Crisis of Authority: Watergate Crisis, The
Watergate includes a range of illegal activities that go beyond the break in at the Democratic National Headquarters. The use of illegal election funds to punish political opponents is just one of a number of disclosures that reveal the secret power...
Nation Torn, A: 1968, The Year the Dream Died
The trauma and turmoil of the 1960s seem to converge on the year 1968. On March 31 in this year of the TET Offensive, President Johnson addresses the nation to announce his decision not to run for re-election. Many things have been unraveling for th...
Fallout: Nuclear Age, The
By 1949, the USSR tests first atomic weapon and a full-fledged arms race is underway. The growing obsession with the Soviet threat and people's fear of it is reflected in the dark movies of this era. Fear of a nuclear holocaust generates a successio...
Right Turn: International Crises Plague Carter
U.S. dependence on foreign oil reaches crisis levels in the summer of 1979 when instability in the Middle East produces a second major fuel shortage. To determine what course of action to take Carter goes to Camp David, site of the triumphant meetin...
Restless Society: Great Society: Assault on Poverty in U.S, The.
Johnson expands on Kennedy's idea of a war on poverty and lays out an agenda for what he calls the "Great Society." In an effort to create full employment, Johnson instigates an $11 billion tax cut and creates programs poor people can use to bring t...
Restless Society: Battle for Racial Equality
During the 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy promises to end segregation with stroke of a pen. His inaction once he is elected fuels the disillusionment of African Americans. Their attempt to desegregate Birmingham turns out masses of prot...
Determined to be Heard: New Left, The
Political action and direct non-violent social protest are techniques often used by movements associated with the 1960s. Former student activist Scott Corbett talks about their shared commitment to steer the nation away from the disastrous course it...
Determined to be Heard: Mobilization of Minorities
The success of the African American civil rights movement encourages other minorities to fight for their rights. Historian Brian Balogh relates the vast changes he experienced growing up in Miami, Florida. During the 1970s minority groups begin to a...
Determined to be Heard: Environmentalism in a Turbulent Society
As a result of the various Civil Rights Movements of the late 1960s and 1970s, conservatives and liberals further define their ideology. Democrats continue to advocate minority rights and Republicans assert the aims of an older America for greater u...
Way We Were?, The: Explosion of Science and Technology, The
There are remarkable advances in medicine in the postwar years, medical breakthroughs with development of antibiotics like penicillin and vaccines to suppress influenza and polio. The federal government funnels enormous amounts of money into scienti...