The legacy of the generation that survived WWII was:

- Big domestic policy mistakes cause bad outcomes, like the Great Depression.

- Big foreign policy mistakes cause extremely bad outcomes, like WWI and WWII.

- Big command mistakes in the military get people killed.

This led to a mindset that the people picked to be in charge had to be very competent. Or else. Almost all Cabinet members passed the competence filter until the Greatest Generation died off.

It's a common mistake to think that things won't change, that the current state will persist forever. I will turn this around and ask why you thought a focus on science was going to be durable.