The United States in the 1960s was an immensely powerful and wealthy country. The dominant world power at the end of World War II (1939–45), the United States had developed the strongest military in the world during the 1950s. The military buildup was a product of the Cold War (1945–91), a long-simmering conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union that prompted both countries to maintain large armies and develop powerful arsenals of weapons. The United States was...