The Turbulent 60s

Question 1

Which innovation in campaigning debuted during the 1960 presidential elections, driven in part by the rise of television?

Answer 1

televised debates

During the 1960 election, Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy held four televised debates, the first of which was watched by an estimated 70 million people.

During the first debate, Nixon (who had recently been in the hospital) looked tired and had refused makeup, while Kennedy looked tan and well-rested. Historians often attribute Kennedy’s election victory in a tight race to his appearance in the first debate.

Question 2

Missile Gap

Answer 2

During the 1960 presidential election, Kennedy contended that the U.S. had significantly fewer missiles than the Soviet Union, a “Missile Gap” that he promised to remedy in the event he was elected.

Question 3

What was Richard Nixon’s campaign strategy during the 1960 election?

Answer 3

Nixon played upon his foreign policy expertise, earned while he was a Senator and Vice President, and criticized Kennedy as being soft on communism.

Kennedy narrowly won the election (some think he won by fraud), by a mere 0.1% of the popular vote.

Question 4

During his Inaugural Address, Kennedy said “Let the word go forth … that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.” What did Kennedy mean?

Answer 4

Kennedy represented a new generation of leadership that had come of age during the Second World War. Kennedy viewed the future with optimism, and called for a New Frontier, with greater civil rights, healthcare reforms, and urban renewal.

Kennedy also promised that the United States would put a man on the moon by the end of the 60s.

Question 5

In 1961, President Kennedy established the Peace Corps. What is its mission?

Answer 5

The mission of the Peace Corps is primarily related to fostering social and economic development in developing nations. The Corps provides technical assistance, instructs people in American culture, and helps Americans understand the culture of other countries.

Kennedy founded the Peace Corps to counter the “Ugly Yankee” impression that many citizens of developing nations had of the United States.

Question 6

What was the Bay of Pigs Invasion?

Answer 6

In April 1961, Cuban dissidents, funded by the CIA, invaded Cuba in an operation approved by President Kennedy. The attack was a miserable failure, embarrassing President Kennedy.

Question 7

In 1961, President Kennedy met with Premier Khrushchev of the U.S.S.R. in Vienna. What was the primary point of discussion at the Vienna Summit?

Answer 7

Once again, the Soviets demanded that the United States abandon West Berlin, which Kennedy refused to do. Otherwise, Kennedy would come off as a weak leader.

Kennedy, who had injected a drug cocktail for back pain before the summit, admitted that Khrushchev had “beat the hell out of me.” Khrushchev would continue to challenge Kennedy, who he perceived as weak, by erecting the Berlin Wall and placing missiles in Cuba.

Question 8

Why did the East German government, at the direction of the Soviet Union, erect the Berlin Wall in November 1961?

Answer 8

The Berlin Wall was erected to prevent East Germans from escaping into West Germany, where economic opportunities and political liberties abounded. Kennedy responded by calling up military reserves and positioning tanks in crucial locations. Neither side called each other’s bluff, and tensions relaxed.

Kennedy would continue to show U.S. solidarity with the people of West Berlin in a speech in that city in 1963, when he said “Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich Bin Ein Berliner’” (I am a Berliner).

Question 9

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Answer 9

In 1962, an Air Force U-2 discovered the Soviets preparing to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, 90 miles from the U.S. Kennedy responded by placing a blockade around Cuba, and threatening war if any Soviet ship crossed the blockade line.

It was the closest the two superpowers came to nuclear war; Khrushchev backed down when Kennedy vowed not to invade Cuba.

Question 10

Who was the first black student to attend the University of Mississippi?

Answer 10

James Meredith

Meredith’s admission to Ole Miss was part of a long struggle, and he was assisted by the NAACP in a court case which ruled that Ole Miss had denied Meredith admission based on his skin color.

Meredith’s admission, and Kennedy’s dispatch of American troops to protect him, caused a riot in which 60 U.S. Marshals and 40 soldiers were injured.

Question 11

In the spring of 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference sought to draw attention to segregation in which Southern city?

