In the mid-1960s the national mood began to decay. The Vietnam War began to
bog down, and claims that it was being won were proven to be false. Growing antiwar
sentiment and a so-called credibility gap between what government and military
leaders claimed was happening in Vietnam and what journalists reported ultimately
led to President Lyndon Johnson’s decision not to run for reelection in 1968. Between
1968 and 1974 the war continued, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
were murdered, and President Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace over the Watergate
scandal. At the same time, inflation, unemployment, and the energy crisis combined
to erode public faith in the United States’ economy and its power. By the late 1970s,
major American industries were facing severe competitive pressures from Europe
and Japan.