Last names are excluded for privacy purposes.
Harvey & Denise:
Q:Where did you live and what were you doing in the 60s and 70s?
Harvey: I was born in El Toro and lived there in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s...
Denise:In the 60s, part of the 60s I lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and during another party I lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Then in 68 we moved to California.
Q: What type of clothes did you wear and what kinds of music did you listen to?
D: I was a total hippie. I had the love beads, the bell bottom jeans. We used to sew our own, you know, make our own hippie clothes. We would take the scarves and make tops, halter tops out of them. We crocheted and macromade purses and hung bells from them. We wore the leather hats and... Typical hippie, yes I was.
H: I was in jeans and t-shirts. Well, in the 60s I was in diapers.
Q: What music did you listen to?
D: Classic Rock.
Q: Any specific artists?
D: Led Zepplin, The Stones, The Doors... we were just listening to some on the TV. All kinds of stuff. All classic rock, the bands. And the Beatles, you know, we started with the Beatles. They were like the really hot band back then...the boy band. Everybody had their favorite Beatle too. When I was a kid, everybody picked the cutest or the one they liked the best. For me it was John Lennon.
Q: What do you remember about President Kennedy?
D: Everybody went to pieces when he was shot. I remember it because I was old enough, that people were crying every where you went. If you went to the store, people were crying. If you went to church, people were crying and saying prayers for him. It was a big deal when he got shot. He was like the great hope, the great white light. He was the youngest president and all the young people went to vote for him. For the first time it was a presidential candidate that they could relate to. He looked so young and acted so young. They never expected that to happen, they expected a really radiant presidency. Then he died. But even older people, everybody was devastated. He was so well liked, everybody liked him.
Q: What do you remember about his domestic and foreign policy?
D: I was a kid back then but over the years I learned that he was pretty savvy. He really tried to negotiate with Russia during the Missile Crisis. He thought we were really going to go into a nuclear war. We were that close. You wouldn't be here today. He had thought, well let's give it one more try. He was able to read people very well. Even when he didn't speak to them in person. He could even read a letter that someone would send like a memo or something, and he knew how to read between the lines. So, he was pretty smart, he was a pretty smart guy.
Q: What do you remember about President Johnson?
D: Well at the time that he was president, he wasn't very popular. We didn't like him very much, but he did stand up for equal rights. The equal rights amendment, and he was very passionate about getting that passed. He didn't like the Vietnam war, he didn't want to go into it. He wasn't a bad guy, he just didn't have the charisma or the delivery of Kennedy. It would have been hard for anybody to follow in the footsteps of president Kennedy.
Q: What do you remember about the Vietnam War and you participate in any protest movements?
D: Yes, I was at the University of San Diego when they had the uhm... the uh... the armed... what are they called the domestic?
H: National Guard?
D: Yes, they brought the National Guard and they pointed rifles at it. I was one of those people that had a flower in my hand and I stuck it in the barrel of one of their rifles. We weren't real happy to see them and they had no business to be there. It was a sit-in. It was a peaceful protest. So I was very much against the Vietnam War and so were my friends. I didn't understand much about it but I was still pretty young. I understood enough to know that we should not have gotten into that war and people were dying for nothing. People were killed on both sides, innocent people, people that weren't even involved that just, you know, lived there. They napalm on entire villages and wiped out a lot of innocent people. That's what we were protesting. I knew that much and that's what we were protesting but peacfully. I never got involved in throwing anything like that.
Q: What do you remember about the Civil Rights Movement and in which way were you involved?
A: I lived in Milwaukee when it was going on in the 60s and Milwaukee was a very segregated and divided city. There were lots and lots of African Americans and there were lots of European nationality people. We were Europeans but we lived in the poor part of town. My parents were immigrants so we lived with a lot of African American people and I had African American Friends. An African American boy saved my life more than one actually. Some other African American kids had come along and hung me by my... I mean you know there were some violent things going on, I lived in the dangerous part of town. They hung me by my jump rope and while I was hanging there. I remember one boy, one African American boy, came and helped me down and I lived and you know, so. In Brazil, they didn't have... the slaves were set free very early. They didn't have to fight for their freedom it wasn't a Civil War over slavery as there was here. America has a very distinct history about that and in Brazil they were set free almost immediately. They served their time as slaves but they were freed within decades. And they just became a part of the culture, of society. There's still always prejudice, I think, everywhere against people who don't look the same. I think a lot of times it's just ignorance. I have come to believe that prejudice a lot of times just comes from ignorance. You know, you don't know a lot about those people and you think oh they don't have a very good life, they do this for a living, they were these kind of clothes, or whatever. We tend to judge because we don't know but if youve lived there and had the same life... I was actually kind of lucky that we lived in the poor part of Milwaukee. I learned to have all kinds of friends from all around the world. Hey i'm doin' all the talkin' here. What's going on?
