The Stormy Sixties

I. Kennedy’s New Frontier

a. Young People In Government

i. Youngest president promised “to get the country moving again”

ii. Assembled one of the youngest cabinets, including his 35 year old brother, Robert, as attorney general

iii. He set out to reprioritize the FBI’s activities. They gave most agents for “internal security” work and none for civil rights violations

iv. His efforts were resisted by J. Edgar Hoover, who had served as FBI director longer than the new attorney general had been alive

v. Robert S. McNamara left the presidency of the Ford Motor Company to take over the Defense Department

b. Kennedy’s Characteristics and Appeal

i. Appealed to youth:

1. New Frontier

2. Peace Corps – program that sent volunteers abroad as educators, health workers, and technicians to help developing nations around the world. The hope was that these countries the Peace Corps was involved in would favor democracy

ii. Summoned citizens to service with his call to “ask not what your country can do for you: ask what you can do for your country”

iii. He and many of his advisors were educated at Harvard

iv. Had grace and wit that won him the deep affection of many of his fellow citizens

II. The New Frontier At Home

a. New Frontier Proposals

i. Kennedy expanded the House Rules Committee, which was dominated by conservatives who could have stopped his entire legislative program

ii. However, key medical and education bills remained stalled in Congress (medical assistance for the aged and increased federal aid to education)

b. Revitalizing the Economy

i. In 1962, he negotiated with the steel industry to keep a lid on prices to prevent inflation. After the steel businessmen started to raise prices, Kennedy called them to the Oval Office and they backed down

ii. Supported a tax-cut bill against the advice of most, who wanted greater government spending

c. Men On the Moon

i. Promoted a multi-billion dollar project to land an American on the moon

ii. Answering critics, Kennedy said “But why, some say, the moon? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35-years ago, fly the Atlantic?...”

iii. After spending $24 billion, in 1969, two American astronauts landed on the moon (Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins)

III. Rumblings In Europe

a. Berlin Wall

i. After Kennedy met with Khrushchev in 1961, the Soviets threatened to make a treaty with East Germany and cut off Western access to Berlin. They began to construct the Berlin Wall, a barbed-wire and concrete barrier, later that year

ii. It was designed to plug the heavy population drain from East Germany to West Germany

iii. The wall lasted until 1989 and symbolized the division of post-WWII Europe into two hostile camps

b. Trade Expansion Act of 1962

i. Authorized tariff cuts of up to 50% to promote trade with Common Market countries in Europe

ii. This led to expansion of European-American trade

c. Atlantic Community

i. American policymakers were dedicated to an economically and military united “Atlantic Community”

ii. Charles de Gaulle, president of France, vetoed the British application for Common Market membership in 1963, fearing that the British “special relationship” with the U.S. would cause deepening American control over European affairs

iii. DeGaulle deemed the American unreliable in a crisis, so he tried to preserve French freedom of action by developing his own small atomic force

IV. Foreign Flare-Ups and “Flexible Response”

a. Problems In Laos

i. Once Laos was freed from the French in 1954, the Eisenhower administration flooded money to the country to prevent communism from taking a foothold there

ii. The U.S. feared that if communism was present in Laos, it would spread to neighboring countries (domino effect)

iii. A Laotian civil war raged, and Kennedy considered sending in American troops

iv. He decided that he had insufficient forces to send to Laos and keep a significant number in Europe

v. A 14-power Geneva conference ended the fighting in 1962

b. “Massive Retaliation” to “Flexible Response”

i. Kennedy didn’t like that in a crisis, he had the options of humiliation and nuclear incineration

ii. With Defense Secretary McNamara, he pushed the strategy of “flexible response,” developing an array of military options that depended on the gravity of the crisis at hand

iii. As a result, Kennedy increased spending on conventional military forces and bolstered the Special Forces (Green Berets) – an elite anti-guerrilla group trained to survive on anything and kill efficiently

V. The Vietnam Quagmire

a. Problems With “Flexible Response”

i. Seemed logical, but it:

1. Lowered the level at which diplomacy would give way to shooting

2. Provided a mechanism for a progressive and endless increase of the use of force

b. Increasing American Involvement In Vietnam

i. Since Diem had begun ruling South Vietnam in 1954, he lacked support:

