In the 1960s, the United States became more democratic. It abolished poll taxes and made it a federal crime to prevent people from voting. This led to increased African American voter turnout and a crackdown on the power of the Ku Klux Klan throughout the country.

Television started to become more controversial and welcomed a broader array of opinions. News satire shows started mocking political leaders—something that would have been taboo a generation earlier. Television shows started portraying more African Americans in important roles as well. This would continue into the 1970s and beyond. The coverage of the Vietnam War was quite extensive. For the first time, Americans could watch the war on a nightly basis. When Americans viewed the Tet Offensive, many of them turned against Johnson and the Vietnam War.

Music started to inform people in addition to entertaining. Groups such as Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, and Nash used their music to reach their audience with antiwar messages. While there have been other political singers in the nation's past, those from the 1960s are considered some of the most important to the musical history of the United States.

Finally, protest movements started to capture the youth of America. People formed clubs in college in order to agitate for social change and an end to war. This would eventually lead to the voting age being lowered to eighteen; the logic was that if one was old enough to be drafted, one was old enough to determine whether or not the nation should go to war.

The 1960s were a time of tragedy and uncertainty, but the nation became more democratic as a result. The media became more open, and more people gained a voice to speak out against what they viewed as wrong.