1960's Turning Point

When most people think of the 1950’s or 1960’s, they think of Elvis, Greasers, jukeboxes, Woodstock, and rainbow peace signs and hippie love. Although these symbols are somewhat accurate (and very popular), not many people think about the changes society and culture went through. The 1950’s and 60’s were a time of great change and freedom for many Americans. Everything from World War II, to the gay liberation movement, to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped to change society. Many of the views American’s had on topics such as war, gender roles and sexual preference were changed greatly after these events and have led to our culture being what it is today. The 1950’s and 1960’s were a time where great changes took place that helped to

The 1960’s era was known as being called the “Golden Age”. The 1960’s were a time for change, counter culture, and political movements. One of the most important events that occurred during the 1960’s was the presidential election between Richard Nixon and John F Kennedy. During this election, the Cold War between the Soviet Union and United States was the main focus. Also at this time there was a rise in the civil rights movement. The election of 1960 was a changing point in American history.

However, in the 1960s, prosperity was becoming too far out of reach. The Cold War and the Korean War were very costly in military spending. It had taken its toll on the economy. Even with more people buying, the economy was growing at a very slow rate. There were also millions of Americans who were still living in poverty, and the economy had gone into recession quite a few times in the 60s. Then, the stock market fell dramatically, the worst it had been since the Depression. Kennedy addressed this by making tax cuts for larger business, which helped the economy develop and grow more prosperous in the years to come. However, inflation made a reappearance

Many people inaccurately assess the 1950s and 1960s. Historians, in particular, tend to describe the 1950s as a decade of prosperity and the 1960s as one of turbulence. According to most, peace and harmony defined the 50s while violence and protest conjured the 60s. This isn't true because controversy existed in the fifties, many achievements occurred in the sixties, and both decades had its political ups and downs. With all the criticism surrounding it, the 1960s remains one of the most controversial decades in American history.

Twenty-five years of broad economic expansion and prosperity comes to an abrupt end in the 70s as it was replaced by crawling growth and inflation. This sudden shift was due two factors; a mix of long term processes and unexpected shocks. Many long term processes contributed to the economic drawback. Manufacturing was gradual declining in the United States relative to the rest of the world after World War II. In 1971, for the first time in the 1900s, the United States was in an export trade deficit. This was partly because the dollar was linked to gold making products more expensive abroad. Nixon took the United States off the gold standard to make American goods cheaper. Unfortunately, this was not very effective because other nations had significantly cheaper labor and raw materials. This growing competition put many firms out of business. This was especially hurtful for the manufacturing industry, which saw a huge decrease of workers. After success in the 50s and 60s such as pensions and paid vacations, many unionized workers also took a hit in 1970s. Many companies started eliminating high paying jobs and moving jobs to cheaper areas of

The Vietnam War put a strain on America’s economy. Kennedy and Johnson’s policy was of gradual escalation. Unfortunately, this caused for increasing investment in the war. Johnson tried to approach these problems with programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, as a part of a larger plan called the Great Society. It was a “war against poverty”. However, as the war raged on, more and more money and lives went into Vietnam, and the ‘Great Society’ was not a priority. Many people such as George McGovern criticized the massive deficit spending on the war (Doc H). This eventually turned into both an economic recession and inflation, which became known as ‘stagflation’ (stagnation and inflation). Nixon, the president succeeding Johnson, would attempt to alleviate the situation by freezing prices and wages temporarily. In the aftermath, many people have realized that the way we approached Vietnam was not right. Robert F. Kennedy tells that the reason that there has not been yet a solution to Vietnam is not because of lack of manpower, but because the way we sought to alleviate the problem was by manpower. (Doc E).

The economy was in trouble because the United States had poured in some 168 billion into the war. During 1962- 1965 there was low inflation, almost full employment, and a favorable balance of trade. President Johnson declared a “War on Poverty” through his “Great Society” programs while escalating the war in Vietnam at the same time. However, his decision to finance both “guns and butter” – a major war and the Great Society simultaneously, without a significant increase in taxes unleashed an acceleration of inflation, when Nixon came into office. Although the real reason for inflation was the high military spending for the Vietnam war, the stall of economic growth had produced a more important matter, economic recession, and high unemployment. Though he did act upon them, his policy

Carter took the presidency with several issues that needed resolving, such as rising inflation and unemployment, a country disillusioned with the political system and turbulent foreign relations. To determine the reasons why he was successful in 1976 but not in 1980, it is necessary to look at what his successes and failures were, as well as the different situations in 1976 and 1980.

