American Culture In The 20th Century

The 20th Century saw the United States of America grow from an upstart young nation, only recently over the bloody Civil War, into the last true Super Power. The Soviet Union, the United States’ mirror and polar opposite in ideals and philosophies, did not exist for even one single century. But while faced with this antithesis, the United States reversed its policy of isolationism and distancing itself from world affairs and conflicts to the containment of communism, both directly and covertly involving itself in world affairs, using various forms of mass media to demonize an ideology abhorrent to the freedoms of the United States. In the summer of 1914, The Great War began with what most Americans would call a glorified family
He established the Peace Corps, which allowed young American to opportunity to work in underprivileged countries, bringing with the m American know ho. In doing so, attempted to paint the United States as a friendly nation, not an imperialist conquerer. The Soviet Union decided to test the new, young President at a meeting between the two leaders, in 1961 at Vienna. Kennedy and Khrushchev met and the Soviet leader took his typical hard line stance. Kennedy, called the communist’s bluff demonstrated his willingness to engage in mutually assured destruction, over the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy addressed the nation over television, and no doubt indirectly the Soviets, explaining his reasoning. The Soviets flinched and backed down. Later, on a widely publicized trip to Berlin, Kennedy gave his famous “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” speech of 1963. Two decades later, President Ronald Reagan channeled this same spirit in his
President Johnson, inherited and escalated the Vietnam problem, handed down by the previous two Presidents. Johnson continued to pour money and American lives into the conflict, so much so many at home questioned the nation’s involvement in the war. The South Vietnamese government was unstable, inept and corrupt. Television aired the hearings with anti-war advocates voicing their opinions. Defense Secretary McNamara doubted the credibility of the war, and found himself replaced. Senators Kennedy and McCarthy announced they would run against Johnson. Johnson responded with a statement that he would not seek reelection. President Nixon, elected in 1968 with the promise to return U.S. Troops home and fund the South Vietnamese so they could fight their own war, sadly floundered in his foreign policy and warfighting only to commit atrocities like the bombing of Cambodia, atrocities of My Lai, and even National Guardsmen engaging students at Kent State University in Ohio and Jackson State College in Mississippi. Americans officially left Vietnam in 1973 in what Nixon called “Peace with Honor.” Thanks to war correspondents and the speed news traveled, Americans were shocked at the atrocities carried out by some American troops. Nixon proved himself a wild card as he visited with China and Russia easing the tension of the Cold War with a new period called Detente. It was the resignation of