The 1960s

The Decade That Changed America

In the time period from the end of the Second World War to the end of the Vietnam War was a time of drastic change in America, The most prominent years of this time were the 1960s. The mold of a perfect family was broken, and the youth of the country started to break away from their parents, who had grown up in a different America. The cookie cutter, "Leave it to Beaver" family of the 1950s was replaced by shell shocked parents of rebellious teenagers. Drug use was reaching an all time high. Parents were losing control, and respect for them was dropping.

At the same time, the US was in extreme political unrest. The Cold War was at an all time low, Vietnam was raging, and being protested and Presidents were being assassinated. These two situations, political and social, intertwine greatly, each playing off each other to create the atmosphere of the decade.

Politically, the Cuban Missile Crisis had the world at the brink of a nuclear war. Socially, the young people of the country gathered to fuel the new hippie and anti-war movement. At the same time, they were appreciating the politically fueled music of the time at the largest concert/festival in history, Woodstock.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the culmination of two decades of unrest between the two world superpowers, the US and USSR. The small island of Cuba off the coast of Florida was now ruled by the self proclaimed dictator Fidel Castro. After a failed bay of Pigs invasion funded by the United States, relations between Cuba and America were at an all time low, the perfect time for Nikita Khrushchev of the USSR to use Cuba to his advantage. Fidel Castro had needed the Soviet's help when he was trying to take control of Cuba, and he owed them a favor in return. What the soviets had in mind was a far greater world issue than the status of a small island.

The USSR started, secretly, building short range nuclear missile silos in Cuba, pointing right towards Florida, Washington, and the foundation of American government. Then President and Commander and Chief John F. Kennedy was informed about the newly acquired nuclear capabilities of Cuba, the Soviet puppet nation, from spy plane over flights. The missile silos were in plain view. The next 14 days would be the tensest in our country's history, and perhaps the world's. Both sides were, quite literally, waiting to push the "red button".

President Kennedy was faced with 2 choices. He could either try to diplomatically negotiate with the USSR in removal of the missiles, or he could declare war by attacking the silos. The second option would light the spark under years of tension and start a nuclear war that would end in total annihilation of both sides.

Kennedy's decision was to fall somewhere in the middle of these two dramatically extreme options. He would militarily blockade all imports to Cuba from the Soviets. This decision infuriated Khrushchev, which is apparent in his letter to Kennedy when he was informed of the blockade:

"You, Mr. President, are not declaring a quarantine, but rather issuing an ultimatum and you are threatening that if we do not obey your orders, you will then use force. Think about what you are saying! And you want to persuade me to agree to this!

What does it mean to agree to these demands? It would mean for us to conduct our relations with other countries not by reason, but by yielding to tyranny. You are not appealing to reason; you want to intimidate us.

No, Mr. President, I cannot agree to this, and I think that deep inside, you will admit that I am right. I am convinced that if you were in my place you would do the same." (Khrushchev, 1)

While Khrushchev's opinion was valid from his perspective, I believe that Kennedy's decision was the right one. The crisis ended with diplomacy, both sides accepting the other's terms. Even though it ended diplomatically, if it had begun with talk it may have ended with war. The decision made by President John F Kennedy was the right one, he saved our country from a nuclear war that could not be won, and set in motion the end of the cold war.

Due to events like the Cuban Missile