Answer 11

Birmingham, Alabama

The SCLC called for non-violent boycotts and protest marches. Birmingham’s police, led by “Bull” Connor, dispersed the marchers with firehoses.

The images of children being hit with water from hoses set at a level that would peel bark off trees shocked the North, as did the use of police dogs. The photos were given credit for shifting international support to the protesters.

Question 12

Jailed for his part in the Birmingham Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963. What did Dr. King’s letter state?

Answer 12

Dr. King cited the nonviolent nature of the protest, and contended that it was in the interest of all Americans, black and white, to grant civil rights. King wrote, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly…”

Dr. King was inspired by previous non-violent protest arguments from men such as Thoreau and Gandhi.

Question 13

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech during what event?

Answer 13

The March on Washington

Some 200,000 Americans converged on Washington, ostensibly in support of a civil rights bill pending in Congress, but also with a larger purpose in mind – raising both civil rights and economic issues to national attention.

The Civil Rights Bill of 1964, supported by President Kennedy before his death, was passed partly in response to the March.

Question 14

What was the Warren Commission?

Answer 14

Chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Warren Commission investigated the death of President Kennedy in Dallas, in November 1963. The Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, but the lax investigative techniques employed have promoted skepticism of the Warren Report and the government.

Question 15

Immediately after he became President, Lyndon Johnson convinced Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which had originally been proposed by President Kennedy. What did the Civil Rights Act establish?

Answer 15

The Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination in hotels, motels, restaurants, theaters, and all other public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce based on race, color, religion, or national origin. It also prohibited state and municipal governments from denying access to public facilities on grounds of race, color, religion, or national origin.

Question 16

In a measure originally suggested by President Kennedy, President Johnson signed into law a tax cut on high-income earners. What effect did this have on the economy?

Answer 16

Where the economy had been in a slight recession during the Kennedy years, the tax cut instituted a period of economic growth.

Question 17

Who ran against President Johnson in the 1964 presidential election?

Answer 17

Barry Goldwater, Republican Senator from Arizona

Goldwater advocated an end to the welfare state, but Johnson painted Goldwater as irrational and untrustworthy.

Johnson won in a landslide; Goldwater carried only the states of the Deep South and Arizona.

Question 18

What did Johnson nickname the set of domestic programs he championed?

Answer 18

Johnson’s programs were known as the Great Society, and were aimed at the elimination of poverty and racial injustice.

As part of the Great Society, Johnson declared a War on Poverty, greatly expanding social welfare programs at a high cost.

Question 19

As part of his Great Society, President Johnson proposed Medicare and Medicaid. What did these new programs establish?

Answer 19

Medicare provided health insurance for those over age 65, and Medicaid provided health insurance for the poor.

Question 20

In 1968, President Johnson signed into law the _____ _____ Act, which banned racial discrimination in the sales and renting of homes and apartments.

Answer 20

Fair Housing

As part of his Great Society program, Johnson had vowed to combat racial injustice.

Question 21

Which cabinet-level agency did President Johnson sign into law in 1965, to develop and execute policies on housing?

Answer 21

Housing and Urban Development (HUD), originally known as the House and Home Financing Agency.

HUD was responsible for building and administering government housing as part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty.

Question 22

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the immigration quotas of the 1920s. What was the effect of the Act?

Answer 22

Over the next decade there would be a sharp upsurge of immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Further, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fleeing the war in Vietnam would use the opportunity to immigrate to the United States.

The Immigration and Nationality Act was one of a number of Great Society programs passed during President Johnson’s administration.

Question 23

The publication of which book gave birth to the modern environmental movement?

Answer 23

Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson

Carson argued that DDT (a common insecticide) was causing adverse effects on the thickness of birds’ eggshells, which led to a ban on the product.

Critics have questioned Carson’s research methods, and the ban on DDT, which had been useful in the fight against yellow fever and malaria.

Question 24

In 1965, who published Unsafe at Any Speed, which detailed efforts by American automakers to resist measures designed to increase user safety?

Answer 24

Ralph Nader

Although many of the results of Nader’s tests could not be duplicated by either the auto industry or the government, his book marked the beginning of the consumer safety movement.

