Decades of Change: the 60’s and 70’s
President John F. Kennedy 1960-1963 (Democrat)
- Was the youngest and first Catholic president to hold office.
- Some of the events that took place during his presidency included
• Bay of Pigs Invasion
• Cuban Missile Crisis • Formation of the Berlin Wall
• Space Race • African American Civil Rights movement.
• Beginning of the Vietnam War. - Assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.
• Lee Harvey Oswald was charged.
• Oswald was assassinated by Jack Ruby two days later, before a trial could take place. Lyndon B. Johnson 1963-1969 (Democrat)
-Took over office after Kennedy was assassinated, completed the term, and was elected president in his own right during the elections of 1964.
- Some of the events that took place during his presidency included
• Great Society, which included Medicare, Medicaid, aid to education, and the “war on poverty”
• Civil Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed most forms of racial segregation. • Voting Rights Act of 1965, which allowed millions of Blacks (especially in the south) to vote
for the first time. • Escalated the Vietnam war, from 16,000 men in 1963 to 500,000 combat troops in 1968
• The involvement in Vietnam led to a large anti war movement. Multiple riots broke out in most major cities from 1965-1968.
Richard M. Nixon 1969-1974 (Republican)
- Visited the People’s Republic of China in 1972, and opened Diplomatic relations between the two nations.
- Ended the conflict in Vietnam in 1973
- Initiated Détente
• The U. S. and the U.S.S.R. agreed to install a direct hotline between Washington DC and Moscow, which enabled them interact quickly in case of emergencies.
• Created reduction in arms by the Soviets and the Americans.
- Apollo 11. The first landing of humans on the moon took place during his presidency.
- Won the re-election in 1972
- Watergate Scandal
• The affair became public after five men were caught breaking into the Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972.
• Based on information provided by informant Mark Felt (also known as “Deep Throat”) associate director at the FBI, linked the 5 men to the Nixon administration.
• It became clear that Nixon aides had committed crimes in attempts to sabotage the Democrats.
• Nixon denied having any knowledge of the burglary and having a part in any wrongdoing. • In July 1973, it was discovered that Nixon had tape recordings of conversations in the White
house. Nixon refused to release them. • In 1974 Nixon released 1,200 pages of transcripts of White House Conversations between him
and his aides. • One of the tapes demonstrated that Nixon had been told of the White House connection to the
Watergate burglaries soon after they took place. • Senate was prepared to impeach Nixon, however he resigned in 1974.
Gerald Ford 1974-1977 (Republican)
- Became presidents after Nixon’s resignation
- Granted a presidential pardon to Richard Nixon for his involvement in the Watergate scandal.
- Signed the Helsinki Accords, which marked a move towards détente.
- Faced the words economic downturn since the great depression, which led to a growth in inflation and recession. Unemployment reached 9% in 1975.
James Carter 1977-1981 (Democrat)
- Had great involvement in foreign affairs
• Camp David Accords, which brought together a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt
• Panama Canal Treaties, which would return control of the Canal to Panama.
• SALT II, resulted in an agreement to limit strategic launches. However the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the treaty.
• The Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979, 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days during the Iranian revolution. They were released in 1980.
• Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Led to the end of détente, and the boycott of the U.S. of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
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Social movements
1960’s - Known as the “cultural decade”
- Counterculture • Gained momentum during the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
• Led mostly by young people • Widespread use of drugs such as Marijuana, LSD, and other psychoactive drugs.
- Civil Rights Movement - Free speech Movement
1970’s
- Great advocacy for World Peace - End of the Vietnam War
- Economic Downturn • U.S. Manufacturing and industries declined.
• Last time the U.S. had trade surplus. - Faith in government was at an all-time low after the disaster of the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal. - Rise in ecological awareness after a series of oil crisis in 1973 and 1979.
- Space Exploration • U.S. landing on the moon.
- Feminist Movement