Notes on Democracy 1960-1968

How the prosperity of the 1950s shaped the activism of the 1960s is a central question.
The impact of the Civil Rights Movement on other groups.
Definitions of democracy by the New Liberalism, New Conservatism, and the New Left.
The influence of anti-communism on U.S. foreign policy.
How desires for rights and concerns about limited resources would continue to shape American society after the 1960s.

February 1, 1960: Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil sat at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and asked for service.
Ezel Blair and David Richmond joined them in their protest against segregation.
The students faced insults, but also some encouragement from white customers.
A policeman present was unsure how to react, highlighting the challenge to white authority.
McCain noted the policeman's defenselessness, emphasizing the disruption caused by their actions.
The students stayed until closing time, denied service but gaining a sense of empowerment.
They realized they had power to challenge injustice through nonviolent protest.

The actions of the ANT Four were inspired by Christianity and Mahatma Gandhi's activism.
Blair described the sit-in as sitting at the "table of democracy."
The initial protest inspired more students to join, testing the power of ordinary people.
The story of the ANT Four reflected the broader experiences of the country in the 1960s.
People sought to address problems like consumerism, civil rights, and the Cold War.
A new form of liberalism emerged, aiming to confront communism abroad and reform life at home.

The discontents at the end of the 1950s led to new ideas and strategies in the 1960s.
Various groups, especially poor groups, became energized.
Civil rights activists, new liberals, new conservatives, and the new left proposed different solutions to domestic and international issues.
Young people played a significant role in these movements, with differing views on power and democracy.

The ANT Four were part of a new generation impatient with the slow pace of desegregation mandated by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education.
They moved beyond court cases and boycotts to new tactics.
The Greensboro protests led to sit-ins at lunch counters by hundreds of students.
Woolworths and other stores eventually agreed to serve African Americans.
The Greensboro sit-in inspired civil rights activism in other communities and led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Wait-ins at beaches, kneel-ins at churches, and paint-ins at art galleries occurred.
These demonstrations opened facilities to black patrons and energized the civil rights movement.

After being out of power in the 1950s, liberals offered a new agenda.
This agenda addressed the civil rights movement, consumerism, and the Cold War.
Faith in economic growth was a key element.
Liberals believed the U.S. needed to expand its economy to meet domestic and international challenges.
The federal government could manipulate the budget to ensure full employment, consumer demand, and a rising $GNP$ .
Liberals emphasized the quality of life and the broader public interest.
The federal government should address poverty, racial inequality, pollution, housing, education, and communism.
Liberals favored a more powerful federal government, similar to the New Deal and Fair Deal eras.
The New Deal focused on restoring prosperity during the Great Depression, while the new liberals took prosperity for granted.
Old liberals feared big business and class conflict, while new liberals saw racial divisions and civil rights as the greatest domestic problems.

Conservatives differed with liberals on the role of government, believing it was already too big.
They had been out of power for a while; Herbert Hoover's failure during the Great Depression discredited minimalist government, and Hitler's aggression undermined isolationism.
Conservative ideas began to resurge in the 1950s.
William F. Buckley's "God and Man at Yale" (1951) criticized liberalism and denial of individualism.
Russell Kirk's "The Conservative Mind" (1953) argued for a living conservative tradition in America.
Buckley and Kirk founded the National Review in 1955 to promote conservative ideas, especially anticommunism.
Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona was a leading conservative political figure.
Goldwater advocated for individual freedom, opposed federal power, and took an aggressive stance against communism.
Young Americans for Freedom gathered in 1960 to adopt the Sharon Statement, calling for government to protect individual liberty by preserving economic freedom and maintaining a strong national defense.

Another young group, inspired by civil rights activism and dissatisfied with campus life, rejected both conservatism and liberalism.
Students felt oppressed by rules and regulations on campuses.
Female students faced particularly strict rules, including curfews.
The New Left was a radical movement aiming to create a more democratic nation.
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) emerged in 1960, seeking radical alternatives to society.
The Port Huron Statement (1962) argued that American society denied people real choice and power.
SDS advocated for participatory democracy.
SDS did not rely on the old left but believed students would lead the way by fighting for control of their schools.
SDS membership increased significantly.

The election offered a choice between a liberal Democratic future and a moderate Republican status quo.
Democratic nominee John F. Kennedy was open to the liberal agenda and optimistic.
Kennedy spoke of a "new frontier" with unknown opportunities and threats, calling for economic growth, slum rebuilding, poverty reduction, education improvement, and enhanced retirement.
Republican opponent Richard Nixon favored balanced budgets, limited government, and the acceptance of New Deal programs.
Nixon did not embrace the bold programs of the new liberalism or the strident anticommunism of the new conservatives.
The election was very close; Kennedy won by fewer than 120,000 votes.
Kennedy kept much of the Democratic New Deal coalition together.
Voters turned to a Democrat influenced by liberal ideas and eager to explore the new frontier.

John F. Kennedy won 303 electoral votes (56.5%) and 34,226,731 popular votes (49.7%).
Richard Nixon won 219 electoral votes (40.75%) and 34,108,157 popular votes (49.5%).
Minor parties won 15 electoral votes (3%) and 501,643 popular votes (0.7%).
15 electoral votes went to segregationist Democrat Harry F. Byrd.