H: I don't remember anything.
D: We need to get out of the 60s cause he's younger. That way he can say something too. " I was a baby. I remember I used to were a diaper."
Q: What do you remember about President Nixon and the Watergate Scandal?
A: Yeah that was real bad. I was very opinionated at that time. I was a young person and I was old enough to vote. I wouldn't have voted for him... the young people did not vote for Nixon. He ran against President Kennedy. So right there, that was a point against him. He just didn't appear to be very honest. We still, as young people, wanted somebody with a little bit of charisma. We wanted someone who you were proud to represent you to the world. So, there are certain Presidents since then that have. President Clinton did a good job. He's intelligent, articulate, he gave good speeches and Nixon was just kind of, he wasn't very charismatic at all. He was kind of dull and his speeches were not too good. So we didn't vote for him, but I new people who were. They were very enthusiastic. People my own age, people in there 20s that just thought he was the best thing ever and I could not understand it and I never did. Then when the Watergate thing happened I was like "well, what'd you expect?" Then we really didn't like him. He didn't appear trustworthy. He didn't appear to be a truthful man. I mean, there were lots of secrets that since then we've found out.
Q: What type of clothes did you wear and what kinds of music did you listen to?
D: I was a total hippie. I had the love beads, the bell bottom jeans. We used to sew our own, you know, make our own hippie clothes. We would take the scarves and make tops, halter tops out of them. We crocheted and macromade purses and hung bells from them. We wore the leather hats and... Typical hippie, yes I was.
H: I was in jeans and t-shirts. Well, in the 60s I was in diapers.
Q: What music did you listen to?
D: Classic Rock.
Q: Any specific artists?
D: Led Zepplin, The Stones, The Doors... we were just listening to some on the TV. All kinds of stuff. All classic rock, the bands. And the Beatles, you know, we started with the Beatles. They were like the really hot band back then...the boy band. Everybody had their favorite Beatle too. When I was a kid, everybody picked the cutest or the one they liked the best. For me it was John Lennon.
Q: What do you remember about President Kennedy?
D: Everybody went to pieces when he was shot. I remember it because I was old enough, that people were crying every where you went. If you went to the store, people were crying. If you went to church, people were crying and saying prayers for him. It was a big deal when he got shot. He was like the great hope, the great white light. He was the youngest president and all the young people went to vote for him. For the first time it was a presidential candidate that they could relate to. He looked so young and acted so young. They never expected that to happen, they expected a really radiant presidency. Then he died. But even older people, everybody was devastated. He was so well liked, everybody liked him.
Q: What do you remember about his domestic and foreign policy?
D: I was a kid back then but over the years I learned that he was pretty savvy. He really tried to negotiate with Russia during the Missile Crisis. He thought we were really going to go into a nuclear war. We were that close. You wouldn't be here today. He had thought, well let's give it one more try. He was able to read people very well. Even when he didn't speak to them in person. He could even read a letter that someone would send like a memo or something, and he knew how to read between the lines. So, he was pretty smart, he was a pretty smart guy.
Q: What do you remember about President Johnson?
D: Well at the time that he was president, he wasn't very popular. We didn't like him very much, but he did stand up for equal rights. The equal rights amendment, and he was very passionate about getting that passed. He didn't like the Vietnam war, he didn't want to go into it. He wasn't a bad guy, he just didn't have the charisma or the delivery of Kennedy. It would have been hard for anybody to follow in the footsteps of president Kennedy.
Q: What do you remember about the Vietnam War and you participate in any protest movements?
D: Yes, I was at the University of San Diego when they had the uhm... the uh... the armed... what are they called the domestic?
H: National Guard?
D: Yes, they brought the National Guard and they pointed rifles at it. I was one of those people that had a flower in my hand and I stuck it in the barrel of one of their rifles. We weren't real happy to see them and they had no business to be there. It was a sit-in. It was a peaceful protest. So I was very much against the Vietnam War and so were my friends. I didn't understand much about it but I was still pretty young. I understood enough to know that we should not have gotten into that war and people were dying for nothing. People were killed on both sides, innocent people, people that weren't even involved that just, you know, lived there. They napalm on entire villages and wiped out a lot of innocent people. That's what we were protesting. I knew that much and that's what we were protesting but peacfully. I never got involved in throwing anything like that.
