Arguably all American (assuming you mean to refer to the US here) history is recent. In that sense, I would say their history of slavery (and more recently blatant and publicly endorsed racism) is probably a little darker than their trend of putting increasingly confused old men in power.
Without minimizing the cultural importance of Gamergate, you are vastly overstating its influence on the 2016 election. If you want to understand Trump in 2016, you'd be better off looking at the Tea Party and the rise of populism contra the ossified Republican establishment.
