Editing History of the United States (section)

===Civil unrest and social reforms===
{{Main|History of the United States (1964–1980)|Cold War (1962-1991)}}
{{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy|Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson|Great Society}}

In 1960, [[John F. Kennedy]] was [[1960 United States presidential election|elected President]]. [[Presidency of John F. Kennedy|His administration]] saw the acceleration of the country's role in the Space Race, escalation of the American role in the [[Vietnam War]], the [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]], and the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. President Kennedy [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|was assassinated]] on November 22, 1963.<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Brien |first=Michael |title=John F. Kennedy: A Biography |year=2005}}</ref> [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] then became president.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Schneider |first=Gregory |url=https://archive.org/details/conservativecent0000schn |title=The Conservative Century: From Reaction to Revolution |year=2009 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |chapter=5}}</ref> He secured congressional passage of his [[Great Society]] programs,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Alterman |first1=Eric |title=The Cause: The Fight for American Liberalism from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama |url=https://archive.org/details/causefightforame00alte_0 |last2=Mattson |first2=Kevin |year=2012 |publisher=Viking |isbn=9780670023431}}</ref> dealing with civil rights, the end of legal segregation, [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]], extension of welfare, federal aid to education at all levels, subsidies for the arts and humanities, [[Environmental movement in the United States|environmental activism]], and a [[War on poverty|series of programs designed to wipe out poverty]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dallek |first=Robert |title=Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President |year=2004 |author-link=Robert Dallek}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Irving |title=Guns or Butter: The Presidency of Lyndon Johnson |year=1994}}</ref>

==== Civil rights and counterculture movements ====
{{Main|Civil rights movement|Counterculture of the 1960s|Second-wave feminism}}
[[File:Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. (Leaders marching from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial) - NARA - 542010.jpg|thumb|Civil rights activists during the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] in August 1963]]
For years, [[nonviolent]] civil rights activists organized direct actions, such as the 1963 [[Birmingham campaign]] and 1965 [[Selma to Montgomery march]], where they also became victims of violence. Along with Supreme Court decisions like ''[[Loving v. Virginia]]'' and the 1963 [[March on Washington]], these movements achieved great steps toward equality with laws like the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], and the [[Fair Housing Act of 1968]]. These ended the [[Jim Crow laws]] that had legalized [[racial segregation]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dierenfield |first=Bruce J. |title=The Civil Rights Movement |url=https://archive.org/details/civilrightsmovem0000dier |year=2004 |publisher=Pearson Longman |isbn=9780582357372}}</ref> Native Americans protested federal courts, highlighting the federal government's failure to honor treaties involving them. One of the most outspoken Native American groups was the [[American Indian Movement]] (AIM). In the 1960s, [[Cesar Chavez]] began organizing poorly paid [[Mexican-American]] farm workers in California, eventually forming the country's first successful union of farm workers, the [[United Farm Workers of America]] (UFW).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacobs |first=Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nLwAihlibcC&pg=PA13 |title=Mexican American Literature: The Politics of Identity |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134218233 |page=13 |access-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320203824/http://books.google.com/books?id=0nLwAihlibcC&pg=PA13 |archive-date=March 20, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Vietnam. As the second phase of operation "Thayer," the 1st Air Cavalry Division (airmobile) is having... - NARA - 530612.tif|thumb|U.S. soldiers searching a village for potential [[Viet Cong]] during the [[Vietnam War]] in October 1966]]
[[File:Vietnamdem.jpg|thumb|An [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-Vietnam War demonstration]] outside the [[Pentagon]] in October 1967]]

Amid the Cold War, the United States entered the [[Vietnam War]], whose growing unpopularity fed already existing social movements. [[Feminism]] and the [[environmental movement]] became political forces, and progress continued toward [[civil rights]] for all Americans. A [[counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture revolution]] in the late sixties and early seventies further divided Americans in a "culture war" but also brought forth more liberated social views.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chapman |first=Roger |title=Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Voices, and Viewpoints |year=2009}}</ref> Frustrations with the seemingly slow progress of the integration movement led to the emergence of more radical politics, such as the [[Black Power]] movement.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Joseph |first=Peniel E. |year=2001 |title=Black Liberation without Apology: Reconceptualizing the Black Power Movement. |journal=The Black Scholar |volume=31 |issue=3–4 |pages=2–19 |doi=10.1080/00064246.2001.11431152 |s2cid=142923969}}</ref> The summer of 1967 saw opposing philosophies in two widespread movements, the more peaceful [[summer of love]] and the radical [[Long, hot summer of 1967|long, hot summer]], which included nationwide riots.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Riots of the Long, Hot Summer |url=https://www.britannica.com/story/the-riots-of-the-long-hot-summer |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=Britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> Martin Luther King Jr. was [[Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|assassinated in 1968]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Lupo |first=Lindsey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pmeKBTPzj3gC&pg=PA123 |title=Flak-Catchers: One Hundred Years of Riot Commission Politics in America |year=2010 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=9780739138120 |pages=123–124 |access-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016105918/https://books.google.com/books?id=pmeKBTPzj3gC&pg=PA123 |archive-date=October 16, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The modern [[gay rights movement]] started after the [[Stonewall riots]] in 1969.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-01 |title=How the Stonewall uprising ignited the pride movement |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/stonewall-uprising-ignited-modern-lgbtq-rights-movement |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=History |language=en}}</ref>

A new consciousness of the inequality of American women began sweeping the nation, starting with the 1963 publication of [[Betty Friedan]]'s best-seller, ''[[The Feminine Mystique]]'', which critiqued the American cultural idea that women could only find fulfillment through their roles as wives, mothers, and keepers of the home. In 1966, Friedan and others established the [[National Organization for Women]] (NOW) to advocate for women's rights.{{Sfn|Riley|2001|p=?}}{{Sfn|Zophy}} Protests began, and the new women's liberation movement grew in size and power, gaining much media attention.<ref name=":15">{{Cite book |last=Critchlow |first=Donald T. |url=https://archive.org/details/phyllis_cri_2005_00_7649 |title=Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman's Crusade |year=2005}}</ref> The proposed [[Equal Rights Amendment]] to the Constitution, passed by Congress in 1972, was defeated by a conservative coalition mobilized by [[Phyllis Schlafly]].<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Mansbridge |first=Jane J. |url=https://archive.org/details/whywelostera0000mans |title=Why We Lost the ERA |year=1986 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226503585}}</ref> However, many federal laws established women's equal status under the law, such as those [[Equal Pay Act of 1963|equalizing pay]], [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|employment]], [[Title IX|education]], [[Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972|employment opportunities]], and [[Equal Credit Opportunity Act|credit]] between genders, and [[Pregnancy Discrimination Act|ending pregnancy discrimination]]. State laws criminalized [[spousal abuse]] and [[marital rape]], and the Supreme Court ruled that the [[equal protection clause]] of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] applied to women. Social custom and consciousness began to change, accepting women's equality. Abortion, deemed by the Supreme Court as a [[fundamental right]] in ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' (1973), is still a point of debate.