Both superpowers put their nuclear arsenals on the highest state of readiness. But nobody felt like celebrating. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in an open convertible in downtown Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Officially, he was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald, but doubts about the death swirled in conspiracy theories that spawned a cult of disbelief that resonates to this day. Then came Vietnam.
Casualties mount as U.S. involvement in Vietnam continues.
More than 53,000 Americans died in the only war the United States ever lost. In 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first black man to sit on the Supreme Court. Tenn. Also murdered in that turbulent decade were JFK's brother, Robert, and civil-rights activists Malcolm X and Medgar Evers. There were some good times, even in what seemed the worst of times. Richard M. Nixon narrowly defeats Hubert H. Humphrey to become President of the United States.