Chapter 159 - Vacation: More Domestic News & Politics from 1982
Above: The largest nuclear disarmament rally in American History was held on June 12th, 1982, featuring a stunningly large crowd of over 1 million people and a free concert in New York City’s Central Park (left); the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee (right).
“Can't seem to get my mind off of you
Back here at home, there's nothin' to do
Now that I'm away, I wish I'd stayed
Tomorrow's a day of mine that you won't be in
When you looked at me, I should have run
But I thought it was just for fun
I see I was wrong, and I'm not so strong
I should have known all along that time would tell
A week without you
Thought I'd forget
Two weeks without you and I
Still haven't gotten over you yet” - “Vacation” by the Go-Gos
“The future of energy? We are there!” - Slogan for the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee
“The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.” - John F. Kennedy
New York City was under occupation. Or at least, it felt that way. Nowhere in the United States had ever seen anything like it. A tsunami of bodies marched in lockstop toward Central Park. They crowded every avenue and into the cross streets. By the time they reached their destination on the balmy afternoon of June 12th, 1982, they numbered over one million. They called for an end to nuclear weapons. They demanded an end to the Cold War.
In the Park, a grand bandstand had been erected. A number of high-profile musical acts were scheduled to perform a concert - entitled “No Nukes Now”. None of the acts had been announced ahead of time; even many of the organizers didn’t know who would be there. But that did little to stem the tide of human bodies. The people came to the park because they wanted peace, disarmament, and for the administration to put its money where its mouth was when it came to making the world a safer place, more dedicated to human rights. By the time that the acts revealed themselves, the crowd was already red-hot. They would sing, dance, chant, hoot, and holler. They would have themselves an incognito Woodstock, only two-and-a-half times the size and with an overly political aim. They would make their voices heard.
Jackson Browne and Joan Baez were first on the list. The latter performed the iconic anti-war hymn of the early 60s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and dedicated her performance to its author, her one-time boyfriend, Bob Dylan, who was tragically taken far too early in a motorcycle crash near his home in Upstate New York, 16 years earlier, in 1966. He’d only been 25. Next up came Gary U.S. Bonds, whose upbeat, rock n roll sound brought the energy back up just in time for his successor onstage, James Taylor, to turn in a more thoughtful mood. His big hit - “Fire and Rain” - took on a new tenor in the context of preventing nuclear war. Linda Rondstadt was the penultimate act. Her sweet, dramatic love songs cried out in pain, calling for an end to the pain of mother Earth.
Finally, there was “the Boss”.
Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band took the stage to raucous applause just as the sun was setting over the Big Apple. Probably the biggest name on the show that day, Springsteen not only brought mainstream media attention and star power to the event, but also a deep musical catalog of both his own original material and songs from the annals of American folklore. Though the Boss was famous for including tracks like “Down by the Riverside” and “This Land is Your Land” for years, the former of these - with its refrain of “I ain’t gonna study war no more” - seemed especially appropriate for the occasion. He debuted another song that he’d - “Born in the USA”, an anti-war protest song that explored the fates of veterans of America’s “forgotten wars” - Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Rhodesia. This song would later serve as the title track for one of Springsteen’s most acclaimed albums when it was released in 1984. The Boss performed for over three hours, edging the entire event just up to the 10 PM curfew laid out by the NYPD. By the time he finally concluded the last song of his encore - “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” - the cops were just about ready to pull the plug.
In the end, however, the police had nothing to worry about.
The crowd, their throats hoarse from shouting all day, headed home in a largely peaceful, orderly manner. No crimes were associated with the concert at all, save a few incidences of littering and minor vandalism. All in all, the concert was a tremendous success, and proved an iconic and memorable moment in the counterculture of the 1980s. It showed that the Baby Boomers were remaining true to their activist selves and pushing the Kennedy Administration to adhere to its self-reported progressive ideals.
Above: Bruce Springsteen performs at the 1982 “No Nukes Now” rally in Central Park, NYC.
