1. Uncivil Wars: Liberal Crisis and Conservative Rebirth, 1961–1972
James A. Henretta
Eric Hinderaker
Rebecca Edwards
Robert O. Self
America’s History Eighth Edition America: A Concise History Sixth Edition
CHAPTER 28
Uncivil Wars: Liberal Crisis and Conservative Rebirth, 1961–1972
Copyright © 2014 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

2. 1. How does this depiction of Uncle Sam differ from the traditional one? (Answer: Typical poster featuring Uncle Sam shows him as a tidy and enthusiastic figure, representing the United States. Generally he is featured on war recruitment posters saying “We Want You!” or on patriotic posters urging Americans to buy war bonds, or engage in some other activity to support the country. This figure of Uncle Sam is wounded, bedraggled, and exhausted.)
2. To what does the poster refer when it says “I Want Out”? What is the message this poster is aiming to convey? (Answer: This is an antiwar poster in which Uncle Sam is pleading to end the war in Vietnam. He represents a United States that has been damaged by the war, begging to be discharged from service in Vietnam.)
3. Imagine that you are a conservative American supporter of the war in Vietnam. How would you respond to a poster like this one? (Answer: Conservatives and supporters of the war must have been upset and even offended by the use of traditional patriotic iconography in opposition to the war. They probably would have interpreted it the same way they viewed countercultural youth who sewed the American flag on the seat of their pants—as an attack on America and American values.)

3. I. Liberalism at High Tide
A. John F. Kennedy’s Promise
I. Liberalism at High Tide
A. John F. Kennedy’s Promise (Embodied expectations and inspiration for many Americans; JFK was assassinated November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas; the “Kennedy mystique” developed from JFK’s youthful image and his assassination; reality of JFK’s life [a womanizer in poor health] was masked by the promise that his image portrayed to the nation, then was destroyed by his death.)

4. I. Liberalism at High Tide
B. Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society 1. The 1964 Election 2. Great Society Initiatives
I. Liberalism at High Tide
B. Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society
1. The 1964 Election – LBJ ran against Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), an archconservative who campaigned against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and advocated a vigorous Cold War agenda; LBJ won in a landslide with a clear mandate to govern.
2. Great Society Initiatives – Successfully broke congressional deadlock on education and health care; Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965) gave $1 billion in federal funds for teacher training and education programs; Higher Education Act provided federal scholarships for college students); proposed Medicare (health plan for elderly funded by a surcharge on Social Security payroll taxes) and Medicaid (health insurance for the poor). The Great Society’s agenda included environmental reform programs; Johnson oversaw creation of Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); made new investments in urban rapid transit in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco; helped create the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities; passed the Immigration Act of 1965 (eliminated quota system that favored northern Europeans). War on Poverty: one-fifth of Americans lived in poverty; LBJ made ending poverty a priority in 1964; Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 addressed problems of the poor; included several different initiative: Head Start (nursery schools), Job Corps and Upward Bound (job training and employment), Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA, modeled on the Peace Corps, offered technical assistance to the urban and rural poor).

7. I. Liberalism at High Tide
B. Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society (cont.) 3. Assessing the Great Society
I. Liberalism at High Tide
B. Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society (cont.)
3. Assessing the Great Society – The Great Society achieved mixed results; the proportion of Americans living below poverty level dropped from 20 percent to 13 percent by 1968; quality of life and care was improved for the elderly and children; increased racial diversity; segregation in urban areas remained problematic; bottom 20 percent of Americans continued to suffer with little help from programs.

9. I. Liberalism at High Tide
C. Rebirth of the Women’s Movement 1. Labor Feminists 2. Betty Friedan and the National Organization for Women
I. Liberalism at High Tide
C. Rebirth of the Women’s Movement
1. Labor Feminists – Working women who belonged to unions; fought for workplace equality; by 1970, 40 percent of women were working outside the home; faced the “double day”: they were expected to earn a paycheck and then return home to domestic labor.
2. Betty Friedan and the National Organization for Women – Betty Friedan’s indictment of suburban domesticity, The Feminine Mystique (1963), targeted white, middle-class, college-educated women who felt stifled by marriage and family responsibilities; Kennedy appointed the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women in 1961, which published a 1963 report on job and education discrimination against women; the word sex was added to Civil Rights Act of 1964; the National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded in 1966, modeled after the NAACP; membership grew to fifteen thousand by 1971.

