AP U.S. History
1960s-1970s: An Overview
Describe and account for changes in the
American presidency between 1960 and 1975 as
symbolized by Kennedy’s Camelot, Johnson’s
Great Society and Nixon’s Watergate. In your
answer address the power of the presidency
and the role of the media.
Kennedy
Power of presidency: Generally increased under
JFK, because of
 Cold War need for strong presidential leadership
against the Soviet threat (Castro in Cuba, Cuban
Missile Crisis, meetings with Khrushchev,
involvement in Vietnam)
 Increased size of federal government (due to prior
developments and to JFK’s New Frontier programs)
 Democratic control of legislative and executive
branches of federal government
Kennedy
Role of the media: The media generally
strengthened JFK’s presidency
 JFK and advisors used the media, in particular television,
very effectively to convey an image of the president as
youthful, athletic and glamorous (this begins with the
election of 1960)
 Images of president’s wife and young son also conveyed
a youthful vigorous image
 Assassination of JFK and the extensive coverage of it
cemented the Kennedy legend
Johnson
Power of presidency: Reached something of a high
point under LBJ but then began to decline
 LBJ, a former Senate leader, was very effective at getting
his legislative agenda through Congress
 Cold War challenges continued to make a strong
president necessary
 However, many of LBJ’s policies (support for civil rights,
anti-poverty programs, increasing involvement in
Vietnam provoked strong opposition from different
groups
Johnson
Role of the media: LBJ was generally less able to
manage his media image
 LBJ was less telegenic than JFK, not seen as young and
glamorous
 “credibility gap” developed between the administrations
optimistic accounts of Vietnam and the images of war
seen by Americans every night
 Riots and domestic disturbances, also heavily covered by
TV and other media seemed to show that LBJ was
increasingly out of touch and no longer in control of
events
Nixon
Power of presidency: Despite his efforts to create an
“imperial presidency,” Nixon’s administration saw
an overall decline in the power of the presidency
 Opposition party in control of Congress makes it hard for
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Nixon to pass his legislative agenda
Slow to disengage from Vietnam, costing him support
Used executive actions to fight his enemies, both foreign and
domestic
Revelations of illegal actions taken to insure his re-election in
1972 and a cover-up of them (Watergate)
Power of Congress to oversee president increased
Nixon
 Role of the media: The media and the Nixon
White House became increasingly hostile,
weakening the president’s effectiveness
 Nixon had some success appealing to the “silent
majority”
 War in Vietnam and domestic protests continued to be
covered heavily (invasion of Cambodia, Kent State
shootings), largely unfavorable for Nixon
 Watergate scandal put Nixon on the defensive, made
him see much of the media as another enemy
Analyze the effects of the Vietnam War on TWO
of the following in the United States in the
period from 1961-1975.
The presidency
The population between 18-35 years old
Cold War diplomacy
The Presidency
 The Vietnam War diminishes Americans’ faith in their
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government, shatters the liberal consensus, ends the
Age of Roosevelt, and makes possible the Age of Reagan
and the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s
Each president hands off to his successor a situation that
is worse than the one he inherited
Eisenhower and the “Domino Theory”
Johnson and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Nixon and Vietnamization, Cambodia,
The Pentagon Papers reveal a legacy of deception on the
part of the executive branch
The Presidency
 War Powers Act curtails the president’s ability to
commit U.S. forces
 Watergate: (White House staffers H.R. Haldeman and
John Ehrlichman resign due to Watergate revelations.
The existence of a White House taping system is
revealed. John Dean reports that Nixon was involved in
the Watergate Affair. Nixon refuses to turn over White
House tapes to investigators.)
The Population between 18 and 35
 More than 58,000 Americans are killed, 300,000
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wounded
Vietnam leads Americans to question their history in
ways that cast doubt on many of the country’s core
beliefs, Vietnam challenges notions of American
exceptionalism and the morality of its behaviors
The first “teach-in” is held at the University of Michigan
University of Wisconsin students demand that recruiters
from Dow Chemical, the producer of napalm, no longer
be allowed on campus
Four students killed during demonstrations by members
of the National Guard at Kent State University
Cold War Diplomacy
 Vietnam, suddenly seen as vital to international
credibility
 Nixon Doctrine: nations must be willing to shoulder
responsibility for defending their own areas
 Nixon bombs parts of North Vietnam, trying to force its
hand in the peace negotiations
 Vietnam alienates U.S. from much of the world and, for
a time, discredits the U.S. military
Analyze the extent to which TWO of the
following transformed American society in the
1960s and 1970s: the civil rights movement, the
antiwar movement, the women’s movement.
