At the beginning of the 1960s, Americans were pretty positive about the future of the country. Popular John F. Kennedy had been inaugurated as President of the United States on January 20, 1961. In his acceptance speech Kennedy detailed his vision for reforms in the next four years. He promised to find answers to the big issues of poverty and discrimination. However, Kennedy was not able to see his vision to fruition.

After Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the country turned to Lyndon B. Johnson, then Vice President, to carry out the programs established by the popular Kennedy. Johnson had his own ideas on how to fight the war on poverty. Those ideas included adequate medical care for the poor and elderly, so he established Medicare and Medicaid. He recognized the need for young children to begin a formal education as soon as possible, so he created the Head Start program to give underprivileged children the opportunity to receive that education. Another program which started in the 1960s is the Job Corps, the program that gave unskilled workers the training and education they needed to be competitive in an era where the future moved away from manufacturing opportunities.  

The problem with all the government programs was there just wasn’t enough money to fight the war on poverty, AND to fight the War in Vietnam, and other conflicts around the Southeast Asian territory. Vietnam won the lion’s share of the governments attention. The Vietnam War drove a huge rift between young protesters who believed the United States was fighting a war they could not win. Some fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into the armed services against their will. Their elders, who had fought in WWII, felt the younger generation was spoiled and had forgotten that securing freedom for others meant security for the United States.

Student activists grew more radical. Anti-war protests escalated from peaceful sit-ins to bomb threats at universities around the country, and vandalism. At the same time others were experimenting with mind-altering drugs, creating great music, and embracing the ideas of free love and communal living. Hippies grew their hair long, dropped out of political life, and gave in to the idea of “Flower Power” and “all you need is love,” to live a happy, fulfilled life. The Woodstock Music festival in upstate New York was symbolic of how life was changing. From longer flowing hairstyles and clothing, to the most public distrust of the government ever demonstrated, Americans tested the Bill of Rights.

Did Americans believe that “all” men were created equal? The Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s intensified when four black students from Greensboro, North Carolina sought to find the answer to that question. They sat down at a whites-only lunch counter and demanded service. The protest against segregation drew national attention to the injustice of Jim Crow laws, laws and regulations which encouraged segregation and discrimination, mostly in the Southern states. As a result of public outcry, Congress passed two new pieces of legislation: The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which had much more power then previous attempts to end racism, and barred discrimination in public places, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which eliminated restrictions of land-owning and literacy for black voters.

By the end of the 1960s, the America culture had undergone the most radical transformation in history, from the idealism of the post-war 50s to the mayhem of Woodstock. Yet, the power of the minority was just beginning to develop. The future was going to be better, but only the most determined would be capable of creating change.