Writers Preference

Your Name

Instructor Name

Course Number

Date

The Threat of Communism and the Domestic and Foreign Policies of the Federal Government between 1960 and 1980

On April 17, 1961, about 1400 American anti-Castro (communist leader in Cuba) exiles, which were trained and given arms by the CIA, reached Cuba. The invaders were unsupported and fell under Castro’s control. The attempted invasion was a major failure for John Fitzgerald Kennedy and looked like an attempt at 19th-century imperialism. The nation mourned the loss of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Millions watched the return of Air Force One to DC, carrying his coffin and his widow in a bloodstained suit. Stunned Americans struggle to understand how such an event could happen ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"8GRs3D54","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}The Soviet Union and the United States - Revelations from the Russian Archives | Exhibitions - Library of Congress})","plainCitation":"(The Soviet Union and the United States - Revelations from the Russian Archives | Exhibitions - Library of Congress)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":566,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/uHsb2Xzj/items/QQJHEW6K"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/uHsb2Xzj/items/QQJHEW6K"],"itemData":{"id":566,"type":"webpage","title":"The Soviet Union and the United States - Revelations from the Russian Archives | Exhibitions - Library of Congress","URL":"https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/sovi.html","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",12,16]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (The Soviet Union and the United States - Revelations from the Russian Archives | Exhibitions - Library of Congress).

Lyndon B. Johnson created two programs for the public: the Medicare program and the Medicaid program. Medicare program provided the elderly with health care, whereas, the Medicaid authorized federal funding for poor people’s health care.

The Movement of the Blacks in 1960s

The Africans of America started a radical movement aginst the legal discrimination in the South. The movement called for fair treatment in the South, but when the movement called for changes in other parts of the country, there was a major backlash and eventually, the movement crumbled. It also gets fragmented. Martin Luther King gives nation visibility as the leader of a massive civil rights movement.

Malcolm X led another part of the civil rights movement, calling for economic and civic justice. He challenged the notion of nonviolence in a social movement. He worked for building an Islamic nation, which was linked to the ideology of Black Nationalism. He considered himself a Black Muslim. He called for pride and autonomy of the black people, and emancipation from the corrupt society. He advocated self-defense against the violence of whites. He succeeded in attracting a great support in urban ghettos.

The Black Militant Movement

When Martin Luther King and Malcolm X both got assassinated, Stokely Carmichael, a leader of a student group, in 1966, gave the movement a new name, demanding the power of blacks. He rejected the assimilation of blacks with white society because it was based on the concept of superiority of whites. He presented the notion that African Americans should develop their businesses, schools, and political organizations. The leader of SNCC Stokely Carmichael organization, pronounced “snick” that embraced civil disobedience and nonviolence. The movement called for the fair treatment of blacks. The organization lead demonstrations and protests. The blacks faced hostile treatment from whites and were called racial slurs. The whites poured food on them.

Containment under Johnson; the Cold War Continues

Vietnam was seen as a place that could fall under communism. If there was a Communist victory in Southeast Asia, it was believed that Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines might then fall as well (called the domino theory). It was very important to the United States that communism was contained and does not spread to Vietnam.

Problems in Vietnam

The US entered into an all-out war in Vietnam under Johnson in 1965 and bombarded Northern Vietnam, which was particularly under the threat of falling to communism. War widened under Johnson when he rejected overtures of peace from North Vietnam, which called for the US to withdraw and a coalition government in South Vietnam ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ToiYgSM4","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}Anti-Communism in the 1950s | AP US History Study Guide from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History})","plainCitation":"(Anti-Communism in the 1950s | AP US History Study Guide from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":568,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/uHsb2Xzj/items/RE7DYGP3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/uHsb2Xzj/items/RE7DYGP3"],"itemData":{"id":568,"type":"webpage","title":"Anti-Communism in the 1950s | AP US History Study Guide from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History","URL":"https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/fifties/essays/anti-communism-1950s","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",12,16]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Anti-Communism in the 1950s | AP US History Study Guide from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History).

Student Response to Vietnam

The war was very costly to American and Vietnamese lives. There were wide protests in the America against the war in Vietnam, especially by students. This was a part of the counterculture movement that grew in the 1960s. Many of the white students expressed dissent with the era as well. They supported black freedom struggle, launched student protests, and opposed the war in Vietnam. They challenged established institutions and traditional values. On May 4, 1970, at Kent State in Ohio, several hundred students protested against the war in Vietnam. Suddenly, some guardsmen opened fire into the crowd and killed four unarmed students.

Disorder and Discontent, 1969-1980

The Decline of Liberalism began with the victory of the Republican Party. The liberal social movements of the 1960s went into decline. The Great Society still had some lasting elements, including Medicare and Medicaid. Federal aid for education and housing became permanent parts of domestic federal policy. Schools were desegregated in the South and the women especially benefited (Anti-Communism in the 1950s | AP US History Study Guide from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History). The rise of Republicanism began when the new conservatives promoted anti-communism, a strong national defence, and a limited role in domestic affairs. They also promoted what they considered more traditional values. The Republican Agenda believed that government intervention in economic life hurts the prosperity of Americans

End of Vietnam War

Vietnam ended up being America’s longest war (though perhaps the war in the Middle East will change this fact). America spent more than one hundred and fifty million dollars for this war. War shattered domestic peace and the US did not attain their goal of containing communism. In 1973, the war was officially over.

Works Cited:

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Anti-Communism in the 1950s | AP US History Study Guide from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/fifties/essays/anti-communism-1950s. Accessed 16 Dec. 2019.

The Soviet Union and the United States - Revelations from the Russian Archives | Exhibitions - Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/sovi.html. Accessed 16 Dec. 2019.