1960s Timeline

Dec. 8, 1961 - The U.S. called on non-Communist nations today to rally to the defense of South Vietnam. Warning that the Southeast Asian...

Dec. 7, 1961 - President Kennedy (pictured speaking to a young supporter) told the national convention of Young Democratic Clubs today to...

Dec. 7, 1961 - J. Edgar Hoover, director of the F.B.I., received today a gold medal and $10,000 awarded by an insurance company for...

Dec. 7, 1961 - Additional security measures were taken to protect President Kennedy on his two-day visit to New York this week because of...

Dec. 7, 1961 - Communist China announced in a broadcast today that it would send a military delegation to Communist North Vietnam “in the...

Dec. 7, 1961 - The unemployment rate dropped sharply last month in the first significant decline in a year, the Kennedy Administration...

Dec. 7, 1961 - President Kennedy asked organized labor today to back his proposals to liberalize foreign trade. He said that his program...

Dec. 6, 1961 - Premier Khrushchev observed today that it would be a very long time before President Kennedy turned Communist. The Soviet...

Dec. 6, 1961 - President Kennedy appealed to industry today to support “new and bold” powers for him to bargain on tariff reductions with...

Dec. 6, 1961 - President Kennedy called last night for broader American participation in sports and other forms of physical activity. “We...

Dec. 5, 1961 - War dogs from the U.S. Army are being brought to South Vietnam to hunt Communist guerrillas in underground jungle...

Dec. 4, 1961 - Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy ordered 10 boxes of UNICEF greeting cards today as a symbol of her support of the work of the U.N....

Dec. 2, 1961 - George Romney (pictured with his son Mitt), president of American Motors Corporation, announced today that “I am giving...

Dec. 2, 1961 - Richard M. Nixon declared today that “second-rate” Democrats must be voted out of office in California. The former Vice...

Dec. 1, 1961 - Premier Fidel Castro sang the praises of Lenin today and proclaimed, “I absolutely believe in Marxism.” The Cuban leader’s...

Dec. 1, 1961 - Adlai E. Stevenson denounced Communist China today and said that its admission to the United Nations would give the...

Nov. 30, 1961 - George Cabot Lodge (right) of Beverly, Mass., formally announced today his candidacy for the Republican nomination for...

Nov. 30, 1961 - Vice President Johnson said today that he saw “no reason to protect the Communists from the truth.” He was referring to a...

Nov. 29, 1961 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy said today that the F.B.I. would make a complete investigation of today’s outbreak of...

Nov. 29, 1961 - President Kennedy looked on today as John A. McCone (left), Los Angeles industrialist, was sworn in as director of the...