11. II. The Vietnam War Begins
A. Escalation Under Johnson 1. Gulf of Tonkin 2. The New American Presence
II. The Vietnam War Begins
A. Escalation Under Johnson
1. Gulf of Tonkin – In August 1964, LBJ received reports that North Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on U.S. destroyer Maddox; first attack inflicted a small amount of damage; second attack proved to be only misread radar sightings; perceived attack led to congressional action at the request of LBJ; the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed and gave LBJ freedom to conduct the war without further congressional approval.
2. The New American Presence – Escalation began in early 1965 and took two forms; deployment of American ground troops: the first marines waded ashore at Da Nang on March 8, 1965; intensification of bombing campaign: Operation Rolling Thunder dropped twice as many tons of bombs on Vietnam as the Allies had dropped in both Europe and the Pacific during the whole of World War II; the bombing had only minimal effect on North Vietnam.

14. II. The Vietnam War Begins
B. Public Opinion and the War 1. Television 2. “Credibility gap”
II. The Vietnam War Begins
B. Public Opinion and the War
1. Television – Opinion polls supported LBJ in 1965 and 1966; television coverage showed war dead and wounded.
2. “Credibility gap” – Journalists began to question the official version of the war as they witnessed it firsthand in Vietnam, arguing that the administration was hiding bad news; financial commitment to the war was increasing the deficit (up to $23 billion in 1967); a diverse antiwar movement began to grow, which was critical of U.S. policy in Vietnam and the goal of an anti-Communist South Vietnam. 14

15. II. The Vietnam War Begins
C. Rise of the Student Movement 1. The New Left 2. Young Americans for Freedom 3. The Counterculture
II. The Vietnam War Begins
C. Rise of the Student Movement
1. The New Left – College students founded Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at University of Michigan in 1960; the Port Huron Statement rejected Cold War foreign policy, consumer culture, and the growing disparity between rich and poor; New Left activists sought to distinguish themselves from communists and socialists of the 1930s and 1940s (Old Left); Free Speech Movement (fall 1964) at the University of California at Berkeley was evidence of students’ desire to protest university policies and the actions of politicians in U.S. (civil rights and Vietnam); in 1967, Selective Service System (“the draft”) abolished automatic student deferments; led to increased activism against the war by men of college age.
2. Young Americans for Freedom – Inspired by the group Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), conservative students asserted their “God-given free will” and their fear that the federal government “accumulates power which tends to diminish order and liberty”; YAF became the largest student organization in U.S.; supported U.S. policy in Vietnam; its founding principles were outlined in “The Sharon Statement” (1958).
3. The Counterculture – Many other young Americans embarked on a general revolt against authority and middle-class ideals; “hippies” symbolized the new counterculture; first initially the 1960s counterculture celebrated folk music (Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez); later embraced popular music (The Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Who, the Doors); recreational drug use increased in late 1960s (marijuana, LSD); in 1967, the “world’s first Human Be-In” brought 20,000 people to the Golden Gate Park (San Francisco) for the Summer of Love; media coverage made it appear that all American youth was participating, though many did not.

17. 1. Describe the people portrayed in this image of countercultural youth. What are they doing? What does the image suggest about the values this group held for itself? (Answer: Some of the people in this photo are playing music, while others are dancing. They appear to be completely lost in the music, perhaps in part because they are using drugs. They are visibly part of the counterculture due to their long hair, activities, and clothing. Their appearances show that they have embraced dissent, peace, and love and rejected materialism and traditional definitions of respectability, success, and achievement.
2. Imagine that you are part of the generation that raised this group as children. How would you have viewed their appearance and behavior? What would you have found threatening about their activities? (Answer: The World War II generation that raised this group typically found their appearance and behavior offensive and disrespectful. They were threatened by this generation’s rejection of patriotism, traditional family life, and mainstream approaches to sexuality, consumption, and expression. The older generation, viewing the actions of their grown children, believed that the youth had rejected everything their parents had worked to achieve and that the nation was on the verge of falling apart.)