Though the concert, and the activist movement that it helped activate, were indeed critical of the status quo, they also represented a beacon of hope for many in the United States. While the majority of Americans favored “toughness” and “strength” against the Soviets in foreign policy at the moment, according to Gallup polling, a slim majority also supported
some kind of effort toward nuclear disarmament, or at the very least, non-proliferation.
One policy proposal for this would be the so-called “nuclear freeze” - a treaty between the US and USSR to halt the testing, production, and deployment of further nuclear weapons. The movement became so popular throughout 1982 that by the time summer gave way to autumn and the campaign for midterm elections was underway, the “nuclear freeze” became a frequently asked question for candidates up and down the ticket. Generally speaking, the Republican Party was against the idea. They did not want to yield any ground whatsoever to the Soviet Union. The Democrats, however, were split. While most supported the idea, in theory, politically, they feared coming out too strongly for peace in such a tense atmosphere. Similar to the pre-Cuban Missile Crisis tensions of the early 1960s, there was a great deal of fear and paranoia that the Soviets were “coming right for us”. The last thing that even liberals wanted to do was been seen as “hobbling” the national defense.
Placating the hawks in his cabinet (especially Defense Secretary Scoop Jackson), President Kennedy took the line of opposing any kind of nuclear freeze “at this time”, while still being “open” to the idea in the future. “Without any tangible display of good faith,” Kennedy explained to NBC anchor Tom Brokaw in an interview. “We cannot trust the Soviet Union to adhere to any agreement we might propose.”
“Does that represent a shift, or a change, from your previous views on the issue?” Brokaw asked.
“No.” Kennedy replied, with a decisive head-shake. “Our hope has always been and must always be for peace. But as George Washington once said, ‘There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy.’” In other words, Cold War tensions would continue to climb.
The announcement “frustrated” the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, which constituted a significant portion of the president’s own base. At the same time, however, it did win Kennedy praise from his usual critics - hawks both within his own party and among the GOP. Many pundits viewed Kennedy’s defense policy as a calculated shift to the center, in light of the ongoing geopolitical crises throughout the world. In any event, they remained popular with the majority of the American public.
Above: President Robert F. Kennedy (left) and NBC News Anchor Tom Brokaw (right) sat down for an interview in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in July 1982. During this interview, Kennedy explained why his administration “would not pursue a nuclear freeze at this time”.
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Above: Promotional poster for the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, marked a significant moment in the history of both the city of Knoxville, and international expositions as a whole. Themed “American Energy Turns the World,” the fair aimed to showcase advancements in technology, culture, and innovation, particularly in the realm of energy production and consumption. Held from May 1st to October 31st, 1982, the fair attracted millions of visitors from around the globe, leaving a lasting impact on the city of Knoxville and the world at large.
The idea of hosting a World's Fair in Knoxville emerged as early as the Romney era. City leaders recognized the potential economic and cultural benefits such an event could bring to the region, which held ambitions of becoming a major regional transportation and networking hub - on the scale of Atlanta, Georgia or Charlotte, North Carolina. After securing the bid to host the fair in 1976, Knoxville underwent extensive preparations, including infrastructure improvements and the construction of fairgrounds along the banks of the Tennessee River. Nearly $85 Million in fundraising was collected by the committee in charge of organizing the event; most of that came from grants from local, state, and the federal government. Wealthy individuals, including banker (and 1978 Democratic nominee for governor) Jake Butcher, donated a great deal as well. An additional $224 million in federal and state funding was utilized by the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to improve the transportation infrastructure system surrounding Knoxville in preparation for the fair. These improvements included completion of the Interstate 640 semi-beltway, and improvements to the infamous “Malfunction Junction” of then I-75 (now I-275) and I-40 north of the fair site.
What did all that money buy?
Above: Another promotional poster for the Fair.
At the heart of the fair, the Energy Pavilion stood as a symbol of progress and innovation in energy technology. Visitors explored exhibits highlighting various energy sources, from traditional fossil fuels (hosted by the now thoroughly broken up energy companies) to emerging renewable technologies like solar and wind power. Interactive displays and demonstrations engaged attendees of all ages, promoting energy conservation and environmental awareness. It was here, at the Pavilion, that the Fair officially kicked off on May 1st, 1982, with an address delivered by President Robert Kennedy.
