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The American Dream of the middle class imploded under Nixon/Reagan.
President Johnson made the mistake of thinking he could win the Vietnam War with one huge, swift punch. When that plan devolved into a long, messy quagmire he had to print tons of paper money to pay for the mess without raising taxes.
Nixon was elected on a peace platform, but instead he dragged out the war and kept the money machine rolling. The war mean a lot of jobs in the steel industry because America was dropping about three Hiroshimas a day on the jungle.
The Oil Boycott of 1972 tripled energy prices overnight. This meant a lot of small companies were wiped out or had to move overseas to stay competitive. Housewives had to get jobs to keep the homes going. And American industry took a giant hit, because the newer steel mills and auto factories in Germany and Japan could make cars much more cheaply than Detroit.
By the time Ford became President, things were so bad that he had to ask people to wear 'Whip Inflation Now' buttons, because he had no idea what else to do.
Carter and Volker had a plan that worked, but Carter was out by the time it began to gain traction. Reagan kept Volker and pretended it was all his idea.
Reagan cut taxes for the rich, pretending that this would 'trickle down' It didn't work.
In 1968, when Nixon was elected 'Middle Class' was defined as one good Union job supporting a family of four with a house and money to send the kids to college. By the time Bush Sr. was done 'middle class' was two jobs to keep a house going.