I recently read "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by J. Loewen [1], and it hits on just this, being the "heroification" of American leaders. I wouldn't doubt that this is what was the popular teaching in K-12 US.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/074...
To be honest, most schools that do cover those do an even worse job than not teaching anything at all.
If you're interested in filling in the gaps on your own:
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Know-About-History-Anniversary/dp... http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/074...
http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/074...
2. Clojure Programming, by Chas Emerick
http://www.amazon.com/Clojure-Programming-Chas-Emerick/dp/14...
3. Zorba the Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis
http://www.amazon.com/Zorba-Greek-Nikos-Kazantzakis/dp/06848...
I learned a lot of wrong things in school. One could say I have spent most of my adult life unlearning them. Welcome to the club.
Consider also James Loewen's classic book, too: https://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything-dp-16...