- Explicit acknowledgment of guilt (Vergangenheitsbewältigung)
- Reparations and formal apologies, alongside laws ensuring such a regime could never rise again
- Institutional redesign, including constitutional limits and independent courts
- Teaching the atrocities openly and unflinchingly in schools
Key Lesson: Trust was rebuilt not through denial or “moving on,” but through radical honesty and institutional humility.
3. The Catholic Church Abuse Scandals (1970s–early 2020s)
The Lapse: Systemic child sexual abuse, compounded by decades of concealment and the protection of perpetrators—many of whom were moved from one location to another as accusations mounted, without consequence.
How Trust Was Rebuilt (But Remains Fragile): Although the issue persists to this day, the Church has taken stronger steps to rebuild trust, including:
- Public exposure through journalism rather than internal reform
- Open admissions of wrongdoing
- Compensation funds and safeguarding reforms
Still, this is not a complete trust-restoration story. Acknowledgment was slow, transparency was guarded, and action was anything but swift—stretching across nearly five decades of reports, with untold damage likely occurring before reporting began.
Key Lesson: Trust cannot be restored when accountability appears reactive rather than voluntary.
4. Johnson & Johnson – Tylenol Poisonings (1982)
The Lapse: Seven people died after cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules reached store shelves. Consumers panicked, trust in product safety collapsed, and the Tylenol brand appeared finished.
How Trust Was Rebuilt: Through immediate action and clear accountability, including:
- A nationwide recall, initiated even before full clarity around the situation
- Full cooperation with authorities
- Transparent public communication
- The introduction of tamper-proof packaging—an industry-changing innovation at the time
Key Lesson: Speed, transparency, and the company’s willingness to absorb the cost rebuilt trust faster than any public-relations campaign ever could.
5. South Africa – The End of Apartheid (1994)
The Lapse: Generations of legalized racial oppression and violence destroyed trust between the state and its citizens. The damage was twofold: the brutal treatment of Black South Africans and other people of color, alongside the normalization of the belief with whites that this system was justified.
How Trust Was Rebuilt: Rebuilding trust required extraordinary effort—not only from Black South Africans, but from the nation as a whole. Key measures included:
- The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which confronted the past honestly in order to heal
- Amnesty offered in exchange for truth, not silence
- Public testimony from both victims and perpetrators
- Moral leadership—Nelson Mandela’s role was pivotal as a leader demonstrating the way forward.
Key lesson:
Trust can be rebuilt when truth is prioritized over punishment and dignity is restored publicly. Mandela underscored this principle by inviting his former jailers to sit beside him at his inauguration.
