Paper #2

Write one of the following:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

1.  How did the television debates of 1960 influence the election?  What actions on Kennedy’s part won him the race?  How well did Nixon perform?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

2.  In the 1950s and 1960s, particularly, American society was under severe criticism from minorities, youth and women.  What were the complaints?  What proposals for reform were put forward?  How realistic was each movement?  What were some of the specific problems of each movement?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

3.  Why did the Warren Court receive so much criticism?  What was behind the “Impeach Earl Warren” Movement of the 1960s?  How does the U.S. Supreme Court of today resemble, or contrast, with that of this period.  Is judicial activism a bad thing?   Discuss.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

4. Discuss the 1964 presidential election and the debate over Vietnam.  The Republican candidate Barry Goldwater was perceived as more aggressive on this issue, even to the point of being labeled a “warmonger”.  Ironically, President Lyndon Johnson, who opposed United States escalation in the 1964 campaign, found it necessary to expand U.S. involvement soon afterward.  What were the reasons for this sudden shift on the part of Johnson?  Was this “statesmanship” or just “politics as usual”?