Promise and Turmoil: The 1960s Study Guide

Introduction to the 1960s

• The decade began with John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address on January $20, 1961$, where he stated: "Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage. . . . Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty."

• The $1960s$ were categorized as both the best and worst of times; they saw the peak of postwar economic prosperity alongside intense racial strife, a controversial war in Vietnam, and student radicalism.

• During this period, the United States, as a proud superpower, began to encounter its limits both in the jungles of Vietnam and on domestic streets.

The Election of $1960$

• Republicans unanimously nominated Richard Nixon, the $47$-year-old Vice President under Eisenhower. Nixon was known as a statesman due to travels in Europe and South America, particularly for his "kitchen debate" with Nikita Khrushchev in a model American kitchen in Moscow.

• Democrats nominated John F. Kennedy ($JFK$), a charismatic and wealthy $43$-year-old senator from Massachusetts. He defeated liberal rivals Hubert Humphrey and Adlai Stevenson, and Southern favorite Lyndon B. Johnson ($LBJ$).

• Kennedy chose Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate to balance the ticket, which proved critical for winning Southern states.

• The campaign featured the first four televised debates in history. Kennedy appeared vigorous and comfortable, whereas Nixon appeared pale and tense.

• Kennedy attacked the Eisenhower administration for a recent recession and a "missile gap" (which actually favored the $U.S.$ but seemed plausible after Sputnik).

• Kennedy was the first Catholic presidential candidate since Al Smith in $1928$. This helped him in large cities but hurt him in rural Protestant areas.

• Election Results: Kennedy defeated Nixon by slightly more than $100,000$ popular votes. The electoral college margin was $303$ to $219$. Republicans alleged the election was stolen by Democratic machines in Illinois and Texas using "votes" from the deceased.

Domestic Policy: John F. Kennedy's New Frontier

• Kennedy's administration was often compared to the mythical kingdom of "Camelot" due to his youth, wit, and the style brought by his wife, Jacqueline ("Jackie") Kennedy.

• Key advisors included Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (business executive), John Kenneth Galbraith (academic/economist), and Attorney General Robert Kennedy (the president's younger brother).

• The New Frontier included proposals for aid to education, federal health care support, urban renewal, and civil rights. Most of these languished in Congress during his $1,000$-day term but were passed later under Johnson.

• Economic actions: Kennedy forced a price rollback on big steel executives after an inflationary price increase. He also stimulated the economy through increased spending on defense and space exploration, committing to a moon landing by the end of the decade.

Foreign Policy: Kennedy's Cold War Initiatives

• Peace Corps ($1961$): A volunteer organization providing technical aid to developing nations.

• Alliance for Progress ($1961$): Promoted economic development and land reform in Latin America.

• Trade Expansion Act of $1962$: Authorized tariff reductions with the European Economic Community (Common Market).

• Bay of Pigs Invasion ($1961$): A major blunder where a $CIA$-trained force of Cuban exiles landed in Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro. The uprising failed, and the exiles surrendered when Kennedy refused to provide $U.S.$ military support. This pushed Castro closer to the Soviet Union.

• Berlin Wall ($1961$): After Kennedy refused Khrushchev's demand to pull troops from Berlin, East Germans built a wall to stop citizens from fleeing to West Berlin. In $1963$, Kennedy visited West Berlin, proclaiming, "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner).

• Cuban Missile Crisis ($1962$): $U.S.$

• ] planes found Soviet missiles in Cuba. Kennedy established a naval blockade. The crisis ended when Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a pledge that the $U.S.$ would not invade Cuba and would remove missiles from Turkey.

• Aftermath of the Crisis: A telecommunications hotline was established between Washington and Moscow. The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in $1963$ by nearly $100$ nations to end atmospheric testing.

• Flexible Response: Moving away from "massive retaliation," Kennedy and McNamara increased spending on conventional arms and elite special forces like the Green Berets to handle "brush-fire wars" in Africa and Southeast Asia.

The Assassination in Dallas

• President Kennedy was assassinated on November $22, 1963$, in Dallas, Texas.

• The alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was killed two days later by Jack Ruby on live television.

• The Warren Commission, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded Oswald acted alone, though conspiracy theories involving organized crime, Castro, the $CIA$, and the $FBI$ persisted.

• The event marked a beginning in the loss of credibility in the $U.S.$ government.

Lyndon Johnson's Great Society

• Lyndon B. Johnson ($LBJ$) took the oath of office on a plane at the Dallas airport. He was a skilled politician and "Roosevelt Democrat" from rural Texas.

• Immediately after taking office, Johnson persuaded Congress to pass an expanded civil rights bill and an income tax cut, the latter sparking a long economic expansion.

• War on Poverty: Influenced by Michael Harrington’s "The Other America" ($1962$), which noted $40 million$ Americans in poverty, Johnson created the Office of Economic Opportunity ($OEO$) with a $1 billion$ budget.

• $OEO$ Programs: Head Start (preschoolers), Job Corps (vocational education), literacy programs, legal services, and the Community Action Program.

• Election of $1964$: Johnson and Hubert Humphrey defeated conservative Barry Goldwater in a landslide ($61\%$ of popular vote). Goldwater had advocated ending Social Security and the $TVA$. The Democrats gained a two-thirds margin in both houses of Congress.

Great Society Programs ($1964$-$1966$)

• Food Stamp Act ($1964$): Federal aid for the poor to buy food.

• National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities ($1965$): Funding for creative and scholarly projects.

• Medicare ($1965$): Health insurance for people aged $65$ and older.

• Medicaid ($1965$): Medical care funds for the poor and disabled.

• Elementary and Secondary Education Act ($1965$): Funds for poor school districts, special education, and Head Start expansion.

