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 ( ) France, Japan, France controlled Indochina Truman and Eisenhower send money to France Ho Chi Minh- Free Vietnam, Vietminh 1954: Dien Bien Phu fellDien Bien Phu –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 Resolution 1964 “Attacks” on U.S. destroyersU.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 ,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 Drugs – Fragging

Vietnam Protest Draft Rich man’s war, poor man’s fight (CCR)(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

My Lai

Kent State

Pentagon Papers (1971) Daniel Ellsberg –revealed U.S. govt. lied about Tonkin Gulf

“Peace with Honor” 1973: withdraw US troops POWs come homePOWs come home 1975: Saigon fellSaigon fell

Vietnam Timeline Recap (Truman) – U.S. sends money to France – France out of Indochina (Eisenhower) – Money and weapons and advisors to South Vietnam (Kennedy) – Advisors (Johnson) – Combat Troops (Nixon) – Vietnamization, Cambodia Invaded 1975 – Saigon collapses, Vietnam unified

Vietnam Memorial Maya Ying Lin ,000 names

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 Rise of the Religious Right part 2 Rise of the Religious Right