Wednesday, April 28, 2010

1960s: Era of Assasination



The era of 1960 will forever be known as deep, mournful period for all Americans as great leaders were never given a chance to change the country. The death of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 shocked Americans all over the states. When the news spread around, schools across the country dismissed students early and 54% of all Americans stopped their daily activities to mourn for the death of Kennedy. Just 20 days before, Ngo Dinh Diem, President of Vietnam, along with his brother and chief political adviser, Ngo Dinh Nhu were assassinated by the north, communist Vietnam in order to bring havoc to south vietnamese order. While not a direct loss the americans would suffer from, this would spark the beginning of a deadly war americans would later participate in.

On February 21, 1965, human rights activist Malcolm X was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam in New York City. His detractors accused Malcolm of being a black supremacist, who often spurred up racial violence. He has been described as one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history.

Another considered antagonist,George Lincoln Rockwell, was assassinated on August 25,1967. As a leader of the American Nazi Party, Americans would be rather glad that such a twisted leader disappeared.

Americans would again suffer a tragic loss when the assassination of Civil Rights Leader, Martin Luther King Jr. On 1963, King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington. As a prominent leader, King raised public conciousness of civil rights. He would later win the Nobel Peace Prize a year later for his work to end racial segregation and discrimination. By the end of his lifetime, King focused his work on ending poverty and the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, King would never see this through as a bullet took his life on April 4, 1968.

The last major assasination of the 1960's was the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. While campaigning for presidential office in march 1968, he was shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Sirhan claimed not to bear any ill-will towards Kennedy, but evidence showed that kept a journal to carefully plan the assassination of Kennedy.

The era of 1960 will forever be remembered as a tragic period for Americans as great, prominent leaders were never given a chance to lead the country. Even though most assassinators were capture, our fallen leaders will never receive their justice, except for George Lincoln Rockwell.

21 comments:

  1. Well, it's an interesting topics. The posting contains many cases of assassinations. It would be better if you can briefly talks about the people in your picture because I can only recognize two of them.

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    1. Malcolm X, Bobby Kennedy, John Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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  2. I think this topic is really unique. I never actually put together how many leaders died during this era. Good job putting it all together and making the posting really informative.

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  3. Good choice of topic. I didn't know how each assassination shaped the country. Its a very informative post.

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  4. good job choosing a topic that has not been done very many times. It is interesting to see how many people were assassinated. I didnt think it was actually that many.

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  5. Good job putting lots of info and including some specifics was nice. I had no idea that the American Nazi Party also had their leader assassinated.

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  6. I like how in-depth you talked about each person, providing cause and impact of every assassination. I would have been interested to read a little more about George Lincoln Rockwell's death: who killed him?

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  7. This is a great summary of all the assassination that occurred during the 60s. It made me understand about the era better and more thoroughly. Good Job.

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  8. Very detailed and informative. I like the summary and explanations of the assassinations. The picture also adds a strong way to see the Era itself.

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  9. Very good posting, a lot of details and information. A little too long, though. But it's still really good!

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  10. Great job!! This was a lot of information to fit into one posting, and you did it very well!! Good job! I found the section about MLK particularly interesting

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  11. It's so hard for me to believe that all these influential leaders were killed. Many died young too. Great post I learned a lot

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    1. It is undoubtedly why no one was left of an equivalent caliber to provide leadership for the 1970s or the 1980s.

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  12. A lot of information, but it's well formatted and not a text brick.
    It's disturbing to see that someone with a differing opinion thinks that they have the right to commit the crimes that they did.

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  13. Good article. One mistake: Robert Kennedy died after Martin Luther King died. He died in June of 1968 not March.

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  14. What about Fred Hampton who was murdered by the police in Chicago, December 3rd, 1969.

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  15. Diem was assassinated by South Vietnamese generals abetted by the CIA. Excellent new book on topic: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Lost Mandate of Heaven

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  16. Good article, but lets not forget Medgar Evers in 1963.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers

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  17. what a shame they are

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  18. You didn't capitalize Americans.

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