• Higher Education Act ($1965$): Federal scholarships for post-secondary education.

• Immigration Act ($1965$): Abolished discriminatory national origins quotas.

• Child Nutrition Act ($1966$): Added breakfasts to school lunches.

• Additional Acts: Increased funding for mass transit, public housing, and rent subsidies. New departments included the Department of Transportation ($DOT$) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development ($HUD$).

• Consumer/Environmental gains: Regulations following Ralph Nader's "Unsafe at Any Speed" ($1965$); clean air/water laws following Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" ($1962$); and Lady Bird Johnson's Beautify America campaign (Highway Beautification Act).

Civil Rights Legislation and Leadership

• Civil Rights Act of $1964$: Made segregation illegal in public facilities (hotels, restaurants) and established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ($EEOC$).

• $24th$ Amendment ($1964$): Abolished the poll tax.

• Voting Rights Act of $1965$: Ended literacy tests and provided federal registrars in the Deep South following the violence in Selma, Alabama ("Bloody Sunday").

• Integrations: Kennedy sent $400$ federal marshals and $3,000$ troops to protect James Meredith's enrollment at the University of Mississippi in $1962$. In $1963$, Kennedy sent troops to integrate the University of Alabama after Governor George Wallace attempted to block students.

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Committed to nonviolence. Wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in $1963$ defending the "excellent way of love and nonviolent protest."

• March on Washington ($1963$): $200,000$ participants; featured King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Black Power and Urban Unrest

• Black Muslims: Led by Elijah Muhammad; preached black nationalism and separatism.

• Malcolm X: A controversial convert who advocated self-defense and criticized King, though he later moved away from defending violence before his assassination in $1965$.

• Radicalization: Stokely Carmichael (chair of $SNCC$) repudiated nonviolence for "black power." The Black Panthers were formed in $1966$ by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.

• Race Riots: The Watts riot ($1965$) in Los Angeles killed $34$ and destroyed over $700$ buildings. Riots occurred every summer through $1968$.

• Kerner Commission ($1968$): Concluded that racism and segregation created "two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal."

• MLK Murder ($1968$): Shot in Memphis, Tennessee. It triggered massive riots in $168$ cities, leaving $46$ dead and fueling a "white backlash."

The Warren Court and Individual Rights

• Criminal Justice Cases:     - Mapp v. Ohio ($1961$): Illegally seized evidence is inadmissible.     - Gideon v. Wainwright ($1963$): Counsel provided for indigent defendants.     - Escobedo v. Illinois ($1964$): Right to remain silent.     - Miranda v. Arizona ($1966$): Right to a lawyer during police questioning.

• Reapportionment: Baker v. Carr ($1962$) established "one man, one vote" for legislative districts.

• Freedom of Expression and Privacy:     - Yates v. United States ($1957$): $1st$ Amendment protects radical speech unless it is a "clear and present danger."     - Engel v. Vitale ($1962$): Banned state-sponsored prayer in public schools.     - Griswold v. Connecticut ($1965$): Guaranteed the right to privacy regarding contraceptives.

Social Revolutions and the Counterculture

• Students for a Democratic Society ($SDS$): Formed in $1962$ in Port Huron, Michigan; led by Tom Hayden. Issued the "Port Huron Statement" for participatory democracy.

• Free Speech Movement: Started in $1964$ at the University of California, Berkeley. Protests expanded to antiwar demonstrations.

• Counterculture: Stylized by "hippies," long hair, and jeans. Folk music (Joan Baez, Bob Dylan) and rock music (Beatles, Rolling Stones). The Woodstock Music Festival ($1969$) was the movement's zenith.

• Sexual Revolution: Influenced by Alfred Kinsey's research and the introduction of the birth control pill in $1960$. Led to more open practice of premarital sex and homosexuality.

• Women's Movement: Revived by Betty Friedan’s "The Feminine Mystique" ($1963$) and the National Organization for Women ($NOW$) founded in $1966$.

• Equal Rights Amendment ($ERA$): Passed by Congress in $1972$, it failed to be ratified by the required $38$ states due to conservative reaction.

The Vietnam War to$1969$

• Buildup: Under Kennedy, $U.S.$ military "advisers" increased to more than $16,000$ by $1963$. Kennedy used the "domino theory" to justify aid to South Vietnam to prevent a communist takeover.

• Ngo Dinh Diem: The unpopular South Vietnamese leader was overthrown and killed by generals in $1963$ with $U.S.$ knowledge.

• Tonkin Gulf Resolution ($1964$): After alleged North Vietnamese attacks on warships, Congress gave Johnson a "blank check" for military action in Vietnam.

• Escalation: Operation Rolling Thunder ($1965$) involved $B-52$ attacks. By the end of $1965$, over $184,000$ troops were in combat. By end of $1967$, there were over $485,000$ troops (peaking at $540,000$ in March $1969$). $16,000$ Americans had died by late $1967$.

• Discord: Hawks supported the war as part of global containment; Doves viewed it as a civil war. Tet Offensive (January $1968$) was a political victory for North Vietnam that demoralized the $U.S.$ public and created a "credibility gap."

• Withdrawal: In March $1968$, Johnson limited bombing, moved toward peace talks in Paris, and announced he would not seek reelection.

The Election of $1968$

• Assassination of Robert Kennedy: Shot in June $1968$ by an Arab nationalist after winning the California primary.

• Democratic Convention in Chicago: Characterized by "police riots" against antiwar protesters. Hubert Humphrey was nominated.

• George Wallace: Ran as a third-party candidate (American Independent Party), tapping into "white backlash" against desegregation and protests.

• Richard Nixon: Remade his image, ran on "peace with honor" and "law and order." He defeated Humphrey in a close popular vote but substantial electoral margin ($301$ to $191$).