GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
I mainly want to focus on JFK:
Vietnam about the same: Kennedy gave the green light to the ‘63 coup against Diem, which resulted in Diem being killed. And Kennedy basically felt he had stabbed someone in the back whom he personally knew. He’s not going to downshift Vietnam in importance after this.
Civil rights goes better: And paradoxically, precisely because we don’t get a public accommodations bill in ‘64, we do get a Voting Rights Act in ‘65 which is much more widely accepted, including during the less dynamic economy of the 1970s. The Selma marches in the Spring of ‘65 led to more newspaper editorials and speeches in Congress than had the Birmingham marches a year earlier. Voting rights is just a lot harder for people to argue against. And let’s assune we get public accommodations, fair housing, and affirmative action in ‘66, ‘67, and ‘68. That is, during the go-go economy of the 1960s, and that does make a difference!
The weird and hard to predict: The scandal about Pres. Kennedy’s sexual affairs and Bobby Kennedy trying to bully newspaper editors not to cover it. Also, earlier and more widespread public knowledge of how medication can sometimes affect one’s mental health.
Vietnam about the same: Kennedy gave the green light to the ‘63 coup against Diem, which resulted in Diem being killed. And Kennedy basically felt he had stabbed someone in the back whom he personally knew. He’s not going to downshift Vietnam in importance after this.
Civil rights goes better: And paradoxically, precisely because we don’t get a public accommodations bill in ‘64, we do get a Voting Rights Act in ‘65 which is much more widely accepted, including during the less dynamic economy of the 1970s. The Selma marches in the Spring of ‘65 led to more newspaper editorials and speeches in Congress than had the Birmingham marches a year earlier. Voting rights is just a lot harder for people to argue against. And let’s assune we get public accommodations, fair housing, and affirmative action in ‘66, ‘67, and ‘68. That is, during the go-go economy of the 1960s, and that does make a difference!
The weird and hard to predict: The scandal about Pres. Kennedy’s sexual affairs and Bobby Kennedy trying to bully newspaper editors not to cover it. Also, earlier and more widespread public knowledge of how medication can sometimes affect one’s mental health.
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