Talk on the "Sixties" (Version 901a)

Let us think back for a moment, what things were like thirty to forty years ago, the period we call the sixties. In the international sphere, we were faced with the cold war. In 1961, the communists built the Berlin Wall. In addition, and somewhat related, there was the space race. Also in 1961, President Kennedy challenged the United States to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. This, of course, was accomplished in 1969.

In the domestic sphere, there were numerous social changes at work. On the high end was the Civil Rights movement. In 1961 there were lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, NC; in 1963 came the march on Washington, where Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a dream" speech; in 1964 Congress passed the first major Civil Rights Act. On the low end were such things as the so-called sexual revolution and experimentation with drugs. What others referred to as "mind-altering", Timothy Leary called "mind-expanding". In between were such things as the beginnings of the environmental movement (called the "ecology" movement back then). President Johnson began the "Great Society" program and declared "unconditional war on poverty", greatly expanding the welfare state. As of this date, it is unclear who won the war.

This would have been an interesting decade with all that. But into the mix was also the war in Vietnam. American young men were being drafted daily to fight in a conflict which was not perceived as a direct threat to the United States, and protests began, becoming larger and sometimes violent as the decade wore on.

Perhaps the pivotal year of the decade was 1968. President Johnson made what was perceived as a poor showing in the New Hampshire democratic primary, and withdrew from the race. The Soviet Union sent tanks and brutally put down the "Prague Spring", giving a feeling that communism could not be reformed or defeated peacefully. In April, Martin Luther King was assassinated. In June, Robert Kennedy was assassinated after winning the California democratic primary. During the summer, the Republican convention came off peacefully in Miami Beach, but the Democratic convention in Chicago was met with riots in the streets, including the arrest and trial of the "Chicago 8".

In the cultural arena, the musical Hair opened, seen by many as a celebration of the age. Television at the beginning of the decade was largely black and white. NBC started their color programs with the opening peacock, as a way to promote the sale of RCA color TVs. Spy shows were popular at mid-decade. CBS imported a British show called "Danger Man", but titled it "Secret Agent" in the United States. But by 1968, spy shows were on the wane. In mid-season , NBC canceled "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." replacing it (Jan. 22, 1968) with a new program called "Laugh In".

Last updated: February 05, 2004