1961
Civil rights and Vietnam. 1960–1974
Landmark civil rights and voting laws, decisions on counsel, privacy, speech and redistricting, the Vietnam War and Watergate, which ends with a President’s resignation.
The questions. As the record frames them.
The constitutional questions this era’s decisions and laws turned on.
- What does “one person, one vote” require?
- Is a President above the law?
The record. 30 entries, in order.
Every case, amendment and event in Constilumen dated 1960 to 1974.
1961
Twenty-third Amendment: Electors for the District of Columbia
Gives the District of Columbia electors in presidential elections, no more than the least populous state.
Source: National Archives
1962
Baker v. Carr
Yes. Apportionment claims under the Equal Protection Clause can be decided by the courts.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1962
Engel v. Vitale
No. A state-composed school prayer violates the Establishment Clause, even if participation is voluntary.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1963
Gideon v. Wainwright
Yes. The right to counsel is fundamental and applies to the states.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1964
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
No. A public official must prove “actual malice”: knowledge that the statement was false, or reckless disregard for whether it was.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1964
Reynolds v. Sims
Yes. Equal protection requires districts of substantially equal population: one person, one vote.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1964
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States
Yes. The public accommodations title of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a valid exercise of the commerce power.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1964
Twenty-fourth Amendment: Poll taxes
The right to vote in federal elections may not be denied for failure to pay a poll tax or other tax.
Source: National Archives
1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin in public accommodations, employment and federally funded programs.
Source: National Archives
1964
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress authorizes the President to use armed force in Southeast Asia without a declaration of war. It is repealed in 1971.
Source: National Archives
1965
Griswold v. Connecticut
No. The ban violated a right of marital privacy implied by several guarantees of the Bill of Rights.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1965
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Bans literacy tests and other devices used to deny the vote on account of race, and requires covered jurisdictions to obtain federal approval before changing voting rules.
Source: National Archives
1965
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
Ends the national-origin quota system and replaces it with preferences based on family ties and skills.
Source: Public Law 89-236, 79 Stat. 911
1966
Miranda v. Arizona
Yes. Statements from custodial interrogation are admissible only if the suspect was warned of the right to remain silent and to have counsel.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1967
Loving v. Virginia
No. Such bans violate both equal protection and due process; marriage is a fundamental freedom.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1967
Katz v. United States
Yes. The Fourth Amendment protects people, not places, where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1967
Twenty-fifth Amendment: Presidential disability and succession
Sets out how the Vice President becomes President or Acting President, how a vacancy in the vice presidency is filled, and how a President’s inability to serve is declared.
Source: National Archives
1968
Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act)
Signed a week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing.
1969
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
No. Students do not shed their constitutional rights “at the schoolhouse gate”; the protest caused no substantial disruption.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1969
Brandenburg v. Ohio
No. Advocacy of force may be punished only when directed to inciting imminent lawless action and likely to produce it.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1970
Oregon v. Mitchell
No, though it could for federal elections. The split result led directly to the Twenty-sixth Amendment.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1971
New York Times Co. v. United States
No. The government did not meet the heavy burden required to justify prior restraint.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1971
FBI counterintelligence program disclosed
Files taken from an FBI field office in Media, Pennsylvania, and sent to newspapers reveal COINTELPRO, a program of surveillance and disruption aimed at domestic political groups.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
1971
Twenty-sixth Amendment: Voting age of eighteen
The right of citizens eighteen years of age or older to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of age.
Source: National Archives
1972
Furman v. Georgia
Yes, as applied under statutes that left juries unguided discretion; every Justice in the majority wrote separately.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1973
Roe v. Wade
Yes. The right of privacy under the Due Process Clause covers the decision, subject to state interests that grow over the pregnancy.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1973
War Powers Resolution
Passed over President Nixon’s veto. Requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing forces and to withdraw them within 60 days without authorization.
Source: U.S. House of Representatives
1974
United States v. Nixon
No. Executive privilege is real but not absolute, and a generalized claim yields to the need for evidence in a criminal trial.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1974
President Nixon resigns
Two weeks after United States v. Nixon required release of the White House tapes, and after the House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment, President Nixon resigns.
Source: National Archives
The language. What stood out in print.
Tracked terms printed most often in 1960–1974 compared with their own average across 1789–2022. A value of 2× means the word appeared twice as often as usual.
- communism3.8×
- isolationism2.9×
- civil rights2.5×
- authoritarianism2.5×
- segregation2.4×
- nationalism2.4×
Executive orders. Presidencies of the era.
Totals for each full presidency, including years outside the era. Counts before 1945 include unnumbered orders.
| President | Took office | Orders | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1953 | 484 | 61 |
| John F. Kennedy | 1961 | 214 | 75 |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963 | 325 | 63 |
| Richard Nixon | 1969 | 346 | 62 |
| Gerald R. Ford | 1974 | 169 | 69 |
Source: The American Presidency Project. All presidencies