The Stormy Sixties

There was a sexual revolution, civil rights revolution, the emergence of a "youth culture," Vietnam War, and feminist revolution

John F. Kennedy-president from 1961 to 1963; Harvard-educated

1961- Kennedy�s inauguration

his cabinet:

Robert Kennedy- attorney general

J. Edgar Hoover- FBI director; opposed Bob Kennedy�s efforts

Robert S. McNamara - Defense Department

Peace Corps-army of idealistic and mostly youthful volunteers to bring American skills to underdeveloped countries

problems:

1. Congress was not cooperative

2. economy

1962- noninflationary wage agreement in the steel industry; companies didn�t keep lid on prices

general tax-cut bill

project to land and American on the moon started

June 1961- Kennedy met Soviet Premier Khrushchev at Vienna

August 1961- Soviets began constructing the Berlin Wall

1962- Trade Expansion Act; authorized tariff cuts of up to 50% to promote trade with Common Market countries; Kennedy Round of tariff negotiations, ending in 1967

American policymakers wanted an economically and militarily united "Atlantic Community" with US as partner; path blocked by Charles de Gaulle, pres. Of France (he was suspicious of American intentions)

1960- Congo received its independence from Belgium; UN peacekeeping force sent to end violence; US contributed $$$

1954- Laos was freed of its French colonial overlords

1962- Geneva conference imposed shaky peace on Laos shift from Secretary Dulles�s "massive retaliation" to McNamara�s "flexible response" (developing an array of military options that could be precisely matched to the gravity of the crisis at hand); Special Forces were bolstered (elite antiguerrilla outfit trained to survive on snake meat and to kill with scientific finesse); flexible response also provided for progressive stepping-up of the use of force (Vietnam was proof)

Anti-Diem agitation, spearheaded by the local Communist Viet Cong and encouraged by the red regime in the north, noisily threatened to topple the pro-American government from power. In 1961, Kennedy ordered a sharp increase in the number of "military advisors" (US troops) in South Vietnam.

American forces had allegedly entered Vietnam to foster political stability - to help protect Diem from the communists long enough to allow him to enact basic social reforms favored by the Americans. But the Kennedy administration eventually despaired of the reactionary Diem and encouraged a successful coup against him in Nov. 1963.

In 1961, Kennedy came up with Alliance for Progress; supposed to help the Good Neighbors in Latin America close the gap between rich and poor and thus quiet communist agitation; failed.

On April 17, 1961, some twelve hundred anticommunist exiles, supported and trained by US, landed at Cuba�s Bay of Pigs. Kennedy had decided against direct intervention, and the ancient aircraft of the anti-Castroites were no match for Castro�s air force. In addition, no popular uprising greeted the invaders. The Bay of Pigs blunder, along with continuing American covert efforts to assassinate Castro and overthrow his government, naturally pushed the Cuban leader even further into the Soviet embrace.

Soviets speedily installed nuclear tipped missiles in Cuba. Game of "nuclear chicken." On Oct. 22, 1962, Kennedy ordered a naval "quarantine" of Cuba and demanded immediate removal of threatening weaponry. He also served notice on Khrushchev that any attack on the US from Cuba would be regarded as coming from the Soviet Union and would trigger nuclear retaliation against Russian heartland.

For an anxious week, Americans waited while Soviet ships approached US navy�s patrol line. On Oct. 28, Khrushchev agreed to pull the missiles out of Cuba. US would end quarantine and not invade the island. US govt. would also remove from Turkey some of its own missiles targeted on the Soviet Union.

Promised to follow JFK�s policies. Texan. Very liberal underneath. "Landslide Lyndon."

Congress passed Civil Rights Act of 1964 (banned racial discrimination in most private facilities open to the public, including theaters, hospitals, restaurants, and end segregation in schools). Created a federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to eliminate racial discrimination in hiring. In 1965, Johnson issued order requiring "affirmative action."