Question 25

In response to a 1964 North Vietnamese attack on the USS Turner Joy and the USS Maddox, Congress passed which measure that allowed the President to conduct all necessary measures to ensure that South Vietnam survived?

Answer 25

The Tonkin Gulf Resolution

The Resolution allowed Johnson to vastly increase the scope of U.S. operations in Vietnam; from a few thousand troops in 1964 to 450,000 troops in 1967.

Question 26

Who were the Việt Cộng?

Answer 26

The Việt Cộng were communist rebels from the government of America’s South Vietnamese allies. They were aided in their struggle by the North Vietnamese, Chinese, and Soviet Union.

Question 27

During the Johnson Administration, what counter-insurgency tactic did the United States use against the Việt Cộng and the North Vietnamese?

Answer 27

The United States employed a strategy of “search and destroy.” With the assistance of helicopters, U.S. troops were airlifted into hostile territory, sought out the enemy, and destroyed them, before returning via helicopter to friendly territory.

Question 28

What was the Tết Offensive (1968)?

Answer 28

During a Vietnamese holiday (the Lunar New Year) in January 1968, the Việt Cộng and North Vietnamese launched a massive attack, capturing Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital. Although U.S. forces were able to drive their adversaries back and deliver a victory, Walter Cronkite, the most trusted news reporter in America, declared that the war was lost.

Question 29

In the context of the Vietnam War, what is the difference between “hawks” and “doves”?

Answer 29

Hawks were those who felt that the United States should carry out all measures necessary to achive victory in Vietnam.

Doves felt that the War was unnecessary and unjustified, and suggested that the money spent fighting the War would be better used at home.

Question 30

During the 1960 presidential election, John F. Kennedy’s religion troubled some potential voters. Why?

Answer 30

Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic candidate running for President from a major party. Although anti-Catholic sentiment had faded since the 1800s, Kennedy was still forced to publicly clarify that, as President, he would not take direction from the Pope.

Question 31

In 1968, two political leaders were assassinated within only a few days of each other. Who were they?

Answer 31

Martin Luther King Jr. was killed outside a hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray, whose motive remains unclear.

In Los Angeles, where he was campaigning in the California presidential primary, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian angered by Kennedy’s pro-Israel stance. During his campaign, Kennedy had sharply critiqued further involvement in Vietnam.

Question 32

Who were the Chicago Seven?

Answer 32

During the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, young anti-war Democrats rioted in the streets in protest of Johnson’s handling of the Vietnam War. Eight of the protesters were arrested, and seven were tried for conspiracy to incite a riot. All were found not guilty

Question 33

Although he had little chance of winning the popular vote, Alabama Governor George Wallace ran for President in 1968, hoping for what result?

Answer 33

Wallace hoped to deny both Nixon and Humphrey a majority in the Electoral College, and to throw the election to the House of Representatives, but his strategy failed. Wallace was a segregationist Democrat, and sharply opposed to the civil rights measures of the Johnson Administration.

Question 34

Why did anti-war Democrats oppose Hubert H. Humphrey’s candidacy for President on the Democratic ticket?

Answer 34

As the incumbent Vice President, Humphrey was suspected of wanting to continue Johnson’s Vietnam War policies.

Question 35

How did Republican nominee Richard Nixon address the Vietnam War, the preeminent campaign issue of the 1968 election?

Answer 35

Nixon called for “Peace with Honor,” and contended that he had a “secret plan” to end the war in Vietnam. Nixon never revealed the details of his plan, but won a resounding victory in the 1968 election, thanks in part to votes from Democrats and Republicans who’d had enough of protests, violence, and the permissiveness of the counterculture movement.

Question 36

counterculture

Answer 36

In the 1960s, counterculture was identified with the rejection of convential societal norms including racial segregation, religious morality, condemnation of premarital intercourse, women’s rights, and materialism.

Question 37

What decision did the Supreme Court reach in Roe v. Wade (1973)?

Answer 37

Under Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Court held that the right to privacy contained within the “penumbras” of the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman’s choice to have an abortion. The decision prompted a national debate (which still continues) on the issue of abortion.