1. He imprisoned people who criticized his government

2. Filled many government positions with members of his own family

3. U.S. money that was supposed to go to economic reforms went to the military and corrupt officials

4. Diem was a Catholic in a largely Buddhist country. When Diem insisted that Buddhists obey Catholic religious laws, serious opposition developed. Many monks killed themselves by pouring gasoline over them and lighting themselves on fire

ii. In 1961, Kennedy ordered a sharp increase in the number of “military advisers” (U.S. troops) in South Vietnam. By the time of his death, he had ordered 15,000 American men to Vietnam

iii. Kennedy finally realized that Diem would never reform and that the struggle would never be won under him. The U.S. told the South Vietnamese military that they wouldn’t object to a coup, so that is what happened

iv. Almost immediately, the new military government in South Vietnam was in trouble. The ruling generals bickered among themselves and failed to direct the South Vietnamese army effectively

v. Meanwhile, Communist guerillas in the south, known as Viet Cong, gained control of more territory and earned the loyalty of an increasing number of South Vietnamese. Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese aided the Viet Cong throughout the struggle

c. Modernization Theory

i. Provided for an activist U.S. foreign policy in the “underdeveloped” world. They believed that the traditional societies of Asia, Africa, and Latin America could develop into modern industrial and democratic nations by following the West’s own path

ii. Walt Whitman Rostow – The Stages of Economic Growth (1960) supported this theory and served as an influential adviser to the Kennedy and Johnson administrations

iii. The theory offered a powerful intellectual framework for policymakers in the Cold War

VI. Confrontations With Cuba

a. Alliance For Progress

i. Although the U.S. regarded Latin America as its backyard, they feared and resented the U.S.

ii. In 1961, Kennedy agreed to the Alliance for Progress, which was to help the Latin American countries close the gap between the rich and poor, thus quieting communism

iii. The results were disappointing; there was little alliance and even less progress. American handouts had little positive impact on Latin America’s immense social problems

b. Bay of Pigs

i. Kennedy supported a CIA-backed scheme to overthrow Fidel Castro by invading Cuba with anticommunist exiles

ii. April 1961 – 1,200 exiles landed at Cuba’s Bay of Pigs and got bogged down. Kennedy didn’t lend support, so they surrendered

iii. President Kennedy assumed full responsibility for the failure

iv. The event pushed the Cubans even further to the Soviets

c. Cuban Missile Crisis

i. October 1962 – aerial photographs of American spy planes revealed that the Soviets were secretly and speedily installing nuclear-tipped missiles in Cuba

ii. The Soviets intended to use these weapons to shield Castro and to blackmail the U.S. into backing down in Berlin and other issues

iii. Later that month, Kennedy ordered a naval “quarantine” (instead of a blockade – which is reminiscent of war) of Cuba and demanded immediate removal of the weapons. He also told the Soviets that an attack coming from Cuba would be considered an attack coming from the Soviet Union and the U.S. would retaliate with nuclear weapons

iv. As Soviet ships approached the patrol line, and attacking one would be considered war. In addition, the Soviets had nuclear capabilities already in Cuba and were authorized to launch them if attacked

v. By the end of October, Khrushchev agreed to pull the missiles out of Cuba in agreement for the U.S. ending the quarantine and not invading the island. The U.S. also agree to remove some of its missiles targeted at the Soviet Union from Turkey

vi. In this incident, the U.S. and Soviets had been closer than ever at nuclear war

d. Results of the Cuban Missile Crisis (détente begins – French for relaxation of tension)

i. Khrushchev was disgraced

ii. Military expansion, followed by American expansion

iii. Democrats fared well in the Congressional elections of 1962

iv. Kennedy pushed for a nuclear test-ban treaty (one was signed in late 1963)

v. Installation in August 1963 of a Moscow-Washington “hot line” for easy communication in case of crisis

vi. Kennedy tried to lay the foundation for peaceful coexistence with the Soviet Union in a speech to the public by advocating that they not think of the Soviet Union as a devil-ridden country

VII. The Struggle For Civil Rights

a. Kennedy and Civil Rights

i. Had campaigned with a strong appeal to black voters

ii. However, he had pledged to eliminate racial discrimination in housing “with a stroke of the pen” – it took nearly two years

iii. Kennedy was elected by a thin margin, had small control over Congress, and needed the support of southern legislators to pass his economic and social legislation (he claimed that those bills would have as much effect on African Americans as legislation on civil rights)

b. Freedom Rides

i. In Boynton v. Virginia (1960), the Supreme Court expanded its earlier ban on segregation on interstate buses. As a result, bus station waiting rooms and restaurants that served interstate travelers could not be segregated, either

ii. Freedom rides were organized to test whether southern states would obey the Supreme Court ruling and allow African Americans to exercise the rights newly granted to them. It was often met by violence in the South

iii. Because of this violence, Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent federal marshals to protect the Freedom Riders. He persuaded the Interstate Commerce Commission to issue a ruling prohibiting segregation in all interstate transportation – trains, planes, buses, etc.

