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Dreaming In The 1960S

In 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said his most famous

words: "I have a dream." He was not the only one who felt

this way. For many, the 1960s was a decade in which their

dreams about America might be fulfilled. For Martin Luther

King Jr., this was a dream of a truly equal America; for

John F. Kennedy, it was a dream of a young vigorous

nation that would put a man on the moon; and for the hippy

movement, it was one of love, peace, and freedom. The

1960s was a tumultuous decade of social and political

upheaval. We are still confronting many social issues that

were addressed in the 1960s today. In spite of the turmoil,

there were some positive results, such as the civil rights

revolution. However, many outcomes were negative:

student antiwar protest movements, political assassinations,

and ghetto riots excited American people and resulted in a

lack of respect for authority and the law. The first president

during the 1960s was John F. Kennedy. He was young,

appealing, and had a carefully crafted public image that

barely won him the election. Because former President

Eisenhower supported the Republican nominee, Richard

Nixon, and because many had doubts about Kennedy's

youth and Catholic religion, Kennedy only received

three-tenths of one percent more of the popular vote than

Nixon. The first thing Kennedy did during his brief

presidency was to try to restore the nation's economy.

Economic growth was slow in 1961 when Kennedy

entered the White house. The President initiated a series of

tariff negotiations to stimulate exports and proposed a

federal tax cut to help the economy internally. John F.

Kennedy was known as one of the few presidents in

history who made his own personality a significant part of

his presidency and a focus of national attention. Nothing

illustrated this more clearly than the reaction to the tragedy

of November 22, 1963. Kennedy was driving through the

streets of Dallas. The streets were full of cheering...