A SHORT HISTORY OF RIGHT WING DESTRUCTION PART 13

Many people remember the 1950's with a fond nostalgia.  They think of the Fifties as a version of the television show Happy Days.  Television shows from the time such as Leave It to Beaver and Father Knows Best show well-adjusted and white middle class families thriving in the post-war era.

Rock and roll music gained popularity with talents such as Elvin Presley, Buddy Holly, and Rick Nelson among the most prominent entertainers.

But racism still prevailed.  The Cold War was a very real and present danger.  The economy stalled and went into recession.  In 1960 the U. S. government was caught in a lie when U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Russia.

The seeds for dramatic foreign policy maneuvers were planted during the Eisenhower administration.  We first started  military involvement in Vietnam.  It was a small involvement at first.  President Kennedy inherited the situation and sent around 16,000 "advisers."  After Kennedy's death, Vietnam became a major military involvement and one of the worst foreign policy debacles in United States history.

The planning for the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba was also started during the Eisenhower years.

There was the infamous "Kitchen Debate" in 1959  between Richard Nixon, who represented the wonders of capitalism, and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who proclaimed the virtues of the communist system.  Khrushchev had warned in  1956 that, "we will bury you."

Although Senator Joseph McCarthy was repudiated, the charge of being "soft on communism" was still a potent weapon used by right-wingers.  It was part of the thought process that ultimately led to the major calamity  in Vietnam.

More to come