USA and Canada — US politics 1961–2001

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Kennedy's 1961–63 program of ambitious domestic goals (poverty, space, civil rights) — largely blocked in Congress by a conservative coalition.

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Johnson's 1964–68 expansion of government, including the Civil Rights Act (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965), Medicare/Medicaid, and War on Poverty programs.

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Johnson was a former Senate majority leader who knew how to pass bills, and he used the emotional aftermath of Kennedy's assassination to push civil rights legislation through quickly.

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Chicago police violently clashed with anti-war protesters on live television, making the party look divided and out of control right before the election.

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Nixon's approach of winning over white southern Democrats angry about civil rights, using coded appeals on crime and states' rights rather than explicit racism.

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In June 1972, burglars linked to Nixon's re-election campaign broke into Democratic Party offices; Nixon then covered it up, which was exposed by journalists and secret Oval Office tapes.

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The Supreme Court forced release of his tapes proving he knew of the cover-up, making impeachment by Congress certain; he resigned rather than face it.

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Gerald Ford, Nixon's unelected successor, granted him a full pardon so the country could 'heal' — but it was hugely unpopular and likely cost Ford the 1976 election.

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Reagan's (1981–89) economic program of large tax cuts, deregulation, and higher defence spending, based on the idea that growth would 'trickle down' to everyone.

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Expanded mandatory minimum prison sentences, hitting crack cocaine hardest, dramatically raising incarceration — debated for its impact on poor and Black communities.

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Kennedy and Johnson expanded federal government to fight poverty and inequality (1961–69); Reagan reversed course, cutting taxes and government size while expanding policing (1981–89).

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A centrist 'New Democrat' who cut the deficit, reformed welfare (1996), and presided over a tech-driven economic boom, despite being impeached in 1998 (and acquitted).