"War on Poverty" - Johnson rammed Kennedy�s stalled tax bill through Congress, added proposals of his own. Voiced special concern for Appalachia, where the sickness of the soft-coal industry had left tens of thousands of mountain folk on the human slag heap. Book written by Michael Harrington called The Other America (1962) aroused the antipoverty war. Congress escalated war on poverty; $3 billion granted Johnson beats Barry Goldwater in 1964

America could not defeat the enemy in Vietnam, but it seemed to be defeating itself. World opinion grew increasingly hostile. Six days war in June 1967; Israel won a quick victory over Egypt, and Jordan. Many small-scale "teach ins" started in 1965. William Fulbright and McNamara were antiwar. A "credibility gap" opened between the govt. and the people (had been deceived into thinking that we were winning war). The govt. had failed utterly to explain to the people what was supposed to be at stake in Vietnam. Many critics wondered if anything was worth the price that the US was paying. In 1967, Johnson ordered the CIA, in violation of its charter as a foreign intelligence agency, to spy on domestic antiwar activists. He also encouraged the FBI to turn its counterintelligence program, Cointelpro, against the peace movement.

A blistering communist offensive was launched in late Jan. 1968 during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. Democratic party breaking up, with Eugene McCarthy, Hubert H. Humphrey, Robert F. Kennedy, and LBJ on same ticket. On TV on March 31, 1968, Johnson said he will put brakes on escalating war. Also said, he would be candidate for presidency. King and Robert Kennedy murdered.

Economy stagnates; slump in productivity; Johnson tried to spend money on Vietnam and Great Society, without tax increase, so in aftermath, inflation
Pres. Nixon�s policy was "Vietnamization"- to withdraw the 540,000 US troops in South Vietnam over an extended period. The South Vietnamese - with US supplies- could then gradually take over the burden of fighting their own war
Nixon Doctrine- US would honor its existing defense commitments but in the future, Asians and others would have to fight their own wars without the support of large bodies of American ground troops
My Lai massacre- in 1968 American troops had massacred innocent women and children
On April 29, 1970, without consulting Congress, Nixon ordered American forces to clean out the enemy sanctuaries in officially neutral Cambodia; withdrew 2 months later
Kent State and Jackson State Colleges were sites of restless students and violence
Twenty-sixth Amendment- lowered voting age to 18 (1971)
Pentagon Papers- Daniel Ellsberg revealed the blunders of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, esp. the provoke of Tonkin incident in The New York Times

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger was Nixon�s national security adviser. Nixon went to China in 1972. In May 1972, he went to Moscow to play his "China card." The Soviets were alarmed over the possibility of intensified rivalry with an American-backed China. Great grain deal of 1972- 3 year arrangement by which the food rich US agreed to sell the Soviets at least $750 million worth of wheat, corn, etc. Nixon�s visits ushered in an era of detente, or relaxed tension, with the two communist powers.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)- cannot prohibit use of contraceptives
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)- all defendants in criminal cases are entitled to lawyer, even if cannot afford one
Escobedo (1964) and Miranda (1966)- accused have right to remain silent, etc.
Supreme Court voted against required prayer and bible readings in public schools
Warren Burger replaced Earl Warren; thought to be very conservative, but liberal
Roe v. Wade (1973)- legalized abortion