Thesis Statement Formula
in relation to this prompt
X = The __________ movement transformed American
society by…(list one or two examples)
However A,B,C = However, the __________ movement
A, B, and C,
Therefore, y = Therefore, the __________ movement
had more of an impact on American society during the
1960s and 1970s than did the __________ movement.
Possible Details: Civil Rights
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Martin Luther King, Jr. and nonviolent resistance
Malcolm X, Black Muslims, Nation of Islam
Greensboro sit-ins, 1960
Freedom Riders, 1961
Birmingham protests, 1963
MLK’s March on Washington, “I Have A Dream”
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Twenty-Fourth Amendment
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Cesar Chavez, Hispanic rights, AIM, Native American
rights, Wounded Knee of 1973
Possible Details: Antiwar Movement
 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
 Student demonstrations – sit-ins, peace-ins, teach-ins
 “Hawks” vs. “Doves”
 Tet Offensive: consequences
 TV and the Vietnam War
 Human and economic costs of the war
 Conscientious objectors, Muhammad Ali stripped of title
 Vietnam Veterans against the war
 Vietnamization, invasion of Cambodia
 War Powers Act
Possible Details: Women’s Movement
 Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique
 NOW, 1966
 Advocacy of social reforms (child care, maternity rights,
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abortion rights, birth control, equal pay)
Women’s Liberation Movement
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Radical feminism
Title IX
Roe v. Wade
Phyllis Schlafly
Analyze the ways in which the events and trends
of the 1970s diminished the nation’s economic
power and international influence, and
challenged Americans’ confidence in both.
Economic Events and Trends
 Tax cuts and increased spending on public works
projects temporarily lowered the unemployment rate,
The Federal Reserve Board permitted the money supply
to grow. These measures drove price inflation.
 The U.S. ran its first ever trade deficit. The trade deficit
undermined the value of the American dollar by
enabling foreign banks to exchange U.S. dollars for gold
at highly favorable rates.
 In 1974, President Ford introduced “Whip Inflation
Now,” or WIN. Stagflation continued as both prices and
inflation rose.
Economic Events and Trends
 Ever-rising international oil prices triggered a series of
gasoline and home heating fuel price increases that
rippled through the economy.
 The Carter administration had no answers for
stagflation.
 Inflation and high interest rates choked off productivity
and economic growth.
International Events and Trends
 U.S. bombing of Cambodia becomes known to the public
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(1970), resulting in student protests around the country
(including Kent State and Jackson State)
Daniel Ellsberg leaks the Pentagon Papers to the New
York Times, Nixon unsuccessful in getting a Supreme
Court injunction to stop publication (1971)
Break-in at Democratic Party National Headquarters in
the Watergate Hotel (1972)
U.S. and North Vietnam sign the Paris Peace Accords,
agreeing to return prisoners of war (January, 1973)
John Dean testifies and links President Nixon to the
cover-up of the Watergate break-in (May, 1973)
International Events and Trends
 Supreme Court unanimously rules that Nixon’s claim of
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“executive privilege” over the release of the Watergate
tapes is not justified (July, 1974)
Nixon resigns, Ford becomes President (Aug, 1974)
North Vietnam overran South Vietnam (April, 1975)
President Carter extends amnesty to Vietnam War draft
evaders on his first day in office in 1977
U.S. initiates negotiations with Panama for the transfer
of control of the Panama Canal to Panama (1977)
Sandinistas rose to power in Nicaragua after Carter
removed support for the country’s dictator, a longtime
friend of the U.S., over the issue of human rights (1979)
International Events and Trends
 Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Carter pulls U.S.
Olympic team out of the Moscow Olympics (1979)
 Iranians overrun U.S. Embassy in Tehran and take 66
Americans hostage (1979).
 The U.S. talked tough but only levied economic
sanctions. A military rescue attempt in 1980 failed.