American History: Social Revolution in the 1960s

12 July 2012

Astronaut John Glenn, right, shows his Friendship 7 space capsule to President John F. Kennedy at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1962

STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

Today, we tell about life in the United States during the nineteen sixties.

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The nineteen sixties began with the election of the first president born in the twentieth century, John Kennedy. For many Americans, the young president was the symbol of a spirit of hope for the nation. When Kennedy was murdered in nineteen sixty-three, many felt that their hopes died, too. This was especially true of young people, and members and supporters of minority groups.

A time of innocence and hope soon began to look like a time of anger and violence. Many Americans protested to demand an end to the unfair treatment of black citizens. Many more protested to demand an end to the war in Vietnam. And many protested to demand full equality for women.

By the middle of the nineteen sixties, it had become almost impossible for President Lyndon Johnson to leave the White House without facing protesters against the war in Vietnam.

In March of nineteen sixty-eight, Johnson announced that he would not run for another term in office.

In addition to President Kennedy, two other influential Americans were murdered during the nineteen sixties. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior was shot in Memphis, Tennessee, in nineteen sixty-eight. Several weeks later, Robert Kennedy -- John Kennedy's brother -- was shot in Los Angeles, California. He was campaigning to win his party's nomination for president. The two murders resulted in riots in cities across the country.