Q: What do you remember about the Civil Rights Movement and in which way were you involved?
A: I lived in Milwaukee when it was going on in the 60s and Milwaukee was a very segregated and divided city. There were lots and lots of African Americans and there were lots of European nationality people. We were Europeans but we lived in the poor part of town. My parents were immigrants so we lived with a lot of African American people and I had African American Friends. An African American boy saved my life more than one actually. Some other African American kids had come along and hung me by my... I mean you know there were some violent things going on, I lived in the dangerous part of town. They hung me by my jump rope and while I was hanging there. I remember one boy, one African American boy, came and helped me down and I lived and you know, so. In Brazil, they didn't have... the slaves were set free very early. They didn't have to fight for their freedom it wasn't a Civil War over slavery as there was here. America has a very distinct history about that and in Brazil they were set free almost immediately. They served their time as slaves but they were freed within decades. And they just became a part of the culture, of society. There's still always prejudice, I think, everywhere against people who don't look the same. I think a lot of times it's just ignorance. I have come to believe that prejudice a lot of times just comes from ignorance. You know, you don't know a lot about those people and you think oh they don't have a very good life, they do this for a living, they were these kind of clothes, or whatever. We tend to judge because we don't know but if youve lived there and had the same life... I was actually kind of lucky that we lived in the poor part of Milwaukee. I learned to have all kinds of friends from all around the world. Hey i'm doin' all the talkin' here. What's going on?
H: I don't remember anything.
D: We need to get out of the 60s cause he's younger. That way he can say something too. " I was a baby. I remember I used to were a diaper."
Q: What do you remember about President Nixon and the Watergate Scandal?
A: Yeah that was real bad. I was very opinionated at that time. I was a young person and I was old enough to vote. I wouldn't have voted for him... the young people did not vote for Nixon. He ran against President Kennedy. So right there, that was a point against him. He just didn't appear to be very honest. We still, as young people, wanted somebody with a little bit of charisma. We wanted someone who you were proud to represent you to the world. So, there are certain Presidents since then that have. President Clinton did a good job. He's intelligent, articulate, he gave good speeches and Nixon was just kind of, he wasn't very charismatic at all. He was kind of dull and his speeches were not too good. So we didn't vote for him, but I new people who were. They were very enthusiastic. People my own age, people in there 20s that just thought he was the best thing ever and I could not understand it and I never did. Then when the Watergate thing happened I was like "well, what'd you expect?" Then we really didn't like him. He didn't appear trustworthy. He didn't appear to be a truthful man. I mean, there were lots of secrets that since then we've found out.
Michelle:
A: We lived on a ranch and we would take our horses from the stables to ride them around town. We would ride them all the way to Laguna Beach and over the hills. There was nothing. No Golden Lantern. Nothing. I'd ride all the way to Crown Valley and then across Crown Valley and over the hills. Charlie has lived here his whole life too. His Grandmother, she's...or his aunt she's 84 and she's been here since 47.
Q: How was the music?
A: Oh Great! We partied like rock stars. "Swore to fun, loyal to none."
Q: Were you part of any counterculture movements, such as environmentalism and feminism?
A:Yeah, totally. Totally hipified! I didn't shave my legs until I was 16. Really, my mom told me not to. Yeah, it was totally a different time. We used to hitch hike around. It was safe in Laguna then and they had the free bus that ran up and down pacific coast highway. I could go to Crown Valley and all to North Laguna on the bus. It was great! Totally different. Friday or Saturday Night at the movie theatre in Laguna Beach there would be a band it was called Honk that would play and all the hippies would go there. We'd go there and we'd only pay a dollar to get in and they would play. It was pretty cool. The era was very innocent. I don't know we just rode our horses and just had fun. I used to ride my horses here in San Juan. I would come home and just time them to the front tree and make myself a sandwich. They would "fertilize the yard" we'll say and eat the grass while I'd make a sandwich. Afterwards, I'd go back to the stables and go.
Q: Do you remember what your opinions were of JFK, Nixon, and Johnson?
