1960s: Counterculture and Civil Rights Movement | HISTORY.com - HISTORY

1960s

The 1960s were one of the most tumultuous and divisive decades in world history, marked by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and antiwar protests, political assassinations and the emerging "generation gap."

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LBJ: Before the War on Poverty

In the middle of his 1964 New York Senatorial bid, Robert Kennedy visits Columbia University to participate in a student-led Q&A session. From this excerpt, one can easily see why Kennedy was a rising star of the Democratic Party and a future presidential hopeful.

As the Cold War wore on, the American government became increasingly concerned about a potential Soviet strike on the U.S. mainland. In this footage from the early 1960's, children are used to test the effectiveness of gas masks.

What did President Lyndon B. Johnson envision with his suite of domestic programs known as the Great Society? What did the programs entail, and what became of them after the 1960s?