SOCIAL WORK

Social Work

Social Work

Era of 1960

Much of the social and political unrest that defined the 1960s was carried into the 1970s. The government's continuance of the war in Vietnam and neighboring territories was tearing America apart. The military draft and draft evasion had created a generation of young men alienated from family or countrymen by their commitment to either choice. When Daniel Ellsberg of the State Department leaked the top-secret Pentagon Papers - the 7,000-page history of US politico-military involvement in the war in Vietnam from 1945-1967 - to the 'New York Times' in early 1971, he hoped their publication would expose alleged unconstitutional acts by many administrations and force an end to the war. Instead it brought on a war of litigation over First Amendment rights between the newspapers and the United States of America. The US Supreme Court finally upheld the freedom of the press but the war in Vietnam continued. Over 58,000 servicemen and women would ultimately lose their lives.

Era of 1970

It was two more years before the Paris peace pacts of January 1973 extricated the United States. It would then have to watch as totalitarian regimes consumed much of Southeast Asia; wrought more death and terror; and unleashed a tide of refugees onto the world. As a result of the controversial war, the military draft in the United States was abandoned on January 27, 1973. And although 590 US prisoners were released by the North Vietnamese on April 1 of that year, the unknown fate of other US servicemen (MIAs and POWs) became a new point of contention between US families and the US government.

President Nixon had displayed unquestionable skills in international diplomacy during this period. In 1972 he became the first American president to pay state visits to the People's Republic of China and the USSR. The visits initiated diplomatic and economic ties between the United States and communist China and led to a landmark strategic arms pact with Russia. And now in 1973 he had brokered an end to the war. On the domestic front, however, Nixon faced political demise as a consequence of the Watergate break-in and its cover-up. Nixon became the first American president to resign his office. President Gerald Ford would pardon him a month later for the federal crimes that had forced his impeachment.

As a result of the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Israel by Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, oil-producing nations in the Middle East imposed a total ban on oil imports to the US that lasted about five months, ending in March 1974. Because of the shortage, Americans waited in endless lines at gas stations to fill car tanks.

Era of 1980

The purpose of this web and library guide is to help the user gain a broad understanding and appreciation for the culture and history of the 1980s. In a very small way, this is a bibliographic essay. While there is no way we can link to everything, we have attempted to find areas of special interest and ...