1960’s War, Society, & Politics
JFK
• 1960 Election• JFK v. Nixon• New Frontier– Health insurance for elderly– Anti poverty– Tax cuts– Peace Corps– Alliance for Progress– Civil rights bill– Power of image
LBJ
• November 22, 1963• Lee Harvey Oswald• Carry on New Frontier• Great Society• 1964 election– Barry Goldwater– Ronald Reagan
Great Society
• Civil rights• Poverty– Eradicate poverty
• Education• Head Start• Job Corps• VISTA
Great Society
• Elementary and Secondary Education Act• Medicare (old)• Medicaid (poor)• HUD• Immigration Act of 1965
Vietnam (1954-1975)
• France, Japan, France controlled Indochina• Truman and Eisenhower send money to France• Ho Chi Minh- Free Vietnam, Vietminh• 1954: Dien Bien Phu fell
– End of French Indochina War, French lost
• Geneva Accords– Vietnam partitioned (17), communist north, democratic south under Diem
• 1956: South refused to hold elections– Ho Chi Minh would have won
• North Vietnamese invade S. Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh Trail)
• Vietcong (VC)• Kennedy send advisors to South Vietnam• 1963: President Diem (South) assassinated
Tonkin Gulf Resolution1964
• “Attacks” on U.S. destroyers• War powers authorization• Joint Resolution=“Blank Check”
Vietnam
• U.S. troop build up begins 1965• Domino Theory• Strong support for war• Ballad of the Green Berets (JFK)• General Westmoreland• ARVN• 1967- 500,000 troops• Operation Rolling Thunder
Troop Deployment
Vietnam
• VC used guerilla tactics• War of attrition• Keep support of the South Vietnamese,
“hearts & minds”, failing• Napalm• Agent Orange• Search and destroy missions, zippo raids
Napalm
Vietnam
• Homefront turning against war• Living Room war, televised war• Credibility gap
• U.S. Soldiers– Morale low– Drugs– Fragging
Vietnam Protest
• Draft• Rich man’s war, poor man’s fight (CCR)• Blacks served disproportionate to whites– 20% died only made up 10% of population– MLK spoke out– Black Panthers
Vietnam Protest
• The New Left- sweeping change, gay rights, gender issues,war– Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
• Tom Hayden• Participatory democracy• Port Huron Statement
– Free Speech Movement• Berkeley• “machine”
• Campus Activism– Columbia, Berkeley, Kent, dress codes, classes, Vietnam
• Doves vs. Hawks• Selective Service Act 1967
Vietnam Protest
• Civil Disobedience– Go to Canada– Burn draft cards
• Teach-Ins• Marches• Music• Hippies
Culture & Counterculture 1960s
• Idealism• “Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out”• Hippie Culture – Haight Ashbury
• Decline – Hendricks, Morrison, Joplin deaths – Violence– drugs
Changing Culture• Art
– psychedelic – pop art – Andy Warhol
• Rock music – The Beatles, Rolling Stones – Woodstock – political expression – Motown
• Changing attitudes – “do your own thing” – casual/permissive attitudes toward sex – violence – moral decay – long hair as rebellion
1968
• Tet Offensive• Walter Cronkite• Johnson doesn’t run• MLK assassinated• Robert Kennedy assassinated• Democratic National Convention in Chicago• Nixon Elected
1968 Election
• Nixon– Silent Majority– Southern Strategy– Southern whites vote Republican
• Gene Mc Carthy (D)– Anti-war
• Hubert Humphrey (D)• George Wallace– Segregationist– Law & order
Richard Nixon
• Vietnamization• Henry Kissinger• Invades Cambodia
Kent State
Pentagon Papers (1971)
• Daniel Ellsberg– revealed U.S. govt. lied about Tonkin Gulf
“Peace with Honor”
• 1973: withdraw US troops
• POWs come home
• 1975: Saigon fell
Vietnam Timeline Recap• 1945-1955 (Truman)– U.S. sends money to France – France out of Indochina
• 1955-1961 (Eisenhower)– Money and weapons and advisors to South Vietnam
• 1961-1964 (Kennedy)– Advisors
• 1964-1969 (Johnson)– Combat Troops
• 1969-1975 (Nixon)– Vietnamization, Cambodia Invaded
• 1975– Saigon collapses, Vietnam unified
Results of Vietnam
• PTSD• War Powers Act• Cynicism• Back lash against liberals• Cambodia will fall to Communism
Conservative Response
• White backlash• Richard Nixon • J Edgar Hoover • revolutionary terrorism• Rise of the Religious Right part 1• Rise of the Religious Right part 2
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