Introduction
The 1960s were a turning point in the United States. It was decade of change and turbulence that had enormous impact on people’s lives, even up to today. In almost every phase of life, from the political to the social to the cultural, you can still see the impact of these ten years.
From the beginning of the decade to the end, the mood of the country changed, from the hopeful optimism of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier to disillusionment that came with the Vietnam War. People began to question long-held assumptions and beliefs. It was a time to get involved, and activists found a variety of subjects to pursue, ranging from the issue of equality — be it for African Americans, Hispanics, women, or gays — to issues of personal conduct and community expectations. Though these issues weren’t all solved in the decade, the willingness and courage to confront them represents a clear advance in the ongoing development of the nation.
Even now, more than 40 years later, few people are neutral about the ’60s. Many people applaud the movements that changed people’s lives (and, possibly, regret that some didn’t have a greater impact). Other people blame the ’60s for everything from moral turpitude to corrupt politicians. If these ten years can still stir up that kind of emotion, you know there are some stories to be told. And that’s what The ’60s For Dummies is all about.
About This Book
This book is designed to be a factual, interesting, and fun trip through the 1960s, giving you an overview of these fascinating years. Although filled with facts and information, this book isn’t your standard sleep-inducing historical treatise. We deal with some serious topics, but we also have a really good time along the way.
As a history professor and a professional writer, we try to present the facts in an unbiased manner. But we have to admit that we’re both fans of the ’60s. One of us (and we won’t tell you who) remembers the protests, wore tie-dyes, listened to the music, and saw Hair! on Broadway. The other wanted to live the ’60s. For many of the same reasons that many people enjoy visiting this decade, we find it fascinating. We’re also somewhat nostalgic about the heady optimism that many folks shared during the early years of decade. We understand the importance of the issues that came to the forefront, and we appreciate many of the changes that came about during these years.
What You’re Not to Read
If you’re short on time or you don’t need all the details, you can skip the text marked by a Technical Stuff icon and the text formatted in a sidebar (paragraphs inside shaded boxes). This material is certainly interesting, but you can still understand the subject at hand without reading it.
Conventions Used In This Book
We use the following conventions throughout the text to make everything consistent and easy to understand.
Italic is used for emphasis and to highlight new words or terms that we define in the text.
Boldfaced text is used to indicate keywords in bulleted lists or the action parts of numbered steps.
Monofont text is used for Web addresses.
Sidebars are shaded gray boxes that contain text that’s interesting to know but not necessarily critical to your understanding of the chapter or section topic.
Foolish Assumptions
We wrote this book with you, the reader, in mind. We’ve strived to provide you with just the sort of information you’re looking for. To do so, we’ve made a few assumptions about you. If one or more of the following descriptions sounds familiar, you’re in the right place:
You want to find out more about the history of a time that continues to shape American life today, but you’re not a social scientist or a historian. You want accessible and interesting information about the decade’s cultural changes, protest movements, and politics.
You think that you remember the ’60s. If so, we think that you’ll find yourself saying, “Hey, I forgot about that” a lot.
You know that you don’t remember the ’60s — because it was before your time. In this case, you’ll be saying, “Oh, so that’s where that started.”
History wasn’t necessarily your favorite subject in school — but if it was, that’s great, too.
You compulsively buy every book you see that sports a snazzy yellow and black cover.
In addition to the more serious stuff, you want a healthy dose of offbeat trivia and fun information on pop culture — television, movies, music, the hippie scene, and more.
How This Book Is Organized
We’ve organized The ’60s For Dummies so that you can easily find out whatever you want to know about the 1960s. To give you a quick view of what’s where, here’s a rundown.
Part I: Acting Presidential: Viewing the Decade from the Top
Part I is the most chronological part of this book. First, you get an overview of what happened during the ’60s and how the decade impacted later years. Then, you can see what happened during the administrations of four very different leaders (about whom no one was, or is now, very neutral) — Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon.
Part II: Marching toward Freedom: The Civil Rights Movement
Part II deals with events that changed the lives of all Americans — the civil rights movement. Starting in the mid-1950s and reaching its peak during the ’60s, the civil rights movement fought to ensure equal rights for African Americans. Focusing on the southern states, where all aspects of life were segregated — from schools to buses and lunch counters to restrooms — the movement worked to eliminate the indignities and lack of opportunities associated with being regarded as second-class citizens.
