The 1960s: The Age of Paradox
The term “the sixties” is a misnomer. The period did not merely span the decade of the sixties but instead stretched from the Brown Decision in the 1950s until the Fall of Saigon in 1975. This sixties was a paradoxical time in the United States, on the one hand it was a time of great prosperity while on the other it was a time of great unrest. The quality of American life was better than it had ever been, with more students in college and more individuals working and living comfortably than at any other point preceding it in American History. That being said, while economically the sixties were stable, socially and culturally the country was in great upheaval. The civil rights movement and the Vietnam War rallied …show more content…
From 1965 until 1968, President Lyndon Johnson gradually escalated the war. He did so believing that aiding the South Vietnamese in their war against the North was paramount in holding the line against communism in the region. He also believed that allowing a defeat in Vietnam would hinder his dream of the great society he desired to create. Unlike soldiers in WWII, the average soldier in Vietnam was only a teenager. These new waves of soldiers were not even old enough to vote for the politicians that had sent them overseas, angering them greatly. Working class whites and African Americans made up large parts of the army, because the more privileged were able to use college as an excuse to defer their draft or had enough connections to be placed into the national guard. African Americans made up 31% percent of the combat troops and died at disproportionately high rates until 1966 when the military adjusted troop assignments to ensure a racial balance. The United States committed numerous atrocities in Vietnam, from carpet bombing, murdering noncombatants, and raping women, men showed their frustrations over fighting for a people who did not want them there in atrocious ways. In terms of conventional warfare it appeared as though the United States was clearly winning, the body count and the damages inflicted on the North Vietnamese made it appear as such. The issue was Vietnam, like almost every other conflict the United States has been involved in since, was that the United States failed to win over the hearts and minds of the people they were trying to protect, effectively sabotaging any chance they had at accomplishing their goals in the region. While the United States failed to win over the people in Vietnam, it was failing to keep the support for the war strong on the home
The term “the sixties” is a misnomer. The period did not merely span the decade of the sixties but instead stretched from the Brown Decision in the 1950s until the Fall of Saigon in 1975. This sixties was a paradoxical time in the United States, on the one hand it was a time of great prosperity while on the other it was a time of great unrest. The quality of American life was better than it had ever been, with more students in college and more individuals working and living comfortably than at any other point preceding it in American History. That being said, while economically the sixties were stable, socially and culturally the country was in great upheaval. The civil rights movement and the Vietnam War rallied …show more content…
From 1965 until 1968, President Lyndon Johnson gradually escalated the war. He did so believing that aiding the South Vietnamese in their war against the North was paramount in holding the line against communism in the region. He also believed that allowing a defeat in Vietnam would hinder his dream of the great society he desired to create. Unlike soldiers in WWII, the average soldier in Vietnam was only a teenager. These new waves of soldiers were not even old enough to vote for the politicians that had sent them overseas, angering them greatly. Working class whites and African Americans made up large parts of the army, because the more privileged were able to use college as an excuse to defer their draft or had enough connections to be placed into the national guard. African Americans made up 31% percent of the combat troops and died at disproportionately high rates until 1966 when the military adjusted troop assignments to ensure a racial balance. The United States committed numerous atrocities in Vietnam, from carpet bombing, murdering noncombatants, and raping women, men showed their frustrations over fighting for a people who did not want them there in atrocious ways. In terms of conventional warfare it appeared as though the United States was clearly winning, the body count and the damages inflicted on the North Vietnamese made it appear as such. The issue was Vietnam, like almost every other conflict the United States has been involved in since, was that the United States failed to win over the hearts and minds of the people they were trying to protect, effectively sabotaging any chance they had at accomplishing their goals in the region. While the United States failed to win over the people in Vietnam, it was failing to keep the support for the war strong on the home