The Sixties Summary

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The Sixties, by Terry H. Anderson, takes the reader on a journey through one of the most turbulent decades in American life. Beginning with the crew-cut conformity of 1950s Cold War culture and ending with the transition into the uneasy '1970s, Anderson notes the rise of an idealistic generation of baby boomers, widespread social activism, and revolutionary counterculture. Anderson explores the rapidly shifting mood of the country with the optimism during the Kennedy years, the liberal advances of Johnson's "Great Society," and the growing conflict over Vietnam that nearly tore America apart. The book also navigates through different themes regarding the decade's different currents of social change; including the anti-war movement, the civil …show more content…
They wanted knowledge of government businesses and transactions, as well as the government officials taking accountability for those actions. Cases regarding Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the US, exemplifies the extent of the success of activism. For the first time ever a president was forced to resign. His resignation was provoked by several events. These consist of the infamous speech Nixon made at Nikita Khrushchev's kitchen table, the controversial China policy, The Red Baiting of Gahagan Douglass in the 1950 Senate Campaign, and President Nixon's involvement in the Alger Hiss perjury case. With all these in mind, the event that had the greatest impact on Nixon’s resignation, and more the less caused it, was the Watergate scandal. Anderson states in his book “…the tapes revealed the dark side of Richard Nixon-hush money, dirty tricks, money laundering, obstructions of justice-and resulted in his resignation” (Anderson 198). Nixon, like LBJ was originally nominated with the faith of Americans in his hands, only to disappoint them in the end. Nixon’s resignation followed the pattern of what caused majority of activism in the 1960s, distrust and a demand for …show more content…
Perhaps the most appreciable and notable form of activism was the civil rights activism. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Caesar Chávez, and others, such as Malcolm X (who had a slightly different approach), advanced the Civil Rights Movement. All of these civil rights activists put forth a boundless effort to be treated with equality. The cause of they’re rigorous efforts was racism. The question of racism brought about great significance to activism as it posed a problem in which many activists strived for a solution. The fight for equality and integration for blacks initially began as a peaceful act, led by King. King gave speeches promoting non-violence and led civil rights activists on marches through different cities. Sit-ins at local diners were devised as well. Unfortunately, no matter how “peaceful” these protests were, southern states and their police forces did not see it as keeping the peace. On account of attempting to “disrupt the peace”, Blacks were arrested, beaten, and murdered. After many bills were passed, but still no action was taken, blacks eventually turned the idea of “Black Power.” Some started to believe that the answer was indeed segregation, but never the less they wanted equality. However, the idea of black equality was not the idea to “take over the county. Black Power is the coming together of black people in the struggle for their liberation” (83). Anderson quotes