Notes

What were the defining events, aspects of the 1960s. Describe these in detail and explain how and why they were significant and defined the decade.
The era of 1960s is marked by counterculture protests, music, civil rights movements, political assassinations, the Vietnam War and the antiwar protests. On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy, a charismatic and iconic figure, became the president of the United States. He brought up a package of laws and reforms to eliminate inequality and injustice in the United States. But the agendas did not come into effect due to severe intervention and blockade by the Democrats majority.
The downfall of Kennedy’s administration started with the failure of Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1961, the US government launched a special attack to out-throw Cuban leader Fiedal Castro from power. Fiedal Castro was a Cuban nationalist who with his guerilla army overthrew General Fulgencio Batista, a corrupt dictator and an ally of US companies. US state department along with the CIA were working together to push down Castro for several years. On April 17, 1961, a definitive attack was made against Castro but the invasion didn’t go well. This severed the diplomatic relationship between US government and Cuba.
Further the Cuban Missile Crisis stood as a tough event during Kennedy’s presidency. Under Fiedal Castro, Cuba became more dependent on Soviet for military and economic aid. A tension arose in between the Soviet Union and the US government over the implantation of Soviet missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy addressed the presence of the missiles to the public and made sure to neutralize the threat the missiles installation might bring to the national security. With this news, a cold fear of invoking nuclear war developed amongst people. Thankfully, Soviet Union offered to remove the missiles from Cuban in exchange of the United States promise to not invade Cuba.