The 1960s -Make love not war
During the 1960s, students across America rose up to demand reform. On campuses from Berkeley to New York, they demanded desegregation, unrestricted free speech, and withdrawal from the war in Vietnam. Highly idealistic and inspired by periodic successes, the students believed they were creating a new America.
During the 1960s, young Americans on and off campuses challenged conventional lifestyles and institutions. They protested the materialism, consumerism, and mania for success that drove American society. They urged people to explore alternative patterns of work and domesticity. They challenged traditions surrounding sex and marriage. And they argued that all paths to deeper fulfillment, even those involving illicit drugs, could be justified. They believed they were creating a new America.
In 1961, John Kennedy coupled his presidential oath of office with an announcement that the torch of American idealism had been passed to a new generation. He called on Americans to join in a self-sacrificial campaign to explore a new frontier. Together they would fight “tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.” They would send American ambassadors of good will around the world, and they would even land a man on the moon. Kennedy called on Americans to create a new America.
In 1963, Lyndon Johnson assumed the presidency and immediately set about expanding Kennedy’s vision of social and economic perfection. He vowed to win the war against poverty and build a “Great Society” that elevated the poor, cared for the elderly, and offered educational opportunities to all. Johnson would push through Congress one of the most ambitious and extensive legislative agendas in history. Medicare, Medicaid, VISTA, Head Start, federal college scholarships, and the Office of Economic Opportunity all were created under his leadership. Johnson, the United States Congress, and the 43 million people (61% of the voters) that gave Johnson an enormous mandate in 1964 believed that they were creating a new America.
We tend to equate the idealism of the 1960s with the student movements and the counterculture that offered the most dramatic challenges to American policies and conventions. But the truth is, idealism crossed generations and permeated almost all levels of public life. Perhaps no period in American history has been filled with such an expansive and ambitious sense of possibilities—such a grand, inspiring sense of what Americans could achieve.
Of course, not every American marched in lockstep to the same vision of “progress.” In many places, north and south, segregation was defended. Citizens and politicians questioned the wisdom of expanding government services, arguing that they were costly and might breed a culture of governmental dependency. The new lifestyles advocated and lived by members of the counterculture were condemned as immoral and anarchistic. Student protestors were labeled self-indulgent children without the experience to make sober judgments.
And not every reform or vision advanced during the 1960s survived into the 1970s. American capitalism did not collapse under the pressure of student revolutionaries. Consumerism remained an essential element of American society. And many of the conventional institutions and practices of both Wall Street and Main Street persisted.
But student protestors did contribute to the end of the war in Vietnam, they did advance civil rights, and they did transform the culture of American colleges. Many of the values of the counterculture did work their way into the mainstream. America’s workplace is now more diverse and flexible, our sexual ethics have changed, and environmentalism has become a widely embraced set of values. Many of the programs created under Kennedy and Johnson are now accepted fixtures within the nation’s web of social services. Poverty has been reduced, America’s elderly are better cared for, and educational opportunities are far greater. And in 1969, the United States landed a man on the moon.
The 1960s remain a controversial decade. Critics argue that the era created the welfare state, bred a culture of immorality and self-indulgence, and bequeathed to America’s taxpayers an enormous burden. Its defenders, on the other hand, argue that the decade left America’s political and social institutions more just, and its culture more healthy.
The 1960s did create a new America. The question is, was “new” better?
During the 1960s, young Americans on and off campuses challenged conventional lifestyles and institutions. They protested the materialism, consumerism, and mania for success that drove American society. They urged people to explore alternative patterns of work and domesticity. They challenged traditions surrounding sex and marriage. And they argued that all paths to deeper fulfillment, even those involving illicit drugs, could be justified. They believed they were creating a new America.
In 1961, John Kennedy coupled his presidential oath of office with an announcement that the torch of American idealism had been passed to a new generation. He called on Americans to join in a self-sacrificial campaign to explore a new frontier. Together they would fight “tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.” They would send American ambassadors of good will around the world, and they would even land a man on the moon. Kennedy called on Americans to create a new America.
In 1963, Lyndon Johnson assumed the presidency and immediately set about expanding Kennedy’s vision of social and economic perfection. He vowed to win the war against poverty and build a “Great Society” that elevated the poor, cared for the elderly, and offered educational opportunities to all. Johnson would push through Congress one of the most ambitious and extensive legislative agendas in history. Medicare, Medicaid, VISTA, Head Start, federal college scholarships, and the Office of Economic Opportunity all were created under his leadership. Johnson, the United States Congress, and the 43 million people (61% of the voters) that gave Johnson an enormous mandate in 1964 believed that they were creating a new America.