c. Kennedy and King

i. Kennedy was leery about some of King’s associates, who had connections to communism

ii. Robert Kennedy ordered FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to wiretap King’s phone in late 1963. Otherwise, the relationship between King and Kennedy was a good one

iii. Private foundations backed by the Kennedys gave money to the SNCC and other civil rights groups for the Voter Education Project to register the South’s disfranchised blacks

d. Integration at the University of Mississippi

i. James Meredith, an African American, wanted to transfer to this all-white school. After being turned down on racial grounds, Meredith got help from the NAACP. The Supreme Court upheld Meredith’s claim

ii. However, Mississippi governor Ross Barnett declared that Meredith could not enroll, no matter what the Court said. The issue became a standoff between the governor and the Justice Department

iii. Violence erupted on campus. 2 bystanders were killed and 100 injured

iv. Finally, President Kennedy sent army troops to restore order, and federal marshals escorted Meredith to class

e. Violence In Birmingham

i. When King visited Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, he called it the most segregated city in the country. He planned a march to Selma to register black voters (who made up less than 15% of the city’s voters, yet made up ½ their population)

ii. City officials declared that the marches violated a regulation prohibiting parades without a permit. Police used attack dogs and fire hoses (that knocked down children) that could tear the bark off trees to quell the protest. The police commissioner arrested King and other demonstrators

iii. TV cameras brought the scenes of violence to people across the country. Even those unsympathetic to the civil rights movement were appalled

iv. In the end, the protestors won. A compromise led to desegregation of city facilities and fairer hiring practices

f. Kennedy’s Reaction

i. Delivered a memorable televised speech to the nation in June 1963, in which he called the situation a “moral issue.” He committed his personal and presidential prestige to finding a solution

ii. He called for new civil rights legislation; however, by the time of his death, civil rights legislation was making little headway

g. March On Washington

i. In August, King led 200,000 black and white demonstrators on a peaceful “March on Washington” in support of the proposed legislation

ii. King gave a speech at the Lincoln Memorial, known as the “I Have A Dream” Speech

h. Violence Continues

i. On the night of Kennedy’s television address, a white gunman shot down Medgar Evers, a black Mississippi civil rights worker

ii. In September 1963, an explosion by the KKK blasted a Baptist church in Birmingham, killing four black girls who had just finished their lesson called “The Love That Forgives.” No one was prosecuted for this until 2002

VIII. Kennedy’s Assassination

a. Kennedy’s Assassination

i. On November 22, 1963, Kennedy traveled to Texas to mobilize support for the election next year. While he was riding in an open limousine, an assassin shot and killed Kennedy

ii. Shortly after his death, the Warren Commission, headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, investigated the crime. The prime suspect was Lee Harvey Oswald, a supporter of Fidel Castro. Two days after Kennedy’s assassination, Oswald was transferred from one jail to another. While the nation watched on TV, Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald

iii. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald had worked alone. Since then, however, some people have argued that Oswald was involved in a larger conspiracy, and that he was killed in order to protect others who had helped plan Kennedy’s murder

iv. Lyndon Johnson was sworn in 90 minutes after Kennedy’s death on Air Force One. He managed to have a smooth transition

b. The Nation’s Reaction

i. Were deeply sorrowful for his death; he and his wife had a charm over the people

ii. Was acclaimed more for the ideals he had spoken and the spirit he had kindled more than the concrete goals he had achieved

iii. Was an inspirational figure for many who came of age in the 1960s (including Bill Clinton)

c. Recent Findings About Kennedy

i. Was involved with organized crime figures

ii. Was involved in many, many affairs

IX. LBJ and the Presidency

a. LBJ’s Characteristics

i. First won a seat in the House of Representatives in 1937, when he was 29; won a Senate seat in 1948

ii. Was Democratic majority leader

iii. Was egotistical and vane (gave the Pope a bust of himself)

b. LBJ’s First Days In Office

i. LBJ knew that the American people needed some action that would heal the wound caused by the loss of their President

ii. He swiftly passed Kennedy’s civil rights and tax-cut bills in tribute to him

c. Civil Rights Act of 1964

i. Banned discrimination:

1. Workplace

2. Theaters

3. Hospitals

4. Restaurants

ii. Strengthened the federal government’s power to end segregation in schools and other public places

1. It used federal court orders called injunctions to enforce the act

2. Injunctions either forces or restrains the acts of a private individual or public official

3. Violation of an injunction amounts to contempt of court

iii. Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to eliminate discrimination in hiring

iv. Forbids the use of any voter registration or literacy requirement in an unfair or discriminatory manner

v. Title VII of the act had a “sexual clause,” that would help enforce gender equality

X. Johnson Against Goldwater In 1964

a. Democratic Nomination

i. Easily nominated Johnson

ii. Had the most liberal platform since Truman’s Fair Deal

b. Republican Nomination

i. Nominated Senator Barry Goldwater of Arkansas

ii. Was a conservative. He attacked the:

