Cold War OverviewTopics • The Turbulent 1960s
Big Questions • What factors/events gave birth to the Civil Rights Movement?
• What were the conflicting tactics among African-American reformers? Were they all justified?
• How did America’s involvement in Vietnam affect national sentiment towards government?
Today, you will identify and explain:-Impact of changes in science, technology, and medicine-From the New Frontier to the Great Society-Expanding movements for civil rights-Cold War confrontations: Asia, Latin America, and Europe
1960s: The New FrontierNew Frontier• Election of 1960
– John F. Kennedy was a Roman Catholic – the 1st to be nominated since Al Smith’s losing in 1928
– 1960 election was the 1st to include televised debates audiences of 60 million + watched each of the 4 debates b/n JFK and Richard Nixon
• Camelot– JFK = youngest elected president in
American history– JFK challenged Americans to boldly enter
the “New Frontier” of the 1960s– Kennedy and his glamorous wife,
Jacqueline, presided over an elegant White House that was soon nicknamed Camelot after the legendary court of King Arthur
– Peace Corps
1960s: The Great Society
Primary Goals• Use the fed. govt. to enhance
social welfare• Use education and job training
to help disadvantaged people overcome the cycle of poverty limiting their opportunities
Legislative Achievements• The Civil Rights Act of 1964• The Voting Acts of 1965• Medicare and Medicaid• The War on Poverty• Programs offering significant
fed. aid to edu.
1960s: The Great Society
Similarities Between the New Deal and the Great Society• Both used the govt. to
enhance social welfare• Both included all of the
following:– Govt. sponsored
employment program– Govt. support for the arts– Fed. Programs to encourage
housing construction– Fed. Legislation to help the
elderly
Differences Between the New Deal and the Great Society• Preschool education for
disadvantaged children was an innovative Great Society program that was not part of New Deal
• In contrast to the New Deal, the Great Society included fed. legislation protecting the civil liberties of African Americans
1960s: The Civil Rights MovementLeadership of Dr. MLK, Jr.• In April 1963, MLK led campaign against segregation in Birmingham, AL• Within a few days, Police Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor arrested King
and other marchers– In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, MLK said that all citizens have a “moral
responsibility to disobey unjust laws”– Civil disobedience is unjustified in the face of unjust laws
• Connor ordered his police to use attack dogs and high-pressure fire hoses to disperse civil rights marchers– Millions of horrified TV viewers watched what Dr. King called a “Visual demonstration of
sin”• JKF called on Congress to pass a comprehensive Civil Rights bill that would end
legal discrimination on that basis of race• August 1963 – MLK led massive March on Washington to support JFK’s bill
gave “I Have a Dream” speech• July 2, 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964
– Prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, or gender– Banned racial discrimination in private facilities such as restaurants and theaters that
are open to the public
Eugene “Bull” Connor• Birmingham Police Commissioner• Aptly Nicknamed
First 911 Call, 1968Bull Connor (Center)
Bull Connor’s Orders
April 12, 1963Good Friday March, Birmingham
AP Photo Demonstrating Without A Permit
1960s: The Civil Rights MovementBlack Power• The Black Power
movement of the late 1960s advocated that African Americans establish control of their pol. and econ. life
• Most important leaders = – Malcolm X (chief
spokesman of the Nation of Islam)
– Stokely Carmichael (head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee – SNCC)
– Huey Newton (head of the Black Panthers)
1960s: The Women’s Rights MovementBetty Friedan• Author of The
Feminine Mystique and the 1st president of the National Organization of Women (NOW)
• NOW was founded in 1966 to challenge sex discrimination in the workplace
Famous excerpt from Feminine Mystique: “The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American women. It was strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the US. Each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband all night – she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question – ‘Is this all?’”
