THE AMERICAN DREAM: A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE 1952 - 1980 20 January 1961. America is the most powerful country in the world and its population know it. There is an overwhelming sense of national self-confidence as newly inaugurated President John F Kennedy asks “not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” and for many “The American Dream” was a reality. However, only ten years later America was facing a major government corruption scandal and had faced a decade of gruelling war in Vietnam. The country was economically and socially unstable, seen through the increasing protest movements of the 60s and 70s and by 1980 America was experiencing a crisis of confidence. A significant change from the prosperous and secure America seen in the 1950s and early 60s. The USA, under President Eisenhower, was deserving of its title as a World Superpower with the 50s being deemed the “Affluent Society” due to the consumer boom that America experienced after World War Two. By 1960 the US population owned almost half the world’s cars and telephones, whilst also owning 90% of the world’s televisions. The sudden desire, largely pushed by the increased use of advertising, to buy seemingly unnecessary items such as radios and coffee machines, highlighted the stability of the country as many could afford to spend through the increased availability of credit, money they wouldn’t have had a decade earlier. The mass production of cheap houses, in what became known as “suburbia”, allowed 80,000 families to make “The American Dream” of picket fences outside the cities, a reality. Yet, life was not completely perfect and groups, primarily African Americans, were excluded from the affluence, with Michael Harrington describing America as having “the best dressed poverty,” concealing those living in poverty. However,
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externally, America was perceived to be the greatest nation in the world and therefore, its national self-confidence was at an all-time high. JFK’s largely successful, although tragically short, presidency saw that national selfconfidence continue. JFK wasn’t just seen as the President, he became a national celebrity, something Truman and Eisenhower were never perceived to be. With the Republican candidate, Richard Nixon, not yet recovered from a bout of illness, Kennedy’s charm was used as a tool to lure the American population to him. Before the campaign started Kennedy was on holiday to ensure that he looked tanned and healthy for the debates, with his seemingly perfect family, including his glamorous, Chanel wearing wife at his side. They represented an America that many wanted to be part of. Furthermore, small details, including dressing Kennedy in blue suits instead of grey ones, made him stand out during televised debates and drew people to vote for him. Kennedy had success during his presidency as well, somehow managing to turn the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 into a success through his famous “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” speech, whilst also bringing the world back from the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Therefore, many felt that nothing could change America’s dominance across the world as well as the self-confidence within. However, the assassination of JFK in 1963 was a significant blow to America’s prestige and more importantly the way America viewed itself. Kennedy’s assassination highlighted that America was not untouchable and as foreign relations deteriorated from 1963 onwards, particularly with Vietnam, America changed from a country of wealth and leisure to one lacking in national self-confidence. Only 20 days before Kennedy’s assassination, the American backed leader of South Vietnam, Ngô Đình Diệm, was also assassinated. He left a power vacuum in the south, subsequently handing JFK’s successor, Lyndon Baines Johnson, a poisoned chalice as withdrawing the 25,000 military advisers - sent to Vietnam