1. Income tax

2. Social Security system

3. Nuclear test-ban treaty

4. Great Society

iii. Said that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” – meaning that if extreme measures (nuclear bombs) were needed to defend liberty, then he would do it. Johnson played against this, using a commercial in which a girl that is playing a counting game turns into the countdown for a nuclear explosion

c. Campaigning

i. Democrats exploited the image of Goldwater as a trigger-happy cowboy who would destroy the U.S. if president

ii. On the other hand, Johnson looked like a statesman when the Tonkin Gulf episode occurred

d. Gulf of Tonkin

i. When Johnson took over the presidency, he advocated containment of Communism. In August 1964, after North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked U.S. destroyers in the international waters of the Gulf of Tonkin

ii. Later investigations strongly suggested that the North Vietnamese fired in self-defense. However, Johnson called the attack “unprovoked” and ordered a “limited” retaliatory air raid against North Vietnamese bases

iii. Then, Johnson got Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. It stated that President had the authority to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” The President now had nearly complete control over what the U.S. did in Vietnam, even without an official declaration of war from Congress

e. Results of the Election of 1964

i. Several factors led to Johnson’s victory:

1. His early successes

2. Fondness for Kennedy’s legacy

3. Faith in Great Society promises

4. Fear of Goldwater

ii. Johnson won:

1. 43.1 million-27.2 million (61% was a record)

2. 486-52

iii. Democratic majorities were in both houses of Congress

XI. The Great Society

a. What Is the Great Society?

i. LBJ wished to create a rich and powerful society, called the Great Society. To accomplish this, he sought laws to aid public education, provide medical care for the elderly, and eliminate poverty

ii. Johnson’s idol was FDR and his New Deal policies; his Great Society was similar in economic and welfare measures

iii. LBJ’s antipoverty war was aroused by Michael Harrington’s The Other America (1962) – reveled that 20% of the American population, and 40% of the black population, was below the poverty line

iv. LBJ took advantage of the 2 to 1 majority in both houses of Congress to create a lot of legislation

b. What Did the Great Society Do?

i. Included the Big Four legislative achievements (education, medical care, immigration reform, and voting rights bill)

ii. War On Poverty

1. Gave Office of Economic Opportunity $2 billion

2. Granted $1 billion to Appalachia (people living in downtrodden Appalachian Mountains)

3. Created two new cabinet officers:

a. Department of Housing and Urban Development

b. Department of Transportation

4. Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 –

a. Created to combat several causes of poverty including illiteracy, unemployment, and inadequate public services. $950 million was set aside to fund programs to help the poor

iii. Aid to Education

1. Passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to provide $1.3 billion in aid to schools

2. Avoided separation of church and state issue by giving the money to students, not schools

iv. Medicare and Medicaid

1. Passed Medicare, which provided hospital and low-cost medical insurance for most Americans age 65 and older

2. Passed Medicaid, which provided low-cost health insurance for poor Americans of any age who could not afford their own provide health insurance

3. Created “entitlements” – gave rights to certain categories of Americans without the need for repeated congressional approval

v. Immigration Reform

1. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 eliminated the “national-origins” quota system for individual countries

2. Under the old system, each foreign nation had numerical limits on immigration, depending on their location. For example, Eastern Europe had low limits on immigration, while Britain had high limits

3. The new system:

a. Doubled (to 290,000) the number of immigrants allowed to enter annually

b. Limited immigrants from the Western Hemisphere (120,000)

c. Allowed the admission of close relatives of U.S. citizens outside of those limits (an additional 100,000 people took advantage of this)

4. The act:

a. Allowed more people than the creators thought

b. Shifted heavy immigration from Europe to Latin America and Asia (changing the ethnic composition of the U.S.)

c. What Were the Effects of the Great Society?

i. Proponents:

1. Poverty was cut in half from the early 1960s to 1970s

2. Antipoverty programs improved the educational performance of underprivileged youth (Project Head Start)

3. Infant mortality rates fell in minority communities as health conditions improved

ii. Critics:

1. Too many American tax dollars were being spent on poor people

2. It put too much authority in the hands of the government

XII. Battling For Black Rights

a. Voting Problems For African Americans In the South

i. In Mississippi, only 5% of eligible blacks were registered to vote; it was similar throughout the South

ii. The South denied blacks the right to vote through:

1. Poll tax

2. Literacy test

3. Intimidation (Mississippi law required the names of prospective black registrants to be published for two weeks in local newspapers – guaranteeing reprisals)

b. Attempts At Voter Registration

i. January 1964

1. 24^th Amendment – abolished the poll tax in federal elections

ii. Freedom Summer

1. Blacks and white civil rights workers joined in a massive voter-registration drive in Mississippi in summer 1964

iii. June 1964

1. 1 black and 2 white civil rights workers disappeared in Mississippi; they were found badly beaten and dead

