United States in the 1960s In this essay I will try to find out whether the term "divided nation" accurately describes America in the 1960s. By "divided nation" do I mean that this country was divided? I will look at the civil rights movement and how it affected America, I will also look at other protests and events, also looking at the New Frontier. The New Frontier took place between 1961 and 1963. In 1960, presidential elections were held. There were two candidates: Richard Nixon and John Kennedy. Kennedy was very successful and had a large percentage of the nation supporting him. Nixon also had a lot of support through television appearances. Nearly 69 million votes were cast in the elections. John F. Kennedy won 34,227,000 and Richard Nixon raised 34,107,000. It was an extremely close election. An excerpt from John F. Kennedy's speech "The baton has been passed to a new generation of Americans - born in this century, hardened by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace...(then asks Americans)...to pay any price, bear any burden, face any hardship, support any friend, oppose any enemy to ensure the survival and success of freedom." I also think another earlier speech given in 1960 was important... "Westand on the edge of the New Frontier - the frontier of unknown opportunities and dangers - a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and dreams... (it would deal with)... unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus." I think this speech was asking for too much too soon and I don't think the problems could have been answered in America at that time, as much as they would have liked them to be. If you compare the two speeches, they have changed considerably, so did John Kennedy initially have high hopes? In 1960, more than 10% of the population was African-American. Segregation remained in the South, and Southern politicians were determined to maintain it