New LeftI. Labor and Consensus Politics

A. The EstablishmentB. Liberal Incrementalism

II. New LeftA. Issues

Race, Vietnam, Women, Counterculture

B. CharacterC. Growing Radicalism

III. Labor reactionA. EngagementB. Opposition

IV. Shattered ConsensusA. Chicago, 1968B. The 1972 Landslide

The Establishment• AFL-CIO is

the most powerful lobby in Washington

• Driving force behind every piece of social legislation

George Meany, Andrew Biemiller, & President Johnson, 1964

Incrementalism

• Many unions back gradual advance of civil rights– Defy rank-and-file

workers, who often oppose integration

• Largely support anti-Communist crusade– Idealism– Realism

• Coalition politics

• Women’s rights & sexuality are off the table

Officials sign executive order desegregating unions, 1962

Civil Rights

• Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) founded 1942

– Students

– Non-violent direct action

– SIT-INS

College students at Woolworths, Greensboro, NC, 2/1/1960

Anti-war Movement

• Draft resistance becomes critique of Vietnam war.

• Challenge to war becomes critique of Cold War society.

Women’s Lib

• Work

• Private sphere

Betty Freidan

Counterculture

• Question assumptions of the postwar period:– Work, money,

success• Drop out• Tune in• Turn on

– Marriage, family• Sexual revolution

Character

• Middle class• Tone

– Earnest preachy– High minded condescending– Humorous mocking

Radicalism

• Long Hot summers– Harlem, 1964– Watts, 1966– Detroit, 1967– Nationwide, April 4,

1968

• In 1966, key civil rights groups rejects non-violence– “Black power”

Engagement

• New Unions– United Farm Workers

• Cesar Chavez

• Some unionists begin opposing Vietnam– Reuther

– Goldberg resigns over Vietnam, 1968

Opposition• Some workers

resist integration

• Union are vested in Cold War politics

• Ambivalent about war– National pride– Fear for loved

ones

• Resent– Protestors

themselves– Challenge to

postwar values

Skirmish between construction workers and anti-war protestors, New York City, 1970

1968• Breakdown of

Cold War Liberal Consensus– Sen. Eugene

McCarthy– Sen. Hubert

Humphrey– Mayor Richard

Daley

– Events• Showdown at

Chicago • The South defects

• Nixon wins

1972 Landslide