We tend to equate the idealism of the 1960s with the student movements and the counterculture that offered the most dramatic challenges to American policies and conventions. But the truth is, idealism crossed generations and permeated almost all levels of public life. Perhaps no period in American history has been filled with such an expansive and ambitious sense of possibilities—such a grand, inspiring sense of what Americans could achieve.
Of course, not every American marched in lockstep to the same vision of “progress.” In many places, north and south, segregation was defended. Citizens and politicians questioned the wisdom of expanding government services, arguing that they were costly and might breed a culture of governmental dependency. The new lifestyles advocated and lived by members of the counterculture were condemned as immoral and anarchistic. Student protestors were labeled self-indulgent children without the experience to make sober judgments.
And not every reform or vision advanced during the 1960s survived into the 1970s. American capitalism did not collapse under the pressure of student revolutionaries. Consumerism remained an essential element of American society. And many of the conventional institutions and practices of both Wall Street and Main Street persisted.
But student protestors did contribute to the end of the war in Vietnam, they did advance civil rights, and they did transform the culture of American colleges. Many of the values of the counterculture did work their way into the mainstream. America’s workplace is now more diverse and flexible, our sexual ethics have changed, and environmentalism has become a widely embraced set of values. Many of the programs created under Kennedy and Johnson are now accepted fixtures within the nation’s web of social services. Poverty has been reduced, America’s elderly are better cared for, and educational opportunities are far greater. And in 1969, the United States landed a man on the moon.
The 1960s remain a controversial decade. Critics argue that the era created the welfare state, bred a culture of immorality and self-indulgence, and bequeathed to America’s taxpayers an enormous burden. Its defenders, on the other hand, argue that the decade left America’s political and social institutions more just, and its culture more healthy.
The 1960s did create a new America. The question is, was “new” better?
1960
· Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho Released
· Brazil's Capital Moves to Brand New City
· First Televised Presidential Debates
· Lasers Invented
· Lunch Counter Sit-In at Woolworth's in Greenboro, NC
· Most Powerful Earthquake Ever Recorded Hits Chile
· Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa
· The Birth Control Pill Is Approved by the FDA
· Walsh and Piccard Become the First to Explore the Deepest Place on Earth
1961
· Adolf Eichmann on Trial for Role in Holocaust
· Bay of Pigs Invasion
· Berlin Wall Built
· Freedom Riders Challenge Segregation on Interstate Buses
· JFK Gives "Man on the Moon" Speech
· Peace Corps Founded
· Soviets Launch First Man in Space
· Stalin's Body Removed From Lenin's Mausoleum
· The Antarctic Treaty Goes Into Force
· Tsar Bomba, the Largest Nuclear Weapon to Ever Be Exploded
1962
· Andy Warhol Exhibits His Campbell's Soup Can
· Cuban Missile Crisis
· Famous Escape From Alcatraz
· First James Bond Movie
· First Person Killed Trying to Cross the Berlin Wall
· First Wal-Mart Opens
· James Meredith Admitted Into the Segregated University of Mississippi
· Johnny Carson Takes Over the Tonight Show
· Marilyn Monroe Found Dead
· Rachel Carson Publishes Silent Spring
1963
· 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
· Betty Friedan Publishes The Feminine Mystique
· Buddhist Monk Sets Himself on Fire in Protest
· First Dr. Who Episode Airs
· First Woman in Space
· Great Train Robbery in England
· "Hot Line" Established Between U.S. and U.S.S.R.
· JFK Assassinated
· March on Washington
· Martin Luther King Jr. Makes His "I Have a Dream" Speech
· Medgar Evers Is Murdered
1964
· Beatles Become Popular in U.S.
· Cassius Clay (a.k.a. Muhammad Ali) Becomes World Heavyweight Champion
· Civil Rights Act Passes in U.S.
· Hasbro Launches GI Joe Action Figure
· Italy Asks for Help to Stabilize the Leaning Tower of Pisa
· Japan's First Bullet Train Line Opens
· Nelson Mandela Sentenced to Life in Prison
· Warren Report on JFK's Assassination Issued
1965
· British Sea Gem Oil Rig Collapses
· Los Angeles Riots
· Malcolm X Assassinated
· Miniskirt First Appears
· Nicolae Ceausescu Comes to Power in Romania
· New York City Great Blackout
· The Rolling Stones’ Mega Hit Song, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
· U.S. Sends Troops to Vietnam
1966
· Nazi Albert Speer Released From Spandau Prison
· Black Panther Party Established
· First Kwanzaa Celebrated
· Mao Zedong Launches the Cultural Revolution
· Mass Draft Protests in U.S.
