The 1970s Decade in Photos:

The 1970s Decade in Photos:  Protest and Change by Jim Corrigan                 64 pages                   

I find history fascinating and this book reminds me of a time when the world was leaving the predictable 50s and early 60s flowing through the changing late 60s to the tumultuous 70s.    The American Involvement in the Viet Nam War was hitting a crescendo,  it had begun under the Eisenhower administration and seemed to go on forever.    People were protesting wanting their soldier family members to be able to come back home, there was unrest over the number of dead and wounded and much of the nation couldn’t understand why.    Pressure began to be put on politicians and at long last the United States left Viet Nam.   Music was good back in the day.    Motown and Rock swept listeners away with their moving lyrics and intense beats,  sadly the world lost 3 wonderful singer/ musicians: Jimmy Hendrix; Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison.   Women stepped up and demanded equal pay for equal work, feminists starting burning their bras in protest.    The Arab-Israeli War took a bloody turn for the worse when Arabs to make their point began hijacking planes and later taking Israeli hostages at the Olympic games and murdering them.   Arab anger turned against the United States when they showed support for Israel this led to the Arab Oli Crisis when to get back at the United States the Arabs decided to stop selling the U.S. oil triggering long lines at the gas pumps and an energy crisis.  Food prices rose substantially because it now cost more in fuel to transport it around the country which began hitting the economy hard.     The President at the time, Richard Nixon, having already took a lot of flack over the Viet Nam War was now caught in an illegal wire tapping scandal known as Watergate.   Nixon was the first president in history to resign the office.   Distrust in government was rampant.   On the positive side however, Sports were a welcome reprieve from all that was going on with Hank Aaron breaking the record for career home runs and swimmer Mark Spitz bringing home 5 gold medals from the Olympics.   1976 was a big celebration nationwide of America’s 200 years of Independence.  Like a teeter totter things would broil up in the world:  The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, hostages were taken at the American Embassy in Iran,  Jim Jones caused the deaths of his follows in Guyana with over 900 cult members adults and children dying in what has been called a mass suicide though later reports came out showing many of the people were forced under threat of gunshot, etc.    Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania nearly had a melt down due to an accident, the energy crisis continued, the deaths of 4 students at Kent State University in Ohio rocked the media when in answer to the 500 or so students throwing rocks at the National Guard gunfire was returned distrust and dissatisfaction with authority was strong.   More planes were being hijacked and terrorist groups and leaders emerged, Yassir Arafat and the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) , Idi Amin dictator of Uganda in Africa, Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in Iran.    On the up side the voting age in America was lowered.   Previously Americans had to be 21 to vote but since the draft of 18 year olds it was decided that if a man could be drafted to go to war at age 18 he ought to be able to vote at age 18 to help choose the leaders of the country.    The Pentagon Papers were published through a decision by the Supreme Court and it brought more unrest as facts came out the public had not been aware of and that the political leaders did not believe the war could be won.   On the up side Russia and the U.S. signed a treaty limiting nuclear weapons each country could possess.   The U.S. and Russia joined forces in a joint mission with NASA and the Soviet Space Program known as the Apollo-Soyuz mission with both countries docking spacecraft together.  Then President Nixon worked to restore good relations with China.   Blockbuster films came out during the 70s, the Godfather, Star Wars and Jaws.    President Jimmy Carter aided progress in the Middle East toward peace when he brought Israeli President, Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat together on the White House lawn for a historic handshake and the peace treaty created between the two nations.    The 70s also brought out the beginning of video games with Atari’s Pong and the first personal computers came into being Apple arose as did Sony with the Walkman, the portable cassette player.    The 70s were a whirlwind as I guess all decades are in their own ways.    A very good look at a historically important decade.