• Reflects the fact that during the 1960s feminism tended to be a movement of middle-class women
Expansion of Women’s Rights
All of the following expanded to women’s rights since 1963:• The Equal Credit
Opportunity Act of 1974• The Supreme Court
decision Roe v Wade • Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 (can’t discriminate)
• Affirmative action regulations (favor those discriminated against)
Supreme Court Cases
Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965• Struck down state law prohibiting use of contraceptives• Court proclaimed a “right to privacy” that soon provided basis for
decisions protecting women’s abortion rightsMiranda v. Arizona, 1966• Establishes “Miranda Rights”• Ruled that no confession could be admissable unless a suspect had
been made aware of his/her rights and suspect had waived themRoe v. Wade, 1973• US Supreme Court upheld abortion rights for women• Court based its decision, in part, on the right to privacy established
in Griswold v. CT
1960s: JFK
The Alliance for Progress• initiated by JFK in 1961
to establish economic cooperation b/n N. and S. America
• intended to counter the emerging Communist threat from Cuba
Peace Corps
1960s: JFK
The Bay of Pigs• JFK inherited from Eisenhower a CIA-backed scheme to topple Castro
from power by invading Cuba with anti-Communist exiles• When invasion failed, JFK refused to rescue the exiles, forcing them to
surrender• Widely considered a fiasco, the Bay of Pigs defeat damaged US credibility• Bay of Pigs failure along with US efforts to assassinate Castro pushed
Cuban dictator into closer alliance with SU• Soviet Premier Khrushchev responded by secretly sending nuclear
missiles to Cuba
1960s: JFK3. The Cuban Missile Crisis• precipitated by the discovery of
Soviet missile sites in Cuba• Soviets withdrew missiles from Cuba
in exchange from promise of US not to attack Casto
• part of negotiations – JFK promised to refrain from military invasion of Cuba
1960s: Cold War Confrontations: VietnamThe Tonkin Gulf Resolution, 1964• An Incident in the Gulf of Tonkin
– US alleged that N. Vietnamese torpedo boats launched an unprovoked attack against US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin
– Facts of what actually happened unknown• The Resolution
– Congress responded to the report by passing the Tonkin Gulf Resolution overwhelmingly
– authorized President Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggression”
– Gave Johnson a “blank check” to escalate war in Vietnam
– Within a short amount of time, Johnson began to dramatically escalate the number of US troops in Vietnam
The Tet Offensive• What happened?
– Late Jan. 1968, the Viet Cong suddenly launched
– Viet Cong were eventually forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses
• Consequences– Tet Offensive
undermined Johnson’s credibility
– As a result, public support for the war decreased and antiwar sentiment increased
1960s: Cold War Confrontations: VietnamThe Tonkin Gulf Resolution, 1964• An Incident in the Gulf of Tonkin
– US alleged that N. Vietnamese torpedo boats launched an unprovoked attack against US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin
– Facts of what actually happened unknown• The Resolution
– Congress responded to the report by passing the Tonkin Gulf Resolution overwhelmingly
– authorized President Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggression”
– Gave Johnson a “blank check” to escalate war in Vietnam
– Within a short amount of time, Johnson began to dramatically escalate the number of US troops in Vietnam
The Tet Offensive• What happened?
– Late Jan. 1968, the Viet Cong suddenly launched
– Viet Cong were eventually forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses
– Massive VC Offensive– Attacks on major cities– Failed to start a “general uprising”
(does this ever work?)
• Consequences– Tet Offensive undermined
Johnson’s credibility– As a result, public support for the
war decreased and antiwar sentiment increased
• Tactical defeat for VC• PR DEFEAT for US
Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, ARVN
“The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths ... What the photograph didn't say was, 'What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers?” -- Eddie Adams (Photographer)
FALL OF SAIGONApril 29-30, 1975
NVA tank entering Independence Palace
South Vietnamese attempting to scale the U.S. Embassy wall
FALL OF SAIGONApril 29-30, 1975
South Vietnamese being evacuated from the roof of 22 Gia Long StreetPhoto Credit: Hugh Van Es
1960s: The Antiwar Movement and the Counterculture
Protesting Groups• African Americas• American Indians• Women• Youth – The Woodstock
music festival was a countercultural gathering
• Hispanic Americas
1960s: The Antiwar Movement and the Counterculture
Issues• The Vietnam War• Exclusion of women from
mainstream of American life
• Increasingly bureaucratization and impersonality of American life
• Marginal economic states us minorities
• Materialism of American society