The 1960s in America was a decade filled with controversy and calls for change. During John F. Kennedy’s time as president, an era of protest and rebellion was underway. Race riots, anti-war protests, and an uptick in drug usage plagued the lifestyles of many Americans. Lyndon B. Johnson ascended to presidency as a result of Kennedy’s assassination, and unfortunately inherited these problems. Johnson was successful working with domestic social and economic issues, but the inability to deal with the Vietnam and the political scheme scheme as a whole stained his resume as an effective president.

For most of the ‘60s, America had liberal Democratic administrations. In 1961, Democrat John F. Kennedy became president. As part of his election campaign, Kennedy announced his New Frontier domestic program. During his presidency, he was not able to implement his promises successfully. “Without a clear Democratic majority in Congress he was unable to increase federal aid to education, provide health insurance for the aged, create a cabinet-level department of urban affairs, or expand civil rights” (Tindall and Shi 1050). His successor Johnson, committed to New Deal Democratic Liberalism, launched a War on Poverty and the so-called Great Society, a large array of social reform programs. However, since the US expanded its involvement in the Vietnam War, federal funds that were initially planned to be used for the War on Poverty, were instead used to cover the high war expenses (Tindall and Shi 1045). Many Americans lost their confidence in the liberal Democratic government and highly criticized the policies of the Kennedy and Johnson. Even though several legislative accomplishments can be ascribed to these two presidents, the criticism usually outweighed.

The 1960’s were a time of great turmoil and change; people had many different ways to express themselves. Some did this through drugs, others through assassination, while some chose music. While there were many American musicians who were influential during the 1960s such as Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and The Eagles, arguably none were as influential as The Beatles. Consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, helped change the face of popular culture of the 1960’s through their music, image, and influence on the counterculture of the time.

In 1979 an oil shock effected America nationwide due to the output of oil decreasing. This energy crisis in the United States led to current President, Jimmy Carter, to acknowledge not only the obvious crisis within the nation involving the lack of energy, but another issue that lies deeper than the surface. Jimmy Carter believed that along with the energy crisis occurring at that time, there was also a “Crisis of Confidence” (Carter) throughout the nation. Carter also claims the United States has an issue with coming together as one and working together to become a union. The American People lacked faith and trust within their country’s government causing another crisis for The United States to overcome.

The 1960’s was a very influential time in the United States of America. The United States began to explore a new culture of people known as hippies. The USA endured a great scare of nuclear war from the Cuban Missile Crisis. This country lost two famous leaders from that era; John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., who were assassinated. The United States also began the move towards equality by passing the Civil Rights Act. The final major accomplishment from 1960’s was when Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to land on the moon.

Following the end of World War II, the American economy found its way out of depression. Wartime production aided the economy and spiked the country’s spending power. From the late 1940s, people have been accustomed to spending the money they have on everything they want and need. People then started to figure out and believe that this type of spending, consumerism, improved the economy. The items that were being bought were also different than they were before. “At war's end, the items people most desired included televisions, cars, washing machines, refrigerators, toasters, and vacuum cleaners: the machines that would help

At that time though tax rates were 70% higher; presently the United States has the lowest tax rate of the leading economies (Sachs). The economy at that time was an effective mix of big business and activism in government, this combination worked to reduce the gap between rich and poor (Sachs). Then the 1970’s hit and things began to fall apart in the face of new challenges. It was in the 1970’s that globalization first hit with the introduction of Japanese cars to compete with the three major car dealers in America, inflation began to rise (Sachs). Rather than examining ways to become more competitive in the face of globalization, government looked inward and decided that is was the problem and not the solution to a problem (Sachs). The government failed to recognize the key role it played in correcting the economy before.