American Stories:
A History of the United States
Second Edition
Chapter
30
The Turbulent
Sixties
1960–1968
American Stories: A History of the United States, Second Edition
Brands • Breen • Williams • Gross
Kennedy Versus Nixon: The first televised
Presidential candidate debate
The Turbulent Sixties
1960–1968
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Kennedy Intensifies the Cold War
The New Frontier at Home
LBJ’s Great Society
Johnson Escalates the Vietnam War
Years of Turmoil
The Return of Richard Nixon
Kennedy Versus Nixon: The First
Televised Presidential Debate
• Kennedy’s campaign: the “New
Frontier”
• Won over African American voters by
releasing Martin Luther King Jr. from
jail
• 1960 Democratic victory paper thin but
marked sharp shift
Map 30.1
Kennedy Intensifies the Cold War
Kennedy Intensifies the Cold War
• John F. Kennedy a "Cold Warrior"
• Kennedy advisors supported U.S. hard
line against Russia
Containment in Southeast Asia
• Kennedy saw Southeast Asia as focus
of U.S.-Soviet rivalry
 Supported Saigon’s Diem regime
 Sent 16,000 American military "advisors"
• November, 1963: Coup against Diem
 Kennedy accepted
 Coup further destabilized South Vietnam
• U.S. involvement in Vietnam deepened
Containing Castro:
The Bay of Pigs Fiasco
• Kennedy supported “anti-Castro forces
in exile”
• Bay of Pigs invasion a part of 1960 CIA
plan under Eisenhower
Containing Castro:
The Bay of Pigs Fiasco (cont’d)
• April, 17 1961: Invasion
 1,400 Cuban exiles land without expected
U.S. military support
 Defeated within 48 hours
• Kennedy took responsibility in defiant
speech against “communist
penetration”
Containing Castro:
The Cuban Missile Crisis
• October, 1962: Soviet nuclear missiles
in Cuba; U.S. imposes naval blockade,
world on brink of nuclear war
• Military wants to invade Cuba, Kennedy
does not
• Khrushchev agreed to remove missiles
in return for American promise to never
invade Cuba and remove Jupiter
missiles from Turkey
Aerial photographs taken by a U-2 reconnaissance
plane flying over Cuba revealed the presence of
Russian missile sites under construction on the
island. Recently released information about the
type and number of Soviet nuclear warheads in
Cuba reveals just how imminent was the threat of
nuclear war had the Soviets not capitulated to U.S.
demands for removal of the missiles.
Containing Castro:
The Cuban Missile Crisis (cont’d)
• Kennedy ignored second request made
appeal for peace
• Triumph for Kennedy; Democrats gain
Congress
• Moderating the Cold War but Russia
began naval, nuclear buildup
The New Frontier at Home
The New Frontier at Home
• Kennedy staff competent, activist
• Seeks legislative and economic reform
• JFK the administration’s greatest asset
Moving Slowly on Civil Rights
• Downplay civil rights legislation to
avoid alienating Southern Democrats
• May, 1961: Federal marshals sent to
protect Birmingham freedom riders
• 1962: Federal marshals, National Guard
to University of Mississippi
• 1963: Deputy attorney general faced
down George Wallace at University of
Alabama
The attempts of African Americans to end
discrimination and secure their civil rights met with
violent resistance in Birmingham, Alabama, where
police used snarling dogs, fire hoses, clubs, and
electric cattle prods to turn back the unarmed
demonstrators.
"I Have a Dream"
• May, 1963: Violent police suppression
of nonviolent protestors in Birmingham
 Kennedy intervened on side of blacks
 Congress asked for civil-rights laws
• August, 1963: MLK led march on
Washington
• Kennedy record disappointing to
supporters, ultimately effective
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., addresses the crowd at
the March on Washington in August 1963. In his
speech, King recounted the difficulties of blacks’
struggle for freedom, then stirred the crowd with
the description of his dream for America: “I have a
dream that one day this nation will rise up and live
out the true meaning of its creed—we hold these
truths to be self- evident, that all men are created
equal.”
LBJ’s Great Society
LBJ’s Great Society
• November 22, 1963: JFK assassinated
by Lee Harvey Oswald
• Lyndon Johnson promised to continue
Kennedy’s programs
• Johnson resolved that Kennedy did not
“live or die in vain”
Johnson in Action
Johnson in Action
• Poor image on television
• Effective manager of Congress
• Spring, 1964: Kennedy’s tax cut passed
President Johnson applies the “Johnson treatment”
to Senator Theodore Francis Green of Rhode
Island. A shrewd politician and master of the
legislative process, Johnson always knew which
votes he could count on, those he couldn’t, and
where and how to apply pressure to swing votes
his way.
