On the other side of the spectrum from hagiography is presentism. Johnson seems to have no interest in the other people who suffered during World War II. This statement suggests that historians dreamt up the part of the Enola Gay exhibit that dealt with the suffering of the Japanese citizens when the bomb was dropped. We want the Smithsonian to reflect real America and not something that a historian dreamed up". "We've got to get patriotism back into the Smithsonian. Another Congress member, Rep., Sam Johnson, feels that patriotism is a necessity of the Smithsonian. This statement could be looked at as hagiography in the way that it would keep new "ideas" out of the public's easy access. It could also suggest that if a viewpoint is not commonly accepted then that view point is not accurate. This statement basically suggests that unless a view is commonly accepted, it should not be publicly funded. Senator Stevens questioned taxpayers support of 'a book or a museum exhibit on the basis of scholarly enterprise, despite the fact that it goes against the commonly accepted viewpoint as to the interpretation of the history of the event'. Some Congress members felt that the Enola Gay exhibit did not fit the popular viewpoints, and therefore should not be funded with tax dollars. This suggests that the memory of war has been intentionally used, and maybe even glorified in order to bring the United States together.
Kohn says that: "The United States government, like other national governments in the last two centuries, has used the memory of war to construct the identity and to build the cohesion of the modern nation-state". In The Journal of American History (December 1995), Richard H. It seems that they had no interest in telling Japan's side of the story. Some people thought of the exhibit as strictly a commemoration for the American troops who died and those that are still alive. The Enola Gay exhibit was intended to be put on display for the 50th anniversary of the day the Atomic Bomb was dropped on Japan. It seems that the Air Force Association, some Veterans' groups and some members of the United states Congress fall into this historical trap. Hagiography is the tendency to glorify an event, as a sort of worship. These two issues are one of the factors that led to the controversy over the Enola Gay exhibit, and its eventual cancellation. Two of these problems are hagiography and presentism. Historians face many difficulties in their drive to put together the pieces of the past.