A: No, we just wanted more liberal stuff. You know, because I was pretty hipified. I remember in 1973 when Roe vs Wade was taking place with abortion and that whole movement and stuff like that. And taking part in them. We mainly wanted a liberal, you know, politicians and that kind of thing. I think back then we probably wanted them to legalize marijuana. Who ever was smokin' it. Yeah, we just went to the beach everyday and rode our horses, went to school. You know, get an education and that was the big thing. That my parents wanted. I could get my freedom but I needed to get an education. I went to UC Davis and had great grades and then get a job. So it was good.
Q: Do you remember how everyone reacted to the assassination of JFK?
A: No, i was too young. I remember being a little kid and everybody crying with the black and white TV on. I was probably about three at least.
Q: Do you remember the Watergate Scandal?
A: Oh, yeah. I remember it but I was more focused on other things. I just thought that whatever I had to say doesn't have anything to do with that.
Q: Were you ever part of any hippie communes?
A: No, but when I moved out of my parent's house one time for I don't know about six months, my friend and I when we ran out of money, we would go to the areas of hippies and they would feed us every day. We had to eat vegetarian but we needed to.
Q: As far as the hippie culture is, were you involved in any drug use?
A: Yeah. Smoked pot. I took acid once, accidentally. Someone gave it to me and didn't tell me what it was. 'Oh here you want a piece of this candy?' 'Oh, yeah I'll have that!" So, yeah I did that once accidentally, but smoking pot was kind of the thing. I never got into hard drugs or anything like that. I was pretty focused on horses and going to school. That was it. It was as if I didn't do that, my parents would take everything away. "Pulled the chain tight."
Q: Is there a distinct memory that you have of the 60s or 70s?
A: Just so much fun. Just fun. A great life that I had. That was no 'dress rehearsal' that was my life. Living for today. Just today. I was fortunate enough to live with a family with parents that loved me and let me do that. Being a free spirit. Cause, things were so different. I was a free spirit but they kept me on a chain and pulled me when I got too crazy. They were always 'your'e a little too wild' and they would reel it back in. It was a different time because things were so innocent and there wasn't a lot of crime, like there is now. I think we're desperate now. Back then people just wanted to get by. Things weren't that expensive. No one was trying to keep up with anyone else.
Q: Do you think there are any lessons to be learned?
A: Yeah. Just make things more simple. A simple life is better than a complicated life.
Kathy:
Q:Where did you live/What were you doing in the 60s and 70s?
A: I was going to high school. And I went to a lot of concerts. We traveled to Secoya, Yosemite, Hawaii, Nicaragua, all kinds of stuff.
Q:What kinds of clothes did you wear/music did you listen to?
A: Rolling Stones, Beatles, Love, Jimmy Hendricks all kinds of people...The Allman Brothers, Jimmy Page, Led Zepplin. I don't know, you name a band and I have probably listened to them. We had a lot of bands. Sat on the stage with... met Rod Stewart all kinds of stuff. We wore your typical 60s and 70s. They were like crop tops and shorts. To school you wore just like they were...I don't know what you call them now, but at the time they were called "Tent dresses." They weren't like "mini-mini," cause you couldn't were those at school, but they were just dresses. People in the 70s after 1972 they got to wear anything they wanted; they could wear jeans, they could wear shorts, they could wear t-shirts, they could wear anything they wanted. Before 72' you had to wear a button-up shirt or like a polo shirt or something that touched the ground when you kneeled down. It had to be about knee length and when you kneeled it had to touch the ground. There was a lot of people into school sports and school politics and things like that. Nobody liked the Vietnam War we lost a lot of friends. People were more savvy to political corruption at that time. A lot of things happened like Kennedy's assassination, Martin Luther King, Woodstock; I didn't go to Woodstock I was too young and not adventurous enough to go to Woodstock.
Q:Where you involved in any protest movements?
A: No
Q:What do you remember about Watergate?
A: Oh, Mr. Nixon! I feel like... they caught him spying on other people. Which they all do, so, but as far as that he was a genius. He was into (muffled) society. I don't know he was very reserved with his interviews and so on. He wasn't open and friendly like the Kennedy's I did not like President Johnson I think he was a crook. Then after Nixon came Regan? Ford? I don't know, but during the late 60s and early 70s economics were much better you could live off of one hundred/ two hundred a week; rent, car, gas, and travel. I'd say about the time of the 80s everything started getting very expensive. It was almost impossible to buy anything on your own. You know, to work and make enough money to buy a car and so forth.
Q: Where you involved in the "hippie" culture/movement?