President Johnson applies the “Johnson treatment”
to Senator Theodore Francis Green of Rhode
Island. A shrewd politician and master of the
legislative process, Johnson always knew which
votes he could count on, those he couldn’t, and
where and how to apply pressure to swing votes
his way.
Johnson in Action (cont’d)
• July 2: Civil Rights Act
 Banned public segregation
 Established Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission to lessen job discrimination
 Protected voting rights
 Amended to include women in an attempt
to reduce support for it
The Election of 1964
• 1964: Johnson launched “war on
poverty”
 Programs included Head Start, Job Corps,
Community Action Programs
 Encouraged self-help
 Reduced poverty
• Johnson won landslide election against
Republican Barry Goldwater
TABLE 30.1
The Election of 1964
The Triumph of Reform
• 1965: Great Society legislation
advanced beyond New Deal
• Medicare
• Medicaid
• Elementary and Secondary Education
Act
• Voting Rights Act
Johnson Escalates the
Vietnam War
Johnson Escalates the
Vietnam War
• Hawkish foreign policy continued
• 1965: Troops sent to Dominican
Republic
• Determined not to "lose" Vietnam to
the Communists
The Vietnam Dilemma
• 1964: Saigon on the verge of collapse
• Johnson’s initial response
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Refused to send American combat forces
Economic aid
Military advisers
Covert actions
• August 1964: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
gives Johnson authority to escalate in
Vietnam
Escalation
• U.S. effort intended to bring Hanoi into
peace negotiations
• Policy of secrecy and deceit to assure
Americans of Vietnam’s insignificance
and keep Vietnam from endangering
the Great Society
• Johnson’s “sins” in Vietnam were
secrecy, deceit, and the refusing to
admit he had committed U.S. to
dangerous conflict
Map 30.2 Southeast Asia and the
Vietnam War American combat
forces in South Vietnam rose from
16,000 in 1963 to 500,000 in 1968,
but a successful conclusion to the
conflict was no closer.
Stalemate
• 1968: 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam
• War of attrition increased American
losses, enraged South Vietnamese
• Johnson’s tactics failed to win the war
• Americans gradually turned against the
war
U.S. troops wade through marshland during an
operation on South Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
Although the United States conducted thousands of
air strikes over North Vietnam and committed a
half million troops to the South, it failed to win the
advantage.
Years of Turmoil
Years of Turmoil
• Exceptional unrest at home
• Continued escalation of Vietnam war
Protesting the Vietnam War
• October, 1967: 100,000 protesters
besieged the Pentagon
• Demonstrations suppressed by a
combination of force, concessions
The Cultural Revolution
• Rejection of older values through
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Sexual expression
Clothing
Drugs
Music
• Some extremism provoked outrage
• Serious challenge to hypocrisy of
American society
"Black Power"
• 1964–1967: Riots in northern cities
• Rise of militant leaders
 Black separatism
 Armed struggle
• MLK led anti-poverty crusade
• April, 1968: MLK assassinated
• Militancy increased African American
pride
Ethnic Nationalism
• Multiple groups emulated African
American movement
• 1965: César Chávez organized National
Farm Workers’ Association
• Chicanos won federal mandate for
bilingual education
In March 1966, César Chávez, shown here talking
with workers, led striking grape pickers on a 250mile march from Delano, California, to the state
capital at Sacramento to dramatize the plight of the
migrant farm workers.
Women’s Liberation
• 1963: Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique
• New feminist activism
 1964 Civil Rights Act used to attack
inequality in employment
 Pro-choice advocacy on abortion
 Sought to toughen enforcement of rape
laws
• 1972: Congress sent Equal Rights
Amendment to the states
Betty Friedan authored the groundbreaking book,
The Feminine Mystique. In the work, Friedan
castigated advertisers, educators, and others for
promoting what she labeled the feminine
mystique—the idea that women could find
fulfillment only in their roles as wives and mothers.
The Return of Richard Nixon
The Return of Richard Nixon
• 1968: A year of turmoil
 Presidential election
 Turning point in the Vietnam War
 Massive protests in the streets
• Richard Nixon election demonstrated
desire for national reconciliation
Vietnam Undermines
Lyndon Johnson
• 1968: Tet Offensive led to conclusion
that Vietnam war cannot be won
• March: Johnson announced he will not
seek another term as president
The Republican Resurgence
• Republicans united on Richard Nixon
• George Wallace’s third party candidacy
drew Democratic votes
• Nixon won narrow victory
Map 30.3
Conclusion: The End of an Era
Conclusion: The End of an Era
• Election of 1968 ended 30-year era of
liberal reform, activist foreign policy
• Americans sought less intrusive
government
Timeline