#5007      U.S. Domestic Political Issues 1960-65 

American Domestic and Foreign Policy Issues in the 1960’s

This is a 3-part course. 

#5007      U.S. Domestic Political Issues 1960-65   The first part will focus on the years 1960-1965 to include the 1960 presidential campaign between Nixon and Kennedy, the early Kennedy administration’s civil rights initiatives, the 1963 Kennedy assassination, the 1964 presidential campaign between Johnson and Goldwater, and conclude with Johnson’s Great Society programs.  December 3

#5010      U.S. Domestic Political Issues 1965-69  The second part will feature the domestic turmoil that embroiled the United States during the Johnson administration involving the civil rights movement, and the protests against the expanding Vietnam war, LBJ’s decision not to seek re-election in 1968, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and the 1968 presidential campaign pitting Nixon against Hubert Humphrey.  December 10

#5013      U.S. Foreign Policy Issues 1960-69  The third part will address the major foreign policy issues of the sixties. Although dominated by the expanding Vietnam war, this presentation will also include the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union, and the U.S. space program from Kennedy’s pledge to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade to the Apollo 11 mission and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s walk on the moon.  The discussion on the Vietnam war will include the Kennedy decision to send military advisors to the Republic of Vietnam, Johnson’s expansion of the war after the passage of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the decision to “Americanize” the war with the introduction of large scale ground forces in 1965, the expansion of the air war over North Vietnam, and the disastrous 1968 Tet Offensive.  This session will conclude with Richard Nixon’s “Vietnamization” strategy to end the war after his 1968 election.  December 17

Instructor: Bill Berry, PhD in International Relations with a focus on East Asian Politics from Cornell University.  He was a career Air Force Officer, retiring with the rank of colonel.  He served in several East Asian assignments. Dr. Berry also taught at the Air Force Academy, the National War College, and the Asian Pacific Center for Security Studies. 

Cost:  Free class, but participants must register online starting November 2.

Tuesdays, December 3, 10, 17 from 10:10 am to 12:30 pm at PILLAR (note time)