18. III. Days of Rage, 1968–1972
A. War Abroad, Tragedy at Home 1. The Tet Offensive 2. Political Assassinations
III. Days of Rage, 1968–1972
A. War Abroad, Tragedy at Home
1. The Tet Offensive – Death rate for Americans reached several hundred per week by 1968; on January 30, 1968, Vietcong launched a massive offensive in South Vietnam; timed to coincide with Tet, the Vietnamese new year; focused on five major cities, including Saigon; in strictly military terms, the Tet offensive was a failure, with very heavy losses for the Vietcong; but psychologically, the effect was damaging for the U.S., as media coverage again hurt LBJ’s credibility; Americans began to believe the war was unwinnable (even if they did not support the peace movement); LBJ did not run for reelection, fearing challengers from his own party.
2. Political Assassinations – 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. (April 4 in Memphis); Robert Kennedy (June 4 in Los Angeles).

19. III. Days of Rage, 1968–1972
B. The Antiwar Movement and the 1968 Election 1. Democratic Convention 2. Richard Nixon 3. George Wallace 4. Nixon’s Strategy
III. Days of Rage, 1968–1972
B. Divisions Deepen: The Antiwar Movement and the 1968 Election
1. Democratic Convention – Divisions within the party took over the convention; Siege of Chicago: activists came to the city seeking to influence the party’s platform, disrupt the convention, and/or protest the war; Mayor Richard J. Daley ordered police to break up demonstrations; rioting occurred, some of it televised.
2. Richard Nixon – Northern blue-collar voters (many Catholics) turned to the Republican Party because of the domestic chaos; Nixon sought these voters who feared both communism and the counterculture.
3. George Wallace – Governor of Alabama; ran as a third-party candidate and segregationist; called for “law and order.”
4. Nixon’s Strategy – Nixon sought to attract southerners with a more subtle view than Wallace; promised southern politicians he would not force civil rights issues; argued against the antiwar movement and for the “quiet voice” of the majority of Americans who had been forgotten; won 43.4 percent of vote. 19

22. III. Days of Rage, 1968–1972
C. The Nationalist Turn 1. Chicanos 2. Black Power
III. Days of Rage, 1968–1972
C. The Nationalist Turn
1. Chicanos – The Chicano Moratorium Committee organized demonstrations against the war; chanted “Viva la Raza, Afuera Vietnam” (“Long live the Chicano people, Get out of Vietnam”); in August 1970, attracted 20,000 people to a rally in Los Angeles led by Cesar Chavez.
2. Black Power – Black Panthers and the National Black Antiwar Antidraft League protested the war; Muhammad Ali resisted the draft and lost his heavyweight title.

25. III. Days of Rage, 1968–1972
D. Women’s Liberation 1. “Sisterhood” 2. Sexual politics
III. Days of Rage, 1968–1972
D. Women’s Liberation
1. “Sisterhood” – A new call for “women’s liberation”; young, college-educated feminists, well-versed in New Left ideology; terms sexism and male chauvinism became more commonly used; feminists defined key goals: child care, equal pay, abortion rights; African American and Latina women remained on the periphery of white-led women’s rights organizations.
2. Sexual politics – Campaigning for reproductive rights increased, as did awareness of sexual assaults and harassment in the workplace; increase in the number of universities that accepted women; Title IX (1972) prohibited colleges and universities who accepted federal funds from discriminating on the basis of sex.

26. III. Days of Rage, 1968–1972
E. Stonewall and Gay Liberation 1. “Come Out!” 2. Stonewall Inn
III. Days of Rage, 1968–1972
E. Stonewall and Gay Liberation
1. “Come Out!” – Inspired by Black Power and women’s liberation movements, many men and women “came out” by identifying themselves as homosexuals.
2. Stonewall Inn – Greenwich Village (NY) bar was raided by police in summer 1969; gay and lesbian patrons rioted for two days; gay liberation movement gained momentum. 26

