Uncivil Wars: Liberal Crisis and Conservative Rebirth (1961-1972)

1. CR Movement inspired ~decade of liberal success, halted by divisions & conservatives

I. Liberalism at High Tide
1. LBJ advanced idea of Great Society - a New Deal for a new era of progress
B. John F. Kennedys promise
1. JFK inspired/embodied new gen of Americans
a) Legislation blocked by conservative Senate
b) Assassinated 11/22/63, capped his stage-managed presidency
(1) Following presidents have considered image
C. Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society
1. LBJ was opposite of JFK but was legally successful
a) Less stylish/polished, Texan politician, previously opposed CR, modeled after FDR
b) Pushed Civil Rights Act forward @ political risk to be > a regional leader
c) War on Poverty provided services, not jobs, to poor ( of Americans)
(1) Economic Opportunity Act 64 included: Head Start (disadvantaged
preschoolers), Job Corps & Upward Bound (training & jobs for youth),
Volunteers in Service to America (technical assistance to urban/poor)
2. LBJ won 64 election against Barry Goldwater, gaining platform for Great Society
a) Goldwaters extreme foreign policy alienated voters but inspired grassroots revolt
b) Reagans speech @ Rep con gained recognition
3. Congressional majorities allowed legal success of Great Society initiatives
a) Elementary & Secondary Edu. Act, $1bil to educational programs
b) Higher Education Act created federal scholarships for college students
c) Medicare = health plan for elderly paid by Social Security
d) Medicaid = health plan for poor paid by taxes & managed by states
e) Expanded ntl parks, air/water improvement, protection of species, etc
f) ETC so much reform
g) Immigration Act of 1965 removed discriminatory quotas
4. Made progress in some areas but failed to change underlying issues
a) Poverty rate fell, Medicare/aid endure, improved AA economic standing
b) Bottom 20% in same place - wealth unevenly distributed, segregation worsened
D. Rebirth of the Womens Movement
1. Labor feminists fought for equality in workplace as more women worked outside home
a) Critical in passing Equal Pay Act 63
2. The Feminine Mystique 63 encouraged educated, middle-class women to expand
beyond domesticity
a) Domesticity was already failing - women were in college, divorcing, fewer children
b) JFKs Presidential Commission on the Status of Women documented sex
discrimination
(1) Sex added to Civil Rights Act
c) National Organization for Women 66 = civil rights org. for women
3. Liberal activism strained New Deal coalition
II. The Vietnam War Begins
 1. JFK placed US on an irreversible course
a) Diems assassination led to chaos, coups, uncontrollable
B. Escalation Under Johnson
1. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave pres. power to act in Vietnam
a) Actual attack in Tonkin was menial
b) Authorized measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United
States and to prevent further aggression
c) LBJ ran & won in 64 saying that he wouldnt escalate
2. The New American Presence
a) LBJ Americanized war 65 deployed troops & intensified bombing in NV
b) Operation Rolling Thunder was unsuccessful
c) LBJ hoped to win war of attrition, assumed that American superiority would win
C. Public Opinion and the War
1. Vietnam was the first televised war
a) Initial approval of escalation faded by late 60s as ppl saw televised violence
b) Admin officials were privately pessimistic but optimistic on TV
(1) Credibility gap - ppl thought admin was concealing bad news
2. Economic developments put LBJ on defensive
a) Federal deficit $9.8bil to $23bil
b) Began inflationary spiral that continued thru 70s
3. Antiwar groups (SANE) stated that intervention was hypocritical & w/o reward
D. Rise of the Student Movement
1. College students in the New Left became key protesters
a) Port Huron Statement = manifesto of Students for a Democratic Society formed
by Big Ten/Ivy schools - rejected CW policy, consumer culture, wealth gap
b) New Left distinguished from Old Left (communists & socialists) of 30s/40s
c) UC Berkeley formed Free Speech Movement & sat in after ban on pol. activity
d) Protests centered on draft
e) Mobilization to End the War 100k protesters in San Fran & 250k in NY
2. Conservative students formed Young Americans for Freedom
a) Defended free enterprise & supported war but feared gov
b) The Sharon Statement outlined principles
3. Hippie symbolized new counterculture that glorified liberation from social structures
a) Pop music by Pete Seger, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan expressed pol. idealism, protest,
loss of patience w/war
b) Beatlemania deepened generational divide, as did drug use
c) 67 was Summer of Love, of flower children
III. Days of Rage, 19681972
A. War Abroad, Tragedy at Home
1. Tet Offensive undermined LBJ & convinced Americans that war was unwinnable
a) Assault on major urban areas in South Vietnam.
