1980The American Dream: A crisis of confidence 1952

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, 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 Di ệm, 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

by Kennedy - would lead to an inevitable communist takeover thereby presenting the USA to be weak in containing communism. As a result, Johnson initiated “Operation Rolling Thunder” in 1964, which ordered military airstrikes on North Vietnam entangling America in a war they couldn’t win for the next decade.

The ongoing struggles in Vietnam sparked, for many, the change in American confidence. Unlike the First and Second World Wars, where America was hailed as the driving force in the victory, the US misjudged just about everything they could with Vietnam leading to a drawn out, failing campaign. The US presumed they could use brute force and underestimated the deadly guerrilla type warfare they faced, as well as not being prepared for the extreme jungle terrain they found themselves in. Moreover, their use of the chemicals Napalm and Agent Orange was extremely unpopular not just in Vietnam, but also back home, ending in the anti-Vietnam protests by thousands of people nationwide. The escalation in Vietnam marked the point in which the American people’s national selfconfidence began to change whilst the failure to defeat the Vietnamese highlighted to many that America was not invincible.

Following on from Johnson, President Nixon successfully managed to bring an end to the draining war in Vietnam through the 1973 Peace Accords. The US had spent $173 billion on Vietnam whilst also losing an estimated 58,000 troops during the conflict, making the Peace Accords hugely popular. However, whilst Nixon managed to end one problem, another occurred in the form of the Watergate scandal which saw Americans’ confidence in their politicians dramatically decline. Kennedy, and to an extent Eisenhower, were liked because of their charisma and the feeling that the population could trust them. However, the discovery that Nixon was involved in an FBI and CIA break in at the Democratic Party Headquarters during the ‘72 election, changed this as it gave the American population reason to doubt their politicians. Nixon denied the claims but slowly more and more evidence was found, proving his involvement. By 1973 the tapes from the Oval Office had been subpoenaed and, although 18 and a half minutes of the tapes were suspiciously missing, with Nixon blaming a secretary for accidentally deleting parts of the tape, enough evidence was found to convict Nixon in the court of public opinion. Nixon resigned before he was impeached; however, the damage was already done. Americans felt they could no longer trust Washington Politics and nothing could be done to change their mind. Relations between the population and the politicians continued to deteriorate through until the election of Reagan in 1980. Carter was seen as incompetent, largely as a result of his failure to address the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979, but the photos of him uncomfortably warding off a “swamp rabbit” on a fishing trip didn’t do him any favours. Moreover, the country had faced one of the most significant economic problems in decades with the oil crisis which saw inflation climb to 12.1% and therefore, the America seen in 1980 was dramatically different to the prosperous, nationally self-confident America of the 1950s. Kennedy’s rhetoric was long forgotten - people didn’t care what their country did for them, and there was little they could do for a country in crisis.

Bethan T (Upper Sixth)