27. IV. Richard Nixon and the Politics of the Silent Majority
A. Nixon in Vietnam 1. Vietnamization and Cambodia 2. My Lai Massacre 3. Détente 4. Exit America
IV. Richard Nixon and the Politics of the Silent Majority
A. Nixon in Vietnam
1. Vietnamization and Cambodia – Nixon insisted he would achieve “peace with honor”; Vietnamization brought a decrease in the number of American troops in Vietnam as the responsibility for fighting on the ground shifted to the South Vietnamese; U.S. casualties fell, but the war continued; antiwar movement intensified; on April 30, 1970, U.S. invasion of Cambodia resulted in massive protests in U.S.; on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen fired into an antiwar rally, wounding eleven students and killing four.
2. My Lai Massacre – Public learned of 1968 execution of approximately 500 South Vietnamese by U.S. Army troops.
3. Détente – Nixon sought better relations with the Soviet Union and China; signed Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) with the Soviet Union; Nixon traveled to China in February 1972, becoming the first U.S. president to visit the nation.
4. Exit America – In April 1972, Nixon ordered B-52 bombing raids against North Vietnam, including ports; peace talks continued; Nixon accepted an end to hostilities with northern troops allowed to stay in South Vietnam; on January 27, 1973, peace treaty was signed; war continued; Saigon collapsed in April 1975; U.S. had suffered 58,000+ deaths, and 300,000 had been wounded; war cost U.S. $150 billion.

29. 1. What does this photograph reveal about the composition of the crowd at this prowar, pro-Nixon demonstration in New York City in 1970? (Answer: This crowd is almost exclusively white and male. The hard hats are supposed to indicate that they are all tough, manly workers. In fact some of them are wearing suits and other clothes that suggest their occupational diversity.)
2. How are the protesters in this photograph using the American flag? (Answer: Many of these demonstrators are carrying flags; some have flags emblazoned on their helmets. Posters are frequently red, white, and blue and displaying flags as well. This expresses patriotism and support for the Nixon administration’s approach to the war, including his newly announced plan to invade Cambodia. It is also a protest against Lindsay’s decision to fly New York City’s flags at half-mast to memorialize the Kent State victims. News coverage reports that the protesters were chanting, “Raise the flags!”)
3. What symbols are these demonstrators using to distinguish themselves from the antiwar movement? (Answer: Protesters employ various symbols to distinguish themselves from the antiwar demonstrators (who were also present in downtown Manhattan that day). Hardhats express their conventional masculinity and identity as traditional American workers. Flags express their patriotism, support for the Nixon administration, opposition to the antiwar movement, and support for the Ohio National Guard’s action at Kent State. Posters criticize John Lindsay, frame traditional American workers as heroes, and champion American policies in Vietnam.)

30. IV. Richard Nixon and the Politics of the Silent Majority
B. The Silent Majority Speaks Out 1. Law and Order and the Supreme Court 2. Busing
IV. Richard Nixon and the Politics of the Silent Majority
B. The Silent Majority Speaks Out
1. Law and Order and the Supreme Court – Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954 ) triggered a larger judicial revolution; right-wing activists accused the Warren Court of “legislating from the bench” in the wake of decisions such as Miranda v. Arizona (1966), recognizing arrestees right to remain silent; Miller v. California (1972) stipulated that “contemporary community standards” were the rightful measure of obscenity; many Americans worried about maintaining law and order as crime rates rose in the 1970s.
2. Busing – Courts endorsed strategy of busing to achieve integration in areas where racial segregation in school remained; in 1971, Supreme Court upheld countywide busing plan in North Carolina; in the North, Supreme Court’s decision in Milliken v. Bradley (1974) ruled that busing plans had to remain within the boundaries of a single school district, making it impossible to achieve racial balance in Detroit and other major northern cities.

31. IV. Richard Nixon and the Politics of the Silent Majority
C. The 1972 Election 1. Democrats in disarray 2. George McGovern
IV. Richard Nixon and the Politics of the Silent Majority
C. The 1972 Election
1. Democrats in disarray – The Democrat Party fell into disarray following loss to Nixon in 1968; now women, blacks, and younger delegates ruled the convention.
2. George McGovern – Liberal senator from South Dakota; poor campaigner; lost to Nixon in every state but Massachusetts and District of Columbia.