b) Antiwar Senator Eugene McCarthys strength in presidential primaries reflected
public
 c) 3/31/68 LBJ announced that he would not seek reelection
2. Political assassinations damaged liberal mvmt
a) MLKs death & ensuing riots
b) Robert Kennedys plea to follow MLKs example in Indianapolis popularity
c) 6/5/58 Kennedy shot by young Palestinian, Sirhan Sirhan
B. The Antiwar Movement and the 1968 Election
1. Democratic Convention of 68 cemented party as one of disorder
a) The events of 1968 had radicalized the antiwar activists.
b) Yippies demonstrated outside diverting attention from more serious activists
c) Dem mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daley called police to break up demonstrations
(1) Televised police riot
d) Nominated Hubert H. Humphrey w/ platform that endorsed continued fighting while
seeking diplomatic solution
2. Richard Nixon recognized that blue-collar workers were shifting away from Dems
3. George Wallace (segregationist) defined conservative issues
a) liberal elitism, welfare policies, law and order
4. Nixon combined southern & suburban strategy
a) Appealed to southern whites by promising to go easy on enforcing CR
b) Promised to adhere to law and order, appealed to scared suburban voters
c) Received 43.4% to Humphreys 42.7% - only 500k votes
C. The Nationalist Turn
1. Vietnam & youth rebellion intersected w/nationalism by young AAs & Chicanos
a) Chicano Moratorium Committee organized demonstrations against war
(1) For the poor it is a terrible irony that they should rise out of their misery to do
battle against other poor people Cesar Chavez
(2) Vietnam was a poor boys fight
b) Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted in the army, lost title & ability to box
D. Womens Liberation
1. Composed of educated, active women
a) Tired of being silenced & disregarded by male leaders
b) Went public by protesting at the Miss America pageant in 1968.
c) Womens Strike for Equality 8/70 - 100sk of women into streets demanding equality
d) Sexism & male chauvinism became part of vocab
e) Sisterhood often excluded WOC bc they focused on CR
f) Insisted women take control of bodies, campaigned for reproductive rights, against
victim-blaming & harassment
g) Title IX 72 prohibited colleges/unis w/federal funds from discriminating
h) Equal Credit Opportunity Act improved womens access to credit
2. Antiwar mvmt & rights liberalism of the sixties further splintered Democratic Party
E. Stonewall and Gay Liberation
1. Gay activists demanded unconditional recognition of rights and encouraged coming out
a) Stonewall Inn (gay bar) raided by police summer 69, patrons rioted for 2 days
b) Gay & lesbian organizations proliferated, pushing for legislation (progress=slow)
 c) National Gay Task Force lobbied Congress & advanced suits in the courts.
IV. Richard Nixon and the Politics of the Silent Majority
A. Nixon in Vietnam
1. Nixon maintained that abandoning Vietnam would damage credibility, make the
country seem a pitiful, helpless giant - wanted only peace with honor.
a) Silent majority was a reasonable middle ground
b) Vietnamization delegated ground fighting to SV - dropped troop levels
c) But antiwar movement intensified
d) 4/30/70 US bombed supply lines in neutral Cambodia & destroyed enemy bases
(1) Student protesters were killed @ Kent State Uni (OH) & Jackson State College
2. My Lai Massacre had been covered up by high-ranking officers, discredited US
a) Journalist Seymour Hersh revealed troops had killed 500 villagers in My Lai, SV
b) Only Second Lieutenant William Calley was convicted of war crime
c) Vietnam Veterans Against the War publicized other atrocities committed by US
3. Nixon sought dtente - peace w/SU & Comm China
a) Traveled to Moscow to sign Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
b) Traveled to China 72 in symbolic visit to establish diplomatic relations
(1) Impeccable anticommunism allowed him to do so w/o criticism
4. Nixon attempted to strengthen political standing & negotiating power
a) Stepped up military action w/B-52 bombings & mined NV ports
b) Kissinger accepted NV presence in SV, interim gov established but was sabotaged, so
2-wk Christmas bombing ensued
c) Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973.
d) Congress cut back aid to SV; 3/75 NV launched final offensive; 4/30 reunited
5. Americas military involvement barely altered geopolitical reality in SE Asia
a) 58k+ Americans died, over 300k wounded - war cost $150 billion & US lost
confidence in gov
B. The Silent Majority Speaks Out
1. Nixons nonshouters found their voice to oppose rights revolution
2. Under Chief Justice Earl Warren Supreme Court issued far-reaching liberal legislation
that led to conservatives call for law & order
a) Right-wing activists accused Warren Court contributing to social breakdown
(1) Banned religion in schools but allowed pornography to flourish
3. Because South lagged in desegregating schools, federal courts ordered it
a) Busing students to/from segregated schools was successful in South but...
b) Less successful in North bc of suburbia vs inner city
c) Nixon took advantage of discontent as election approached
C. The 1972 Election
1. Disarray of Dems re: Vietnam & CR gave Nixon an edge
2. The election marked a pivotal moment in nations shift to the right