2. The FBI arrested 21 white people, including the local sheriff; they weren’t convicted for murder

iv. August 1964

1. Mississippi Freedom Democratic party – was denied its seat at the national Democratic convention

v. Early 1965 – Selma March

1. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a voter-registration campaign with 600 people in Selma, Alabama, where blacks made up 50% of the population, but only 1% of the voters

2. State troopers with tear gas and whips assaulted King’s marchers who were peacefully going to the State capital, Montgomery; 17 were hospitalized

3. A Boston minister was killed and a few days later a white woman was shot to death by Klansmen on the highway near Selma – they were killed by members of the KKK

c. Voting Rights Act of 1965

i. On TV, President Johnson made a speech that he ended with the anthem of the civil rights movement, “And we shall overcome”

ii. In reaction to Selma, Johnson and Congress passed this act

1. It allowed African Americans to register voters in places where local officials were blocking registration

2. Eliminated literacy tests

3. Provided federal registration of African-American voters in areas that had less than 50% of eligible voters registered (including federal voter examiners to oversee elections)

4. Also provided for Department of Justice review of potential election laws if less than 50% of African Americans weren’t registered

iii. Results:

1. 400,000 African Americans registered after the law was passed

2. For the first time since emancipation, African Americans began to migrate into the South

XIII. Black Power

a. Watts Riots

i. Five days after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, a huge riot erupted in Watts, LA. It occurred after a drunk black man resisted arrest and the police used batons to put him down

ii. Thousands of people filled the streets burning stores and looting. 6 days later, order was restored

iii. 34 people died and more than a thousand were injured; $200 million worth of property damage resulted

iv. This sparked other riots throughout the country

b. Increasing Violence

i. Changes in laws didn’t address de facto segregation, the separation caused by social conditions such as poverty. African Americans were still discriminated against in education, housing, and employment. They were kept out of well paying jobs, suburban housing, and inner city schools were run-down

ii. The federal government set up a special National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders to investigate the riots. They declared that the riots were an explosion of the anger that had been smoldering in the inner-city ghettos

iii. This marked a new, much more violent phase of the black struggle. Some African Americans were unhappy with the approach MLK, Jr. was taking. Some rejected the notion of nonviolence and integration with white society. They were impatient with the slow pace of progress and turned to more militant leaders

c. Malcolm X

i. The most famous of these leaders was Malcolm X. He grew up in the ghettos of several cities and turned to a life of crime. While he was in jail for burglary, he joined the Nation of Islam or Black Muslims. They viewed white society as oppressive and preached black separation and self-help

ii. The Nation of Islam was founded by Elijah Muhammed in 1933. He taught that Allah (the Muslim name for God) would bring about a “Black Nation,” a union among all nonwhite people. Members of the Nation of Islam did not seek change through political means, but waited for Allah to create the Black Nation. He felt the enemy of the Nation of Islam was white society

iii. Malcolm X had similar beliefs. He spread the philosophy of black nationalism, a belief in the separate identity and racial unity of the African American. Although their beliefs were similar, Malcolm X split from the Nation of Islam because of some differences. He eventually formed his own religious group, called the Muslim Mosque, Inc.

iv. When visiting Mecca, the holy city of Islam in Saudi Arabia, he saw Muslims of all races worshipping together. It changed his views on separatism and hatred of white people. When he returned, he worked with other civil rights leaders and even white people for change. However, a month later, in February 1965, he was shot to death by members of the Nation of Islam who didn’t believe in his new philosophy

d. Black Power Movement

i. Black Panthers

1. In 1966, a new militant group, called the Black Panthers, was formed by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. They demanded that the federal government rebuild the nation’s ghettos to make up for years of neglect

2. Although the Black Panthers had violent encounters with the police, they also set up community projects, such as day-care centers

ii. Stokely Carmichael

1. Stokely Carmichael was an SNCC member who heard Malcolm X’s message. As Carmichael got into the leadership of the SNCC, he tried to change their approach. He was tired of getting beaten and arrested at nonviolent protests, so advocated carrying guns for self-defense

2. Carmichael had the idea of black power, in which called on African Americans “to unite, to reorganize their heritage, to build a sense of community…to begin to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations and support those organizations”

iii. Olympic Games

1. During the Olympic Games, political statements were also made. Tommie Smith and John Carlos (both from the U.S.) won the gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200-meter race

