Chapter 28
🌟
Overview of the Era (1960–1975)
Liberal optimism (New Frontier, Great Society) collided with racial strife, Cold
War tensions, and war in Vietnam.
Civil rights movement achieved major legal victories but fractured into Black
Power militancy.
Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon expanded U.S. involvement in
Vietnam, leading to national disillusionment.
✨
Section 28-1: The Kennedy Presidency (1961–1963)
28-1.1
A New Beginning
John F. Kennedy symbolized youthful vigor and liberal idealism (“New
Frontier”).
Won narrowly over Nixon in 1960 election due to TV debates and economic
recession.
Inaugural tone: America’s responsibility for global freedom and progress.
28-1.2
Kennedy’s Domestic Record
Domestic achievements were modest: conservative Congress limited New
Frontier programs.
Chapter 28 1
Prioritized economic growth through:
Defense spending: Largest % of federal budget during the Cold War.
Space Race: Committed to landing a man on the Moon (success in 1969).
Corporate tax cuts to stimulate investment (Keynesian economics).
Environmental awareness rose (Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, Clean Air Act
1963).
28-1.3
Cold War Activism
Focus on containment:
Created the Peace Corps (1961) for humanitarian missions.
Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961): failed CIA-led attempt to oust Castro.
Berlin Wall (1961) constructed after Kennedy stood firm in Berlin Crisis.
28-1.4
To the Brink of Nuclear War
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962):
Soviet missiles discovered in Cuba.
Kennedy initiated a naval blockade (“quarantine”).
Khrushchev agreed to withdraw missiles in exchange for U.S. non-invasion
pledge (and secret withdrawal of missiles from Turkey).
Aftermath: hotline installed, nuclear testing ban signed.
28-1.5
The Thousand-Day Presidency
Kennedy assassinated (Nov. 22, 1963).
Legacy:
Chapter 28 2
Inspired activism and idealism (“Camelot myth”).
Mixed domestic record: great in rhetoric, uneven in results.
Aggressive in Cold War policies; domestic liberalism largely limited by
Congress.
✊
Section 28-2: The Continuing Struggle for Black
Equality (1961–1968)
28-2.1
The African American Revolution
MLK’s Birmingham Campaign (1963):
Targeted extreme segregation.
Bull Connor’s violent response galvanized national opinion.
King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” defended civil disobedience.
28-2.2
The March on Washington (1963)
250,000+ gathered; MLK’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.
Aimed to pressure Congress to pass civil rights legislation.
28-2.3
Civil Rights at High Tide
Civil Rights Act (1964):
Banned discrimination in public places.
Created Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Freedom Summer (1964):
Chapter 28 3
Voter registration campaign in Mississippi.
Formation of Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).
Voting Rights Act (1965):
Banned literacy tests.
Sent federal examiners to register voters.
28-2.4
Fire in the Streets
Watts Riots (1965) → wave of urban unrest.
Kerner Commission: blamed white racism for urban problems.
Liberalism struggled to address de facto inequality (poverty, poor schools,
police brutality).
28-2.5
Black Power
Rise of militancy:
Malcolm X: Black nationalism, “by any means necessary.”
Black Panther Party: self-defense, community programs.
Black Power emphasized racial pride, autonomy, and direct action.
28-2.6
The Struggle Goes On
Progress:
Greater black political participation and upward mobility.
Problems:
Inner-city poverty, crime, drug addiction persisted.
Mass incarceration (especially after 1980s War on Drugs).
Chapter 28 4
Affirmative action arose but faced backlash (Bakke case, 1978).
🌍
Section 28-3: The Expanding Movement for Equality
28-3.1
Native American Activism
American Indian Movement (AIM) founded (1968).
Occupied Alcatraz Island (1969–1971) to demand indigenous rights.
28-3.2
Hispanic Americans Organize
César Chávez and the United Farm Workers led labor strikes and grape
boycotts.
Emergence of Chicano activism (MEChA, La Raza Unida).
28-3.3
Asian American Activism
Formation of Asian American Political Alliance (1968).
Demanded racial pride, cultural studies programs, and reparations for
internment.
🏛️
Section 28-4: Liberalism Ascendant (1963–1968)
28-4.1
Johnson Takes Over
Chapter 28 5
LBJ skillfully pushed through JFK’s civil rights and tax initiatives.
Declared a “War on Poverty” via the Economic Opportunity Act.
28-4.2
The 1964 Election
LBJ crushed conservative Barry Goldwater.
Right-wing backlash began, planting seeds for future conservatism.
28-4.3
The Great Society
Sweeping liberal reforms:
Medicare & Medicaid (healthcare).
Voting Rights Act (voting equality).
Immigration Act (ended racial quotas).
Federal support for education, housing, environment, arts.
Poverty rate fell, but Vietnam siphoned funding and focus.
28-4.4
The Liberalism of the Warren Court
Major rulings expanded rights:
Brown v. Board (desegregation),
Miranda v. Arizona (rights of the accused),
Engel v. Vitale (no prayer in schools).
🇻🇳
Section 28-5: The Vietnam Crusade (1961–1975)
Chapter 28 6
28-5.1
Origins and Causes
U.S. backed France in Vietnam to contain communism (domino theory).
Geneva Accords (1954) split Vietnam; U.S. propped up South Vietnam.
28-5.2
Kennedy and Vietnam
JFK increased military advisors.
Supported coup against Diem (1963).
Left a growing conflict to LBJ.
28-5.3
Lyndon Johnson’s Endless War
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964): blank check for military escalation.
“Operation Rolling Thunder” bombing campaign.
Troop deployment surged; attrition strategy failed.
Antiwar movement grew massively.
28-5.4
The Tet Offensive (1968)
Major NLF/North Vietnamese offensive shocked Americans.
Politically, it shattered trust in LBJ’s claims of “victory near.”
LBJ declined to seek re-election.
28-5.5
Nixon’s War
Nixon’s Vietnamization reduced U.S. troops but expanded bombing.
Chapter 28 7
My Lai Massacre (1968) revealed U.S. atrocities, fueling outrage.
Secret wars in Cambodia and Laos widened conflict.
28-5.6
America’s Longest War Ends
Paris Peace Accords (1973) ended U.S. involvement.
South Vietnam fell to North Vietnam in 1975.
War shattered faith in government, cost $150 billion, killed 58,000 Americans.
🔥
Major Themes to Remember
Civil rights expanded legally but exposed deep social divisions.
Liberalism achieved major reforms (Great Society) but fractured under
Vietnam.
Protest movements broadened to include Native, Hispanic, Asian Americans.
Vietnam undermined public faith in government and liberal ideals.
Chapter 28 8