A: No, not at all. I wasn't like taking LSD or anything like that. No. But I did go to a lot of concerts. I went to San Francisco. I've been to... Up there, the park, the Golden Gate Bridge Park. Golden Gate Park? No I wasn't involved in all of that, or getting naked and getting high and stuff like that. So for somebody like that you'd have to find somebody that's really open.
Q: What do you remember about the Civil Rights Movement?
A: Because of the way I was raised that it was good. It was good that they had a voice. That everybody had to be free and to speak. You know, "have done to others and you would like have done to you." Where i came from there was a lot of respect. That was a good thing at the time because there was a lot of people who were loosing the prejudices of the 50s and 40s. They were more open to... it didn't matter what race you were as long as you were a good person or a nice person. So that was good, but as far as the assassinations and stuff, those were all political movements. Some reasons we'll know why, some reasons we won't. I do know that usually after everybody was gone and connected with it then they publicized it.
Q: Do you remember how everybody reacted after President Kennedy was assassinated?
A: Yeah, Yeah i was in 6th grade and everybody was called in. Everyone that I've ever Spoken to older or younger or in between was shocked and devastated by it. Everyone was because everyone loved Kennedy. He was opening doors for more people to start getting along. It wasn't this forceful integration it was the right that people had; people had the right to go to whatever school they want to, or to learn what they wanted to. Women could accelerate more at that time period. People of... it wasn't all white. The doors were open. He was opening doors for everyone. And I think that's one of the big things that that was a political....
Q: What lessons do you think were learned in the 60s and 70s?
A: Trust yourself. Trust your instincts. Open up to your inner-self and by that I mean... we realized that everything around you is alive with energy; your trees; your plants; your people, everything. Realized that we all share this world, so to speak, and we are always going to be doing with ourselves first because that's were we lived. As far as unity, like I said it was nice in the 70s more people weren't so prejudice. There's always going to people who think they're better and there's always going to me people who will openly greet people for who they are not for...whatever tag or label you choose to put on someone; their hair or if they look different or they speak different. I think we've come back around to that way of thinking again. and people are more open to higher thinking not any type of control over people but just openness as far as psychic abilities. Everybody is tuned in on a certain frequency so to speak. As far as drugs and things like that, in my day I'd rather have an outfit and shoes. There were a lot people that experimented.
Q: What do you remember about the Vietnam War and were you involved in the protest movements?
A: Not really, I was in 9th grade at that time. So I wasn't really involved into political protests. I just know that in that time some people believed it was for gas and oil rights it wasn't for... it wasn't a necessary war, and the way that the "Vets" were treated when they came home. They weren't treated like the other war heroes, they were looked down upon or not thought very much of. Let's face it anyone who puts themselves out there on the line deserves respect and honor. I think now they're trying to open it up more were people are aware of how much these people sacrifice every day for our country. I'm really hoping that with the VA hospital that they put more into it. I think it's terrible that, even though we have the best place in the world, the way that our government treats our "vets: and our elderly. I don't believe in socialism. If you work hard and you acquire it then more power to you.
Q: What do you remember about the Vietnam War and were you involved in the protest movements?
A: Not really, I was in 9th grade at that time. So I wasn't really involved into political protests. I just know that in that time some people believed it was for gas and oil rights it wasn't for... it wasn't a necessary war, and the way that the "Vets" were treated when they came home. They weren't treated like the other war heroes, they were looked down upon or not thought very much of. Let's face it anyone who puts themselves out there on the line deserves respect and honor. I think now they're trying to open it up more were people are aware of how much these people sacrifice every day for our country. I'm really hoping that with the VA hospital that they put more into it. I think it's terrible that, even though we have the best place in the world, the way that our government treats our "vets: and our elderly. I don't believe in socialism. If you work hard and you acquire it then more power to you.
Steve:
Where did you live?
A: In the 60s and 70s I lived in Pullman, Washington; Detroit, Michigan; Kansas, Ohio; and Westport, Connecticut.
What were you doing in the 60s and 70s?
A: In the 60s, I was teaching at Washington State University. Then in the late 70s, I was working as an engineer and in the late 60s. Then a manager for an automotive parts company, and that's what i did for the rest of my career.
What kinds of clothes did you wear/ music did you listen to?
A: In the 60s in business we always wore suits and ties and since I was already an adult I listened to mainly Jazz Music, and blues, and people like Frank Sinatra. I knew rock Rock n' Roll exploded in the early 60s but I was already, I didn't listen to it because I was already out of school and I wasn't interested in music.
What do you remember about President Kennedy?
