John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963)  (return to top)

To many Americans, the image of John Fitzgerald Kennedy represents everything that is right about America. With his charismatic charm and good looks, he swept into the White House in 1960, riding a wave of hope that the country desperately needed coming out of the bland, post World War II era of the 1950s.

When his presidency began in 1961, so did the era affectionately referred to as Camelot. Many Americans pinned their hopes and dreams on Kennedy. His mystique was larger than life; he represented the optimism that Americans had for themselves and their country. During his presidency, he dealt with some of the defining issues of the decade: avoiding nuclear war, increasing the number of U.S. military advisors in South Vietnam, creating the Peace Corps, and working on racial integration in the South.

Despite his philandering and lack of focus on foreign policy, Kennedy's mystique as an American hero drew legions of admirers from all walks of life. While he was reluctantly drawn into many political fights which he would rather have stayed away from - including the civil rights movement in the south - when the country looked for guidance in times of crisis, Kennedy always rose to the occasion.

Kennedy's term was cut short when he was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald November 22, 1963. For years, the assassination was surrounded by conspiracy rumors. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations, relying in part on acoustical evidence, concluded that a conspiracy was likely and that it may have involved organized crime.

Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994)  (return to top)

While JFK symbolized the hope that characterized the beginning of the 60s, Nixon represented the decade's downfall. Though defeated by JFK in the race for president in 1960, he later beat Hubert H. Humphrey and George Wallace to achieve what he had long desired.

Nixon's political career started as a U.S. representative from California (1947-1951). It was during this term that he got the nation's attention due to his investigation of Alger Hiss. He moved on to the Senate (1951-1953) and then became Dwight Eisenhower's vice president for two terms (1952 and 1956). After his first presidential defeat, he ran for governor of California and lost.

During his presidency, with Spiro T. Agnew as his vice president, Nixon achieved a cease-fire in the Vietnam War. His accomplishment came after he ordered invasions of Cambodia and Laos, as well as the bombing of North Vietnam. He paid a historic visit to China and initiated strategic arms talks with the Soviet Union. In trying to attract the South to the Republican party, Nixon, in effect, weakened the federal government's commitment to racial equality. Despite the economic problems that plagued his administration, Nixon was reelected in 1972.

In 1972, agents of Nixon's reelection committee were arrested in Democratic party headquarters, in the Watergate apartment building in Washington, DC, after an attempt to tap telelphones there. The situation erupted into a national scandal when a conspiracy was uncovered. It was revealed that members of the Nixon administration, including Nixon himself, knew about the burglary. Nixon was investigated for impeachment. He later admitted his role in telling the FBI to stop pursuing the burglary. After the House of Representatives voted to impeach him, he became the first president to resign from office. His successor, Gerald R. Ford, later granted him a full pardon.