This part begins by giving a brief overview of life before the civil rights movement. In the process, we cover some of the events that provided a foundation for the movement as it hit its stride in the sixties. Then we discuss the events that changed everything — the freedom rides, civil rights marches, lunch counter sit-ins, and civil rights legislation. We talk about the leadership of the civil rights movement — from Martin Luther King Jr., who was fully committed to nonviolent protest, and later black leaders, such as Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and the Black Panthers, who believed that using violence was sometimes necessary to achieve their goals.
Part III: Fighting for Peace: Vietnam and the Antiwar Movement
Part III deals with the pivotal event of the 1960s — the Vietnam War. Vietnam was the first war fought on TV — and therefore the first one that the American public viewed up close and personal. The war forced many Americans to rethink their views of patriotism and the presidency.
Part III talks about how and why the United States became involved in a civil war half a world away. Like many other world events, this war didn’t start overnight. Even before World War II, Indochina was an embattled area, and with the advent of the cold war, this area, which the United States determined must remain a bastion of democracy, became disputed. However, U.S. involvement and the escalation of the war were based on misinformation that eventually led to the protests that tore the country apart. Finally, as much as getting embroiled in Vietnam was a long, drawn-out affair, getting out proved to be slow and difficult and wasn’t actually achieved until the mid-1970s.
Part IV: Starting a Revolution: Social Upheaval and Angst
The ’60s were marked by protest. The civil rights movement mobilized many students, who were touched by the injustices against blacks. Students joined the freedom rides and other protests in order to integrate public facilities in the South and ensure that all Americans had the right to vote. This movement inspired many young people to protest other injustices — most notably the Vietnam War.
However, the war and civil rights weren’t the only things that inspired protests — women, Latinos, American Indians, and gays and lesbians all demanded to be regarded as equals under the law. And the New Left groups weren’t the only ones to be heard from during the ’60s — many people liked the way everything was during the “good-old days” and protested the way they saw the country was going.
Part V: Tuning In, Turning On, and Dropping Out: Transforming American Culture
Music, fashions, theater, television, and choice of lifestyle — few things remained unchanged through the turbulent ’60s. Hippies questioned the wisdom of living lives of quiet desperation and looked for ways, both spiritual and chemical, to reach new levels of awareness. The music scene underwent huge changes. The rather tame rock ’n’ roll of the 1950s got injections of soul, the British invasion, and drug-induced psychedelic music to create a whole new sound. Also, because of the huge social movements, and especially the protests against the Vietnam War, political, protest music came to the forefront. And the ’60s saw the rise of another phenomenon — the rock festival, a la Woodstock.
The ’60s also saw a fashion revolution — miniskirts, mod style, and hippie threads went into the mainstream, and by the ’70s, a variety of styles were everywhere (and women even started to wear pants!). Theater, movies, and comedy also began to reflect the changes taking place, but the largest of these changes was television — which brought everything, from the Vietnam War to JFK’s funeral, and from Bobby Kennedy’s and Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassinations to Woodstock, into living rooms all over the United States.
Part VI: The Part of Tens
This section contains some fun and interesting information about life in the ’60s. You can turn to these pages for a year-by-year view of the pop charts for a dose of nostalgia and to trace the changing face of music throughout the decade. We also include a description of ten movies that capture many different aspects of the decade. So, when you’re done reading about the civil rights movement or Vietnam, for example, you can head out to the video store to get an entertaining and engrossing visual perspective of the events. Finally, we include a chapter on ten things that you could buy for a buck in the ’60s. (Wait until you see the gas prices!) At the end of the Part of Tens, you can find an Appendix that contains a timeline of the 1960s.
Icons Used In This Book
Where to Go from Here
Like the 1960s, For Dummies books buck the conventional norms. So, you don’t have to read this book from cover to cover in order to get the most out of it (although you can if you want, and we think it makes for some pretty interesting reading). You can tune in or drop out anywhere along the way and still get a good idea of what was happening with the subject that you’re interested in. Check out the Table of Contents to find what interests you, and turn to that chapter or section. For example, if you’re a Nixon fan, you can turn directly to Chapter 4 to see what Dick was up to in the ’60s. Or, if you’re here for the music, you can flip to Chapter 15. To get a bird’s-eye view of what was going on in the United States from 1960 to 1969, check out Chapter 1, which is an overview of the decade, or the timeline Appendix at the back of the book.
In each chapter, you can find a bit of background of what led up to the events that we discuss. Then we tell you what happened — the “who, what, why, when, where” and sometimes how. Finally, we tell you why anyone cares — that is, the impact that the events had and continue to have today.