2. When they stood (barefoot) upon the victory platform, during the playing of the "Star Spangled Banner," they each raised one hand, covered by a black glove, in a Black Power salute. Their gesture was meant to bring attention to the conditions of blacks in the United States

3. This act, since it went against the ideals of the Olympic Games, caused the two athletes to be expelled from the Games. The IOC stated, "The basic principle of the Olympic Games is that politics plays no part whatsoever in them. The U.S. athletes violated this universally accepted principle . . . to advertise domestic political views”

iv. African American Distinctiveness

1. Promoted “Afro” hairstyles and dress

2. Shed “white” names for new African ones

3. Demanded black studies programs in schools and universities

e. More Riots

i. Riots Erupt In Black Ghettos

1. Newark, New Jersey – 25 killed

2. Detroit, Michigan – 43 killed

3. Los Angeles, California – blacks set fire to their own neighborhoods and attacked police officers and firefighters

ii. Reaction

1. Angered many white Americans, who threatened retaliation

2. Many were baffled why this was happening in the North

3. African Americans wanted equality in the workplace in the North more than civil rights (unemployment was nearly doubled for blacks)

f. Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

i. Was shot in Memphis, Tennessee in April 1968

ii. He was one of the most inspiring leaders in American history

iii. This caused more ghetto violence that cost over 40 lives

g. Progress Is Made

i. Voter registration in the South shot upward

ii. Several hundred blacks held elected office in the South

iii. Cleveland, Ohio, and Gary, IN elected black mayors

iv. By 1972, nearly half of southern black children were in integrated classrooms

v. 1/3 of black families raised to the middle class

XIV. Combating Communism In Two Hemispheres

a. Communism In the Dominican Republic

i. In April 1965, Dominicans rose in revolt against their military government

ii. Johnson sent troops, believing that the Dominican Republic was the target of a Castro-like coup

iii. He was criticized by the lack of evidence of any communist attempt of a takeover

b. Johnson and Vietnam

i. When Johnson took over the presidency, he advocated containment of Communism. After being elected in 1964, Johnson started a gradual military escalation, or expansion, of the war, devoting ever more American money and personnel to the conflict

ii. By 1965, the Viet Cong were steadily expanding within South Vietnam. North Vietnamese troops and supplies poured into the south via the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a supply route that passed through Laos and Cambodia

iii. After an attack at Pleiku that killed 8 Americans and wounded 126, President Johnson authorized the bombing of North Vietnam – Operation Rolling Thunder

iv. At the start of 1965, 25,000 American soldiers were stationed in Vietnam. By the end of the year, the number had risen to 184,000. By 1968, there were 536,000 troops in Vietnam and the U.S. was paying $30 billion a year for the war

v. The South Vietnamese were becoming spectators in their own war, as it was becoming more Americanized

c. More American Involvement In Vietnam

i. Johnson and his advisors believed that an “escalation” of American force would drive the enemy to defeat with a minimum loss of life on both sides

ii. The Americans brought with them advanced weaponry and new tactics, but they had only limited success in jungle warfare. The enemy matched every increased in American firepower with more men and more resolve in guerrilla warfare

iii. American officials defended their involvement by saying that they were defending a faithful democratic ally (although the governments were often corrupt)

XV. Discontent With Vietnam

a. World Opinion of Vietnam

i. Grew increasingly hostile; the blasting of an underdeveloped country by a mighty superpower struck many critics as foul

ii. Several nations expelled American Peace Corps volunteers

iii. Charles de Gaulle ordered NATO off French soil in 1966

b. Six-Day War

i. Israel attacked the Soviet-backed Egyptians in 1967

ii. By the end of the war, Israel occupied:

1. New territories in the Sinai Peninsula

2. Golan Heights

3. Gaza Strip

4. West Bank of the Jordan River (including Jerusalem)

iii. 1 million resentful Palestinian Arabs were now under direct Israeli control, while another 350,000 Palestinian refugees fled to neighboring Jordan. Although the Israelis eventually withdrew from the Sinai, they refused to relinquish the other areas and began moving Jewish settlers into heavy Arab districts

iv. The Palestinians were now led by Yasir Arafat and the Middle East proved impossible for the U.S. to defuse

c. The Teach-In Movement

i. The first teach-in took place at the University of Michigan in March 1965

ii. A group of 50-60 professors decided to teach a special night session in which issues concerning the war could be aired. To their surprise, several thousand people showed up and made the evening a success

iii. Soon, other teach-ins followed at colleges around the country

d. Resistance to War

i. In the beginning of the war, only conscientious objectors opposed fighting in the war. These were people who chose not to fight on moral or religious grounds

ii. By the end of the war, Johnson had quadrupled the number of men who could be drafted. As the draft got bigger and bigger, Americans began to question the morality and fairness of the draft. College students could receive a deferment, or official postponement of their call to serve. Usually, they didn’t end up going to war. Those who could not afford college did not have this avenue open to them

iii. By 1967, resistance to the military draft began to sweep the country. Many young men tried to avoid the draft by claiming that they had physical disabilities

iv. 100,000 men fled to Canada to avoid military service

v. In October 1967, 50,000 protesters gathered in Washington, D.C. to march on the Pentagon, home of the Defense Department. One of their famous protest chants was “Hey, hey, LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?”