· National Organization for Women (NOW) Founded
· Star Trek T.V. Series Airs
· Two Multi-Ton Chunks of the Mundrabilla Meteorite Found
1967
· Australian Prime Minister Disappears
· Che Guevara Killed
· First Heart Transplant
· First Super Bowl
· Six-Day War in the Middle East
· Stalin's Daughter Defects
· Three U.S. Astronauts Killed During Simulated Launch
· Thurgood Marshall Becomes the First African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice
1968
· Japan's 300 Million Yen Robbery
· Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated
· My Lai Massacre
· Nerve Gas Leak in Utah Kills 6,000 Sheep
· Prague Spring
· Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated
· Spy Ship USS Pueblo Captured
· Tet Offensive
· Zodiac Killer Strikes
1969
· ARPANET, the Precursor of the Internet, Created
· Manson Family Murders
· Neil Armstrong Becomes the First Man on the Moon
· Rock-and-Roll Concert at Woodstock
· Senator Edward Kennedy Leaves the Scene of an Accident
· Sesame Street First Airs
· Yasser Arafat Becomes Leader of the PLO
· Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho Released
· Brazil's Capital Moves to Brand New City
· First Televised Presidential Debates
· Lasers Invented
· Lunch Counter Sit-In at Woolworth's in Greenboro, NC
· Most Powerful Earthquake Ever Recorded Hits Chile
· Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa
· The Birth Control Pill Is Approved by the FDA
· Walsh and Piccard Become the First to Explore the Deepest Place on Earth
1961
· Adolf Eichmann on Trial for Role in Holocaust
· Bay of Pigs Invasion
· Berlin Wall Built
· Freedom Riders Challenge Segregation on Interstate Buses
· JFK Gives "Man on the Moon" Speech
· Peace Corps Founded
· Soviets Launch First Man in Space
· Stalin's Body Removed From Lenin's Mausoleum
· The Antarctic Treaty Goes Into Force
· Tsar Bomba, the Largest Nuclear Weapon to Ever Be Exploded
1962
· Andy Warhol Exhibits His Campbell's Soup Can
· Cuban Missile Crisis
· Famous Escape From Alcatraz
· First James Bond Movie
· First Person Killed Trying to Cross the Berlin Wall
· First Wal-Mart Opens
· James Meredith Admitted Into the Segregated University of Mississippi
· Johnny Carson Takes Over the Tonight Show
· Marilyn Monroe Found Dead
· Rachel Carson Publishes Silent Spring
1963
· 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
· Betty Friedan Publishes The Feminine Mystique
· Buddhist Monk Sets Himself on Fire in Protest
· First Dr. Who Episode Airs
· First Woman in Space
· Great Train Robbery in England
· "Hot Line" Established Between U.S. and U.S.S.R.
· JFK Assassinated
· March on Washington
· Martin Luther King Jr. Makes His "I Have a Dream" Speech
· Medgar Evers Is Murdered
1964
· Beatles Become Popular in U.S.
· Cassius Clay (a.k.a. Muhammad Ali) Becomes World Heavyweight Champion
· Civil Rights Act Passes in U.S.
· Hasbro Launches GI Joe Action Figure
· Italy Asks for Help to Stabilize the Leaning Tower of Pisa
· Japan's First Bullet Train Line Opens
· Nelson Mandela Sentenced to Life in Prison
· Warren Report on JFK's Assassination Issued
1965
· British Sea Gem Oil Rig Collapses
· Los Angeles Riots
· Malcolm X Assassinated
· Miniskirt First Appears
· Nicolae Ceausescu Comes to Power in Romania
· New York City Great Blackout
· The Rolling Stones’ Mega Hit Song, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
· U.S. Sends Troops to Vietnam
1966
· Nazi Albert Speer Released From Spandau Prison
· Black Panther Party Established
· First Kwanzaa Celebrated
· Mao Zedong Launches the Cultural Revolution
· Mass Draft Protests in U.S.
· National Organization for Women (NOW) Founded
· Star Trek T.V. Series Airs
· Two Multi-Ton Chunks of the Mundrabilla Meteorite Found
1967
· Australian Prime Minister Disappears
· Che Guevara Killed
· First Heart Transplant
· First Super Bowl
· Six-Day War in the Middle East
· Stalin's Daughter Defects
· Three U.S. Astronauts Killed During Simulated Launch
· Thurgood Marshall Becomes the First African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice
1968
· Japan's 300 Million Yen Robbery
· Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated
· My Lai Massacre
· Nerve Gas Leak in Utah Kills 6,000 Sheep
· Prague Spring
· Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated
· Spy Ship USS Pueblo Captured
· Tet Offensive
· Zodiac Killer Strikes
1969
· ARPANET, the Precursor of the Internet, Created
· Manson Family Murders
· Neil Armstrong Becomes the First Man on the Moon
· Rock-and-Roll Concert at Woodstock
· Senator Edward Kennedy Leaves the Scene of an Accident
· Sesame Street First Airs
· Yasser Arafat Becomes Leader of the PLO