Baby Boomers
We are part of the generation that started and have become known as the “Baby Boomers.”
If you were born 1946 – 1964, you are one of us. Between 1946 and 1964, the United States experienced an exceptionally high rate of birth; thus, the “Baby Boomers.” Those of us born during this period have had a profound impact on society and the economy throughout all the stages of our lives.
The SIXTIES were an exciting, revolutionary, turbulent time of great social and technological change: assassination, unforgettable fashion, new musical styles, Camelot, civil rights, gay and women's liberation, a controversial and devisive war in Vietnam, the first manned landing on the moon, peace marches, World's Fairs, flower power, great TV and film and sexual freedom. These years were a time of change, counter culture and political movements.
Many young people involved themselves in trying to make America a better place for all people, no matter what gender or race they were. The sixties began with the election of America's youngest(43) president ever elected, John F. Kennedy. During his period in office people stepped out and said how they felt. They thought that with Kennedy leading America, anything was possible.
By 1963 another great leader began to draw attention to another important issue, the treatment of African Americans. Martin Luther King, Jr. had such composure and such dignity that hearing him publicly speak was not only privilege but an honor. King inspired people and made them believe that they could make a difference. King believed in nonviolent protest against segregation and racial discrimination.
Many people, blacks and whites alike, joined his March on Washington in 1963, and others later helped change the way Americans treated one another. Violence in the south was still in the headlines as a black church in Mississippi was blown up with killing four children inside. In 1964 President Johnson declared "War on Poverty" and promised Americans a "Great Society."
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 became law. Rioting in Watts in 1965 nearly destroyed Los Angeles.
In 1967 Americans increasingly opposed to the war in Vietnam. The war had burst into the country's living rooms on the nightly news like an open floodgate and many in the country were horrified at what they saw. 1968 was a year of great tragedy, both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated.
The Democratic National Convention was the scene of horrible violence. There were some bright moments, man orbited the earth for the first time in Apollo 8 in 1968 and at the close of the decade America entered a new frontier as Neil Armstrong walked on the moon for the first time.
In 1964, the nation was still reeling from the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It was a year of great political upheaval and turmoil. Lyndon Baines Johnson declared war on poverty and signed the Civil Rights Act banning discrimination.
Social unrest was everywhere you looked, campus disturbances were on the rise, and violence in the South horrified the nation. New Yorkers were afraid to get involved while a young woman was brutally stabbed to death outside their windows.
In the midst of all the unrest, the Mustang was a big hit as it arrived in dealer showrooms, My Fair Lady was named Best Picture and "The Beatles" made their television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.
• The Boston Strangler made his final attack on January 4.
• "The administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America….It will not be a short or easy struggle, no single weapon or strategy will suffice, but we shall not rest until that war is won." President Johnson’s State of the Union, January 8, 1964. He signs an Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) in August. The Head Start program was one product of the EOA. It was designed to help preschool children achieve higher levels of health, nutrition, and preparedness for school.
• The Surgeon General’s Report issued January 11 by Dr. Luther L. Terry, 52, linked cigarette smoking to lung cancer and other diseases. The tobacco industry halted advertising in college newspapers, magazines, sports programs, and on college radio stations, in response to public pressure.
• The Beatles (The Fab Four) made their US television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 7.
• 24th Amendment took effect February 24 making poll taxes illegal in federal elections.
• Cassius Clay, 22, won the World Heavyweight Boxing title on February 25, when he knocked out reigning champion Sonny Liston. He changed his name to Muhammad Ali when he became a Black Muslim also in 1964.
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination based on race, sex, religion or national origin in employment and in public places was signed into law July 2.
• The Medicare Act signed by President Johnson July 30 at Independence, Mo., set up the first government-operated health insurance program for Americans age 65 and over.
• The Tonkin Gulf Resolution, approved by Congress August 7, authorized President Johnson to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." The resolution was approved 88 to 2 in the Senate and 416 to 0 in the House of Representatives.
• Mississippi Freedom Summer. The bodies of three Civil Rights workers killed by white supremacists were discovered on August 8, in Philadelphia, Mississippi. James E. Chaney, 21; Michael H. Schwerner, 24; and Andrew Goodman, 20, had been missing since June 21.
• U.S. Food Stamp Program was reactivated on a broad scale on August 31 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help feed needy Americans.
• The Warren Commission Report issued September 27 found that no conspiracy was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
• A Free Speech Movement began among University of California students at Berkeley around October 1. This marked the beginning of a long period of U.S. campus unrest that would become the antiwar movement.
• A Soviet coup d'etat on October 13 striped Nikita Khrushchev, now 70, of all power. Leonid Brezhnev, 57, became party leader, Aleksei Kosygin, 60, became premier October 14.
• Martin Luther King won Nobel Peace Prize on October 14.
• President Lyndon Baines Johnson won re-election in November, with the largest popular vote in U.S. history, receiving 61 percent of the popular vote and shortly announced a vast increase in U.S. aid to South Vietnam. A military coup on December 19 overthrew South Vietnam’s High National Council.
• Lester Maddox, Atlanta restaurateur, closed his Pickrick Restaurant rather than submit to federal government orders that he serve blacks as well as whites. (Maddox passed out pickax handles on the street in front of his restaurant to any supporter who would beat blacks trying to enter).
• Jimmy Hoffa achieved his goal of bringing all U.S. truckers under a single Teamsters Union contract and raised fears that he might paralyze the country with a nationwide strike.
• U.S. lawyer Ralph Nader, 30, submitted a Labor Department report on what the government should do about auto safety.
• Palestine Liberation Organization was founded.
• GI Joe, a doll for boys, was introduced by Hasbro, a major U.S. toy maker.
• Ford Motor Company introduced the Mustang, a sporty compact that was a hit with consumers.
• Methadone became a rehabilitation treatment for heroin addicts.