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The Stormy Sixties; 1960 €“ 1968

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The Stormy Sixties; 1960 €“ 1968
The Stormy Sixties; 1960 – 1968

The Stormy Sixties bean with heightened Cold War tensions that led to the full-scale eruption of the Vietnam War. President Kennedy's youthful energy brought about a new age of American politics that outlived the assassin's bullet and into President Johnson's administration. From bus boycotts and sit-ins to a March on Washington, the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum in the 1960s and inspired all of America to fight for equal rights. The major concern for the entire planet throughout the sixties was the Cold War. It held room for a potential nuclear disaster that was readily avoided due to both sides careful approach to dealing with the other. The Korean War was the major concern towards the end of the 1950s and the concern carried over into the early 1960s. Brinkmanship was often used to describe the constant competition that America and the USSR were in throughout the Cold War. President Kennedy realized the potential threat Cuba poised just off the coast of America so he ordered the Bay of Pigs Invasion, which wasn't successful at all. This only heightened tensions between the US and the USSR. The it wasn't long after that that the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred from October 14-28, 1962. Kennedy, using his youthful vigor and charisma, negotiated the results of the USSR removing its missiles from Cuba and the US removed its missiles from Turkey and Italy. Turmoil in Vietnam rose up and the US intervened on behalf of the United Nations. This led to an undeclared war that lasted for many and took many American lives. Vietnam was divided into North Vietnam being led by Ho Chi Minh and South Vietnam being led by Ngo Dinh Diem. The war was not supported by the American people and as a result it received much criticism at every turn. For example, the Rolling Thunder operation that lasted for many years involved bombings that included many civilian causalities; this was not supported by the American people. In 1964, Johnson

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