vi. In the first six months of 1968, more than 200 major demonstrations erupted at colleges around the country

e. War Supporters

i. Antiwar violence alarmed most Americans and turned some against the antiwar movement

ii. Many made their opinions known by writing letters to campus newspapers or by challenging the actions of antiwar groups in court. Some put bumper stickers on their cars which said “My Country, Right or Wrong” and “Love It or Leave It.”

f. Opposition In Congress

i. Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations William Fulbright of Arkansas led a series of widely viewed televised hearings in 1966 and 1967, during which prominent people aired their views, largely antiwar

ii. Gradually, the public came to feel that it had been deceived about the causes and “winnability” of the war

iii. A “credibility gap” opened between the government and the people

g. Doubts Within the Administration

i. Defense Secretary McNamara expressed increasing discomfort at the course of events. As a result, he was eased out of the cabinet

ii. Casualties already exceeded 100,000 by 1968. More bombs had been dropped on Vietnam than on all enemy territory in WWII

h. Intelligence Efforts

i. In 1967, President Johnson ordered the CIA, in clear violation of its charter as a foreign intelligence agency, to spy on domestic antiwar activists

ii. He also encouraged the FBI to turn its counterintelligence program, code-named “Cointelpro” against the peace movement. They charged that leading “doves” were communist sympathizers

i. Reality of the Vietnam War

i. As the war went on, evidence mounted that America had been entrapped in an Asian civil war, fighting against highly motivated rebels who were striving to overthrow an oppressive regime

ii. Johnson was bent on “saving” Vietnam and assured Americans he could see “the light at the end of the tunnel”

XVI. Vietnam Topples Johnson

a. Tet Offensive

i. The Viet Cong were supposedly on the retreat, but in January 1968, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese launched a major offensive. The Tet Offensive included surprise attacks on 27 major cities, towns, and American military bases throughout South Vietnam

ii. Even though they were turned back with heavy losses, the Viet Cong had won a psychological victory. The Tet Offensive demonstrated that the Viet Cong could launch attacks anywhere they wanted and that Johnson’s strategy of gradual escalation would not work

iii. Images of the fighting were shown on American television and many people at home began to express reservations about U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Others wanted deeper involvement

iv. American military leaders requested 200,000 more troops

b. Eugene McCarthy

i. Democratic senator from Minnesota who was against the war

ii. He gathered a small army of antiwar college students as campaign workers

c. Robert Kennedy

i. Was brother of JFK

ii. Democratic senator from New York who was also a “dove”

iii. Stirred passion from workers, African Americans, Latinos, and young people

d. Johnson’s March 1968 Speech

i. Announced that he would freeze American troop levels and scale back bombing

ii. Also tried to unify the nation by declaring that he would not be a candidate for the presidency in 1968

iii. Johnson maintained the military status quo with this announcement – appeasing both “hawks” and “doves”

XVII. The Presidential Election of 1968

a. Summer 1968

i. Hubert H. Humphrey –

1. Was the heir apparent

2. Was a senator from Minnesota and Johnson’s vice-president

ii. Robert Kennedy –

1. After winning the CA primary, he was shot to death by an Arab immigrant (Sirhan Sirhan) resentful of the candidate’s pro-Israel views

b. Democratic Convention

i. In fear of angry antiwar protestors, they had:

1. Barbed-wire barricades around the convention hall

2. Thousand of police

3. National guard

ii. After hurling insults at the police, as well as cans of excrement, a riot broke out

iii. The police clubbed and manhandled innocent and guilty alike

iv. The Democrats were divided into Humphrey’s camp (who believed that fighting should continue until the enemy showed more willingness to negotiate) and McCarthy’s camp (who was against the war and would end it)

c. Republican Convention

i. Former vice-president Richard M. Nixon was nominated

ii. He was a “hawk” on Vietnam, but middle to right on domestic policy, thus pleasing both liberals and conservatives

iii. He appealed to white southern voters and “law and order” when he chose his vice-presidential running mate, MD’s Governor Spiro T. Agnew. He was noted for his tough stands against dissidents and black militants

iv. The Republican platform called for:

