nd In the River.Toni Morrison was one of the strongest literary voices to emerge from this decade. “Hewrote about the Black American experience as never before”(Gillis). His book, The Bluest Eyewon the National Book Award which marked the emergence of successful African-Americanwriters. Other black writers who emphasize personal experiences and the musicality of willinclude Alice Walker and August Wilson(“Arts and Culture: 1970’s”) The Vietnam War was a major event of the seventies. “Whether or not Americans agreedwith U.S. involvement in Vietnam, or supported politicians who agreed with U.S. involvement,the war shaped the way Americans defined themselves and one another”(Stewart 8). Many youngAmericans protested the involvement of the U.S. in the Vietnam War. They turned to acounterculture of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. Their confidence in the presidency, and middleclass values and power collapsed under weight of defeat and corruption. During Richard Nixon’spresidential campaign, he stressed the need for peace in Vietnam. Here is a quote from Nixon, “Ipledge to you, new leadership will end the war and win peace in the Pacific. All he needed wassix months’ time to end the war”(Stewart 11). Nixon did not keep his promise and in early 1970he did not decrease U.S. military activity in Vietnam and he authorized an expansion of the warinto neutral Cambodia.In 1974 the last troops left Vietnam after Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho signed a treatyin Paris. American diplomats stayed in Saigon but Vietnamese forces began to crumble. “U.S.helicopters take out the last American and allied Vietnamese personnel in a flurry of chaos as theNorth Vietnamese army rumbles into Saigon”(War & Peace: 1970’s).Five men were arrested on June 17, 1972 and charged with burglary at the DemocraticNational Committee headquarters at the Watergate. The burglars we...