Question 38

What requirement did the Supreme Court place upon arresting officers in Miranda v. Arizona (1966)?

Answer 38

In Miranda, the Court required police to read arrested persons their rights, such as the right to remain silent.

Miranda was freed, and was later found stabbed in an Arizona bar.

Question 39

What was the Nation of Islam?

Answer 39

The Nation of Islam was a religious movement that preached black separatism, black nationalism, and self-improvement.

Question 40

Under what circumstances did Malcolm X suggest violence would be appropriate?

Answer 40

Malcolm X contended that black violence was appropriate to counter white violence. A former member of the Nation of Islam who’d formed the Organization of African-American Unity, Malcolm Little was assassinated by followers of Elijah Muhammad in 1965.

Question 41

The _____ _____ advocated militant self rule for blacks, and were characterized by distinct all-black attire.

Answer 41

Black Panthers

The Panthers voiced slogans such as “Burn, baby, burn” and “Get Whitey,” but their violent rhetoric was tempered, in part, by their organized literacy and food campaigns for inner-city blacks.

Question 42

What was the Long Hot Summer?

Answer 42

During the summer of 1967, 159 race riots erupted throughout the United States, the most violent of which took place in Newark, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan. The riots continued the next year, especially after the assassination of Dr. King.

Question 43

What statement did the Students for a Democratic Society issue in 1962?

Answer 43

The Students for a Democratic Society issued the Port Huron Statement, which called for university decisions to be made through student participatory democracy.

Question 44

What was the Weather Underground?

Answer 44

The Weather Underground was a radical leftist group, organized as an offshoot of the Students for a Democratic Society. The Weather Underground conducted a series of bombings, including at the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, in protest of the Vietnam War and what they saw as continued racial prejudice at home

Question 45

The widespread availability of birth control and antibiotics to treat venereal disease led to what revolution?

Answer 45

the Sexual Revolution

Sex out of wedlock became more common, leading in turn towards an increased acceptance of homosexuality and abortion.

Question 46

What were the Kinsey Reports?

Answer 46

The Kinsey Reports, authored by Dr. Alfred Kinsey, was an extended study of sexual mores and practices in the United States. Kinsey’s work revealed that far more Americans were sexually active, unfaithful to their spouses, or homosexual than had previously been suspected. Kinsey’s two books were titled Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953).

Question 47

The _____ _____ arose out of a police raid on a gay bar in 1968.

Answer 47

Stonewall Riots

During the 1960s, police raids on establishments suspected to be homosexual gathering places were common. When the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar in New York’s Greenwich Village, the situation quickly got out of hand, and residents organized activist groups to resist the police. The Stonewall Riots are considered the start of the organized Gay Pride movement.

Question 48

Who published The Feminine Mystique in 1963?

Answer 48

Betty Friedan

Friedan surveyed a number of American housewives, and contended that women were not fulfilled by the “feminine mystique” – the idea that women were satisfied by a life as homemakers.

Question 49

What is second-wave feminism?

Answer 49

Second-wave feminism began in the 1960s with the publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, and continued with the organization of the National Organization for Women. Second-wave feminists focused on women’s equality in the workplace, allowing women to attend all-male institutions such as West Point, and illegalizing gender discrimination. The second-wave feminists’ sole legislative loss was the failure to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.

First-wave feminism is the term for those who advocated for ending legal restrictions on women and for the vote from the 1860s to 1920s.

Question 50

Who was Cesar Chavez?

Answer 50

Chavez was a Latino civil rights activitist who founded the National Farm Workers of America in 1962. His work led to numerous improvements for poor farm workers, including collective bargaining rights.

Question 51

What 1969 event gave rise to the American Indian Movement?

Answer 51

In 1969, 89 Indians and their supporters occupied the island of Alcatraz, a former prison in San Francisco Bay, requesting the island’s return to Indian control. Their activism brought renewed focus to the federal government’s relations with the Indian tribes; many tribes were granted increased sovereignty, and Indian cultural movements blossomed.

After nearly two years, the Alcatraz Island occupation collapsed, and the few remaining protesters were ejected by the government.