Am Waking From The Dreamerica In The 60S Essays -

Am Waking From The Dreamerica In The 60'S The presidential election 1960 was between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The race was close-so close that no one could give even an educated guess of who would win, that is until the televised debated came out. After the debated Kennedy took the lead. This may have been the 1st time America voted mostly on appearance. On January 20, 1961 John F. Kennedy gave his Inaugural address-which was dedicated to the teens of the time. Kennedy believed in the teens and the rest of America started doing the same. Advertisers realized that teens were the ones they should be targeting. By making teens and children believe they needed a product was the way to bring in the big bucks. Game shows and many other TV programs (such as the Andy Griffith show) came out during this time. On November 22, 1963, the nation came together and was united in sorrow and grief. This was the day that president Kennedy was assassinated and the country started to fall apart. Vietnam was full of deception for the people of the United States. The people were led to believe by the government that we were winning the war when in reality things were falling apart. Kennedy believed that we should move slowly into Vietnam but after he was murdered Lyndon Johnson took the Presidential role and our forces went into combat. Vietnam split the country into two. There were those who supported the war and the ones who were against it. The Anti-war movement began as early as 1964 when several draft men refused to register with the draft and came up with the slogan hell no we wont go. October 15-16,1965, marked the 1st nationwide march in protest of the war. Meanwhile in Vietnam things were getting pretty ugly. At times certain areas were labeled as free fire zones-which meant that if you lived there no matter what your age, sex, of physical condition you were assumed to be an enemy. And most of the people who lived in these zones were willing to kill Americans to get f oreigners out. Johnson also started the Great Society program which only deepened out gap of credibility to the point of no return-and helped set the U.S. up for the budget crisis of the 80's. Life on the battle field was pretty much hell. Young men with little training and no concept of war didnt know how to respond. Most were model soldiers who knew somebody had to defend their country while others turned to drugs, alcohol, and sex. The worst documented atrocity took place on March 16, 1968, when a group of American soldiers rounded up the occupants of MyLai-infants to old-lined them up and shot them. In 1968 Richard Nixon became the next President of the U.S. He was elected by the silent majority-those who wanted the peace and quiet of the good ol days. In his first year of office Nixon initiated a draft. Once a month the unlucky members were picked. In June 1968 Vietnam was categorized as the longest war in American History. Richard Nixon claimed that he would bring the country together but at the end of the 60's our nation was still very far apart. The 60's was also a time when the Blacks fought for equality. At the end of civil war salves were told they were free-but after a hundred years of liberty they were still facing discrimination. Southern governors and mayors had only one opinion-Negroes know their place and they had better stay there. Blacks started protesting by staging sit-ins and marches. The case of James Meredith showed that Civil Rights might be possible-but only Federal intervention. One of the biggest acts included a sit-in that was to last until the bill was passed by Congress. Martin Luther King delivered his famous I have a dream speech here and dreamt for the day when his children wouldnt be judged by the color of their skins but by the content of their character. The Ghettos erupted in the 60's causing millions and millions of dollars in damage across the U.S. The causes of this were said to be White racism and more