A: I remember when he was assassinated. I remember I was sitting at my desk when the news came that he was killed. I was teaching at college then. I can't remember if I voted for him or not, but he wasn't very popular at the beginning of his term but then he got more popular after the Cuban Missle Crisis because he showed he was strong.
Q: Do you remember how everybody reacted during his assassination?
A: Everybody was totally shocked. It was kind of like "9/11" when the towers went down. It was about the same feeling when President Kennedy was assassinated.
Q: What do you remember about President Johnson?
A: He was a very good politician. He very good when he was leader of the Senate at getting bills passed through, but he escalated the Vietnam War after Kennedy was dead with the Gulf of Tonkin. He ended up becoming very unpopular because of the Vietnam War and basically didn't run for his second term because he was so unpopular.
Q: What do you remember about the Vietnam War and were you involved in any protest movements?
A: I didn't serve in Vietnam. I already had a family. A lot of my friends served in the Vietnam War and my friends were more supportive of it. People were not that supportive of the anti-war movement until the Kenn State Shootings. That turned a lot of people against the government. The war became very very unpopular after that.
Q: What do you remember about the Civil Rights Movement?
A: I remember the two big things; there was a sheriff in Birmingham, Alabama I can't remember what his name was but he turned water hoses on a bunch of protestors. That did more to solitify complaint against the people who were resisting Civil Rights but even I think Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches did it because people were so upset about the way people were treated.
Q: Were you involved in any counter-culture protest movements?
A: No I was for establishment. I already had a family.
Q: What do you remember about President Nixon?
A: President Nixon was a very strong president. He opened up, he made a breakthrough with China. The Chinese thought he was crazy so they were afraid of him. He was very capable but then when he got caught up in Watergate, everything kind of unraveled for him. Up until then he was very very popular. Then Watergate happened and the cover up: he couldn't survive it.
Q: What lessons do you think were learned in the 60s and 70s?
A: I think some of the lessons...President Kennedy... reduced taxes and the economy went up. So, president Kennedy showed a good way to stimulate the economy. the lesson for Vietnam was that we shouldn't go into a war unless we knew what we were trying to accomplish. So, I don't know if that's a lesson that's been remember or not. The military became very consistent after Vietnam that they didn't want to fight without knowing what we were trying to accomplish. Nobody knew that in Vietnam. So those are probably the two biggest lessons that came out of those eras.
Q: Do you remember how everybody reacted during his assassination?
A: Everybody was totally shocked. It was kind of like "9/11" when the towers went down. It was about the same feeling when President Kennedy was assassinated.
Q: What do you remember about President Johnson?
A: He was a very good politician. He very good when he was leader of the Senate at getting bills passed through, but he escalated the Vietnam War after Kennedy was dead with the Gulf of Tonkin. He ended up becoming very unpopular because of the Vietnam War and basically didn't run for his second term because he was so unpopular.
Q: What do you remember about the Vietnam War and were you involved in any protest movements?
A: I didn't serve in Vietnam. I already had a family. A lot of my friends served in the Vietnam War and my friends were more supportive of it. People were not that supportive of the anti-war movement until the Kenn State Shootings. That turned a lot of people against the government. The war became very very unpopular after that.
Q: What do you remember about the Civil Rights Movement?
A: I remember the two big things; there was a sheriff in Birmingham, Alabama I can't remember what his name was but he turned water hoses on a bunch of protestors. That did more to solitify complaint against the people who were resisting Civil Rights but even I think Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches did it because people were so upset about the way people were treated.
Q: Were you involved in any counter-culture protest movements?
A: No I was for establishment. I already had a family.
Q: What do you remember about President Nixon?
A: President Nixon was a very strong president. He opened up, he made a breakthrough with China. The Chinese thought he was crazy so they were afraid of him. He was very capable but then when he got caught up in Watergate, everything kind of unraveled for him. Up until then he was very very popular. Then Watergate happened and the cover up: he couldn't survive it.
Q: What lessons do you think were learned in the 60s and 70s?
A: I think some of the lessons...President Kennedy... reduced taxes and the economy went up. So, president Kennedy showed a good way to stimulate the economy. the lesson for Vietnam was that we shouldn't go into a war unless we knew what we were trying to accomplish. So, I don't know if that's a lesson that's been remember or not. The military became very consistent after Vietnam that they didn't want to fight without knowing what we were trying to accomplish. Nobody knew that in Vietnam. So those are probably the two biggest lessons that came out of those eras.
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