1. Victory in Vietnam

2. Strong anticrime policy

d. American Independent Party

i. George C. Wallace, former governor of Alabama, was chosen

ii. In 1963, he had stood in the doorway to prevent two black students from entering the University of Alabama

iii. He spoke behind a bulletproof screen and called for putting the blacks back in their place, with force if necessary

iv. He also proposed nuclear war on Vietnam

e. Results of the Election of 1968

i. The “doves” had no one to vote for

ii. Nixon won:

1. 31.8 million-31.3 million

2. 301 electoral votes

iii. Was the first president-elect since 1848 not to bring a majority of his party in at least one house of Congress during an initial presidential election

iv. The Democrats won 95% of the black vote

f. Wallace’s Results

i. Won 10 million popular votes; 46 electoral votes (all from the Deep South)

ii. He amassed the largest third-party vote in American history

XVIII. The End of Lyndon Johnson

a. Johnson’s Legacy

i. No president since Lincoln had done as much for civil rights

ii. None had shown more compassion for the poor, blacks, and the ill-educated

iii. The combination of the was in Vietnam and the war on poverty divided enough money as to prevent it from being delivered to either of the two in sufficient quantity

iv. He was committed to Vietnam to some degree by his two predecessors, but had chosen to enlarge the conflict rather than pull out. He was persuaded by:

1. Military and civilian advisors

2. Massive aerial bombing with limited troop commitments

v. His decision not to escalate the fighting offended the “hawks” and his refusal to back off altogether antagonized the “doves”

vi. He died at his Texas ranch four years later

XIX. The Cultural Upheaval of the 1960s

a. Why the Counterculture?

i. The 1960s saw a widening of the generation gap. Young Americans were not satisfied with the values of their parents

ii. They were disillusioned by the discovery that American society was not free of racism, sexism, imperialism, and oppression

iii. The baby-boom generation was now graduating from high school and moving into college

iv. Many students regarded the war as American imperialism. Others thought that it was a civil war that should be left for the Vietnamese to fight alone

v. 3 P’s – youthful population bulge, protest against racism and the Vietnam War, and the apparent permanence of prosperity

b. Counterculture

i. Many Americans in the 1960s began to look for alternatives to traditional patterns of living. Young people, in particular, adopted values that ran counter to, or against, the mainstream culture. This is called the counterculture

ii. People’s appearances reflected the social changes that were taking place. Hippies – people who were “hip,” or aware of the latest styles - wanted to look different. They wore blue jeans with bell bottoms, T-shirts, and had long hair, sideburns, and beards

c. The Sexual Revolution

i. Partly caused by the introduction of the birth-control pill

ii. Led to more open discussion of sexual subjects. Newspapers, magazines, and books published articles that might not have been printed a few years earlier

iii. More and more people simply lived together as couples, without getting married

iv. Increased worries in the 1980s about sexually transmitted disease like genital herpes and AIDS slowed, but didn’t reverse, the sexual revolution

d. Gay Rights

i. The Mattachine Society, founded in 1951, was one of the first groups to advocate for gay rights

ii. A brutal attack on gay men by off-duty police officers at New York’s Stonewall Inn in 1969 powerfully energized gay and lesbian militancy

e. Drugs

i. Many members of the counterculture turned to psychedelic drugs. These powerful chemicals cause the brain to behave abnormally. Users of these drugs experience hallucinations and other altered perceptions of reality

ii. Marijuana and LSD use became widespread

iii. The possibility of death from an overdose or from an accident while under the influence of drugs became much greater than before

f. Churches Decline

i. The weekly churchgoing rate declined from 48% in the late 1950s, to 41% in the early 1970s

ii. Protestant denominations suffered the most

iii. Educated Americans became more secular, while the less educated became more religious

iv. Catholics changed some of their traditions:

1. Stopped Latin language

2. Meatless Fridays were done away with

3. No Gregorian chants

g. Free Speech Movement

i. In September 1964 at the University of California at Berkeley, students became angry when the administration refused to allow them to distribute antiwar leaflets outside the main campus. However, the students distributed the leaflets anyhow

ii. The university decided to hold student leaders responsible for their actions and filed charges against them

iii. In December 1964, thousands of students protested. 700 were arrested

iv. The agitation at Berkeley spread to other campuses across the U.S.

h. Woodstock Music and Art Fair

i. In New York in 1969, 400,000 members of the counterculture came together

ii. For 4 days, people sat and listened to bands playing. Police avoided confrontations at the Woodstock festival by choosing not to enforce drug laws

iii. The people who attended recalled the event with something of a sense of awe for the fellowship they experienced there

i. End of the Counterculture?

i. Ended because:

1. They had grown older

2. Had children of their own

3. Civil rights movement ended

4. The war ended

5. Economic stagnation began

6. Needed a job in the system