Modern American History Review

1960-1992

1960

• JFK elected President (over Nixon) – Famous election… first with televised debates.– JFK’s “New Frontier” speech

• U2 Incident over Soviet Union– US spy plane shot down over USSR. Heightens

Cold War tensions. Pilot Francis Gary Powers held captive.

1961

• Bay of Pigs Invasion– Failed attempt by JFK admin. to assassinate Fidel Castro.

• “Berlin Crisis”– Leads to the building to the Berlin Wall… City partitioned

overnight, trapping people on either side for decades.• Intensifying US involvement in Vietnam– 900 US “military advisors” are sent to Vietnam… still not officially

at war with N. Vietnam.• OPEC formed– Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries: It’s a cartel

that exists to keep the price of oil up to benefit its member countries.

1962

• Cuban Missile Crisis– After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, they became

Communist… the Soviet Union attempted to use this to their strategic advantage by installing nuclear ICBMs on the island. Our U2 reconnaissance missions spotted them leading to an intense stand-off between the superpowers.

– The US set up a Naval blockade around the island and the Soviets sent submarines… they came very close to blowing us all up.

1963

• Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” Speech during the March on Washington– Hundreds of thousands attend the Civil Rights

March on Washington. King’s speech is televised and inspires millions.

• JFK assassinated… LBJ becomes President– Warren Commission set up to investigate the

assassination. Lee Harvey Oswald arrested and later shot by Jack Ruby.

1964

• “British Invasion” The Beatles arrive on tour– The Beatles were a Pop culture phenomenon

influencing art, fashion, and music still today• Johnson’s “Great Society” social reforms– Continued progressive reforms began under JFK

• Civil Rights Act of 1964– One of many throughout the 60s… sets up

Medicare/Medicade.

1965

• LBJ increases US military involvement in Vietnam– US now carrying out military missions against the

N. Vietnamese and increasing personnel • SNCC leads anti-war marches on Washington

• Malcolm X assassinated

1966

• HUD (Dept. of Housing and Urban Development) established

• DOT (Dept. of Transportation) established

• Muhammad Ali declares himself a “Conscientious Objector” to the Vietnam War after being drafted.

1967

• “Summer of Love”– Hippies– Haight-Ashbury

1968

• MLK assassinated– Major psychological blow the nation. Fuels a

more militant approach to the movement.• Tet Offensive– Viet Cong attacks on Tet holiday… beginning of the

end for US involvement. We never rebound.• Robert Kennedy Assassinated– Was running for pres.

• Nixon Elected President

1969• Vietnamization (response to Tet)– Nixon trying to put a positive spin on the conflict.

• MyLai Massacre– Nation learns of atrocities perpetrated against

Vietnamese civilians at the hands of American soldiers.

• Apollo II Moon Landing– The realization of JFK’s moon mission project. Not

just a scientific achievement… Cold War motives too!

1970

• Kent State Shooting– 4 killed by National Guardsmen on the campus of

Kent State in Ohio. Students were protesting the Vietnam War.

1971

• 26th Amendment– 18 yr old Vote… major societal pressure because

of the drafting of 18yr olds for Vietnam.

1972

• Nixon’s visit to China– “Ping Pong Diplomacy” normalizes relations with

China, opening up economic trade• Watergate Scandal (5 arrested)– Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate

hotel are broken in to… the beginning of a destructive scandal that will be the undoing of Nixon… slowly.

• Nixon re-elected Pres.

1973• Roe v. Wade– Abortion deemed a private issue. States cannot ban

the procedure… super controversial to this day.• Watergate Committee formed• Spiro Agnew resigns as VP … Ford takes his place• Oil embargo– Gas shortage grips the nation. Lines form around the

block at gas stations.• Nixon fires 3 Attorneys General over secret tapes

1974

• House Judiciary Committee votes to impeach Nixon

• Nixon Resigns– First US president to voluntarily leave office before

term ends

1975

• Fall of Saigon– Capital of Vietnam is overrun by Vietcong forces.

Last-minute evacuation of the American embassy there.

• Bill Gates founds Microsoft

1976

• Carter defeats Ford

1977

• Elvis “dies”

1978

• Camp David Accords– Carter calls meeting of Israeli and Egyptian

presidents. Amazingly, Carter is able to get Egypt’s president to officially recognize Israel’s right to exist as a nation.

1979

• Three Mile Island nuclear accident– Nuclear power plant in PA nearly went into total melt-

down. Nuclear disaster narrowly averted. American enthusiasm for nuclear power ENDED with this experience.

• Iran Hostage Crisis– 54 American diplomats were held for 444 days by Iranians

in support of the Iranian Revolution. America’s support of the recently-deposed Shah (who had fled to the US) led Iranians to view the US as complicit in the Shah’s crimes against the Iranian people during his reign. They were only released after Carter lost his bid for re-election to Reagan.

1980

• Mt. St. Helens errupts!• Reagan becomes president– Supply-Side Economics (“Trickle-Down

Economics”)– “New Right” Coalition– Massive increase in military spending/dev.

• US boycotts Moscow Summer Olympics• John Lenin Assassinated

1981

• Attempted assassination of Reagan (John Hinkley)

• MTV Launched– Transformative for a generation.

• First Space Shuttle (Columbia) Launched – 27 missions. Burns up on re-entry in 2003… ending

the space shuttle program.

1984

• L.A. Summer Olympics boycotted by most of the Eastern Bloc (Communist countries)

• Reagan Re-elected• Crack introduced into the L.A. area

1986

• Iran-Contra Affair– Iran-Contra scandal, was a political scandal in the

United States that came to light in November 1986. During the Reagan administration, senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, the subject of an arms embargo. Some U.S. officials also hoped that the arms sales would secure the release of hostages and allow U.S. intelligence agencies to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.

• Space Shuttle Challenger explodes on take-off

1987• Reagan visits Berlin… “Tear Down this Wall”

speech delivered at Brandenburg Gate

1988

• G. Bush Sr. elected president

1989

• Exxon Valdez spill– Massive ecological damage off the coast of Alaska

• “War on Drugs”– All-out assault on drug use, possession, sale, and

distribution. Tended to focus more on users and dealers, not on suppliers or the actual REASONS why people turn to drugs in the first place. Here’s when our prison population explodes.

1990

• Gulf War begins after Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait– Muslim world insists on solving the issue themselves.

The US isn’t convinced they can. Concerned we won’t have access to our needed supply of oil and with Saudi Arabia’s blessing, we invade Iraq and VERY quickly destroy Saddam’s military.

• Hubble Space Telescope launched– One of the most important technological and

scientific events of the modern age.

1991

• Berlin Wall comes down!– The physical symbol of the political, economic,

and ideological division between Communist and Democratic/Capitalist forces on the planet is dismantled after nearly half a century of the Cold War stand-off. The Communists were no match for the technological ingenuity and productive capability of free people.

• Cold War ends… PEACEFULLY!

1992

• L.A. Race Riots– Racial tension in Los Angeles erupts after 4 police

were acquitted of charges of police brutality… even though there was video evidence clearly showing the officers beating a black motorist named Rodney King. The acquittal sparked widespread violence, destruction, and looting for days afterward.