Overview of the 1960s in American History

Key Themes

• JFK and LBJ's administrations
• Transformations in American politics through television
• Domestic and foreign policies
• Civil Rights Movement
• Vietnam War
• Various social movements

1960 Election

• First televised debate: Kennedy vs. Nixon
• Kennedy's victory attributed largely to television presence
• First Catholic President of the U.S.

JFK's Domestic Policy

• New Frontier: federal money for education, healthcare, civil rights
• Limited domestic success due to congressional opposition
• Space Race: U.S. aims to put a man on the moon
• Peace Corps: sending Americans to aid underdeveloped countries

Cold War Under JFK

• Nikita Khrushchev as Soviet leader
• Alliance for Progress for Latin America
• Bay of Pigs Invasion: failed attempt to overthrow Castro
• Berlin Wall: built in 1961 to stop East Germans fleeing to West

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

• Discovery of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba
• U.S. naval blockade (quarantine)
• Tense standoff narrowly avoiding nuclear war
• Soviet removal of missiles from Cuba, U.S. removes missiles from Turkey
• Hotline established between D.C. and Moscow

Military Strategies

• Flexible Response vs. Massive Retaliation
• Increase spending on conventional weapons
• Creation of the Green Berets

JFK Assassination

• Assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963
• Lyndon Baines Johnson becomes President

LBJ's Domestic Policy: The Great Society

• Continuation and expansion of New Deal reforms
• Focus on civil rights, poverty, healthcare, education
• War on Poverty, Office of Economic Opportunity
• Medicare and Medicaid programs
• Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

Civil Rights Movement

• Slow progress under JFK, momentum increases under LBJ
• Civil Rights Act of 1964: end of segregation, employment discrimination
• Voting Rights Act of 1965: ends literacy tests, increases voter registration
• Radicalization post-1965: Malcolm X, Black Panthers

Vietnam War

• Increased U.S. involvement post-French withdrawal
• Gulf of Tonkin Incident leading to U.S. military escalation
• Tet Offensive revealing misleading government reports
• Anti-war protests, especially on college campuses

Social Movements

• Divisions over Vietnam War: Hawks vs. Doves
• Feminist Movement: Betty Friedan, National Organization for Women
• Stonewall Riots (1969) igniting gay rights movement
• Activism among Latino, American Indian, and Asian-American communities

Conclusion

• The 1960s: A time of significant political, social, and cultural upheaval
• Various movements and policies shaped modern American society