Nixon expanded welfare programs; supported Great Society programs
Philadelphia Plan of 1969- required construction trade unions working on federal contracts in Philadelphia to establish goals and timetable for the hiring of black apprentices; affirmative action became quotas
environment: creation of Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Health and Safety Administration, Air Pollution Control Office, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, Silent Spring
"southern strategy"- Nixon devised to win 1972 election; soft-pedaled civil rights
Nixon won 1972 election because he had taken troops out of Vietnam
shaky peace on Jan. 23, 1973
Watergate scandal: burglary of Democratic headquarters by Republican Committee for the Re-election of the President, criminal obstruction of justice, corruption, hush money, "enemies list", tape recordings
VP Agnew resigned
Saturday Night Massacre: on Oct. 20, 1973, Archibald Cox, appointed as a special prosecutor by Nixon in May, issued a subpoena for relevant tapes and other documents from the White House. A cornered Nixon ordered the firing of Cox and then accepted the resignations of the attorney general and the deputy attorney general because they refused to fire Cox.
America was secretly bombing neutral Cambodia; Nixon was defiant
War Powers Act (Nov. 1973)- passed over Nixon�s veto, it required the pres. to report to Congress within 48 hrs. after committing troops to a foreign conflict or substantially enlarging American combat units in a foreign country.
In Oct. 1973, the Arab nations suddenly clamped an embargo on oil for the US and for the other countries supporting Israel; energy crisis; speed limit, tried to use energy from sun or wind; costly oil pipeline in Alaska received congressional approval. The Middle Eastern sheiks, flexing their economic muscles through the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, quadrupled their price for crude oil after lifting the embargo in 1974
Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974
Gerald Rudolph Ford was the first man to be made pres. solely by Congress� vote; suspected as being dim-witted; pardoned Nixon
In July 1975, Ford joined leaders from 34 other nations in Helsinki, Finland, to sign sets of historic accords; many with Soviets
Congress refused to give more aid to South Vietnamese and the S. Vietnamese collapsed
Americans evacuated by April 29, 1975. America lost a lot in Vietnam war.
James Earl Carter, Jr. (dark horse candidate) won in 1976 (I�ll never lie to you!) his foreign policy was based on "human rights"
Camp David meeting: in 1978, Carter met with Pres. Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel; accord signed on Sept. 17, 1978 that held promise for peace in Middle East
Mohammed Reza Pahlevi is installed as shah of Iran
1979- SALT II agreements limit level of lethal strategic weapons in the Soviet and US arsenals
Nov. 4, 1979- howling mob of rabidly anti-American Muslim militants stormed the US embassy in Teheran, Iran, and took all of its occupants hostage
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini inspired these militants; failed rescue

Edward Kennedy wanted to run against Carter; however, handicapped by suspicions about his involvement in a 1969 automobile accident on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, in which a young woman assistant was drowned when his car plunged off a bridge.
conservatism was strong (new right) and groups such as Moral Majority supported it
Race issues were the most explosive, esp.affirmative action (reverse discrimination).
Reagan�s small but influential group of thinkers was called "neoconservatives"
Popular Reagan held antigovernment views that were supported by many
Supply-side economics: tax cuts and reduced govt. spending would increase investment by the private sector and lead to increased production, jobs, and prosperity. Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) were made where small investors could deposit up to $2000 a year without paying taxes; also spending cuts
Reduced federal regulations on business and industry
tough stand against unions
1982- bad recession
yuppies-young urban professionals
Sandra Day O�Connor became first woman on Supreme Court in election of 1984, Reagan won against Jesse Jackson (minorities as rainbow coalition) and Walter Mondale (ran with 1st female VP, Ferrarro)
National debt went to $2.7 trillion; tax cuts increased consumption of foreign products; trade imbalance; Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act; money left in hands of higher income Americans; a lot of money spent on defense
Military buildup as Cold War renewed
US supported "contras" who were antileftist rebels in Nicaragua who fought the Sardinists in an attempt to seize power (Boland Amendment prohibited further aid to the contras).
Iran-Contra affair- US would sell US antitank and antiaircraft missiles to Iran�s govt. for its help in freeing the Americans held hostage by a radical Arab group. Oliver North thought of using the profits of the arms deal with Iran to fund Nicaraguan contras. Reagan, and the Am. public didn�t know.
1982- Israel (with US approval) invaded southern Lebanon to stop PLO terrorists from raiding Israel. US helped evacuate the PLO to save haven; Arab terrorist attacks
1988- PLO leader Yassir Arafat agreed to recognize Israel�s right to exist. 1985- Mikhail Gorbachev introduced: openness to end political repression and move toward greater political freedom for Soviet citizens; and restructuring of the Soviet economy by introducing some free-market practices.
Cold War ended in Bush�s term and Soviet Union collapsed
Persian Gulf War