Perhaps the most iconic structure of the fair, the Sun sphere, soared 266 feet into the sky, offering panoramic views of Knoxville and the surrounding countryside. Originally intended as a symbol of the fair's energy theme, the golden globe became a beloved landmark and remains a prominent feature of Knoxville's skyline to this day.
Over 20 countries participated in the fair, each showcasing their unique culture, heritage, and technological achievements. From Japan's futuristic technology displays to Germany's traditional beer gardens, these international pavilions provided visitors with a global perspective on energy and innovation. Housed within a massive geodesic dome, the Expo Center served as the hub for educational programs, seminars, and corporate exhibits. Industry leaders and experts from around the world convened to discuss pressing issues in energy and technology, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange.
And of course, there was entertainment.
Some of the performers at the fair included: Bob Hope; Dolly Parton; Tennessee Ernie Ford; Johnny Cash and June Carter; Chet Atkins; Hal Holbrook; Glen Campbell; and Ricky Skaggs. Though already aided by the prior release of
Urban Cowboy, “classic” country music underwent a small bump in popularity following the fair.
On August 14th, 1982, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots played each other in a preseason game at a stadium on the fairgrounds. The Patriots won the game in overtime, 24 - 21, in front of a crowd of more than 93,000, making it the fourth-best-attended game in NFL history. Later, on October 23rd, the NBA followed the NFL’s lead, hosting an exhibition game at the fair between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics narrowly won, giving New England two sports victories at the World’s Fair.
Though at first the people of Knoxville were somewhat unsure about what the Fair would mean for their community, the event’s legacy has largely been positive. For one thing, the Fair injected millions of dollars into the local economy, stimulating growth in the tourism, hospitality, and retail sectors. Hotels, restaurants, and businesses across Knoxville benefited from increased foot traffic and visitor spending during the six-month-long event. The fairgrounds themselves, situated in Knoxville's downtown waterfront area, underwent extensive redevelopment prior to the event. After the fair's conclusion, these revitalized spaces continued to attract visitors and investment, contributing to the ongoing revitalization of the city center. In the years that followed, Knoxville would become a more popular and prosperous city, though never on the dreamed scale of Atlanta.
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In general, the World’s Fair also helped to project an image of the “New South”.
Ten years after Lyndon Johnson won the Democratic nomination for president (and nine years after his death), Dixie had undergone monumental changes to its character and culture. While of course, discrimination, prejudice, and racism were by no means eradicated, the region had made great strides forward. As the South attempted to leave its problematic past behind in favor of a more hopeful, inclusive future, its influence and wealth relative to other regions in the United States grew. The development of cheap, widely-available air-conditioning caused a population boom across much of the Old Confederacy and Southwest - the so-called “Sun Belt” - and made the region much more livable.
Above: A map showing the “Sun Belt” of the Southern US, with major cities marked.
This trend toward the Sun Belt could be felt in myriad fields. In some ways, the presidencies of George Bush - a Texan by choice if not by birth - and Mo Udall - a native Arizonan - were emblematic of this shift of economic and political capital southward throughout the 1970s. So too were the rise of evangelical Christianity in general and televangelism in particular.
By the late 1960s, scholars of American History - most notably economic historian Robert Fogel - claimed that the nation was undergoing a “Fourth Great Awakening”. Like the first, second, and third Great Awakenings, this movement was a Christian religious crusade, bringing with it seismic spiritual shifts across the nation. Though many other scholars took issue with the term, whether or not they constituted an awakening, many changes did take place.
The “mainline” Protestant churches weakened sharply in both membership and influence, while the most conservative religious denominations (such as the Southern Baptists) grew rapidly in numbers, spread across the United States, had grave internal theological battles and schisms, and became politically powerful. This was seen, in many ways, as a reaction to the “darkness” and “absurdity” of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Other evangelical and fundamentalist denominations also expanded rapidly. At the same time, secularism also grew dramatically, and the more conservative churches saw themselves battling secularism in terms of issues such as LGBT+ rights, abortion, and creationism vs. evolution in schools. Many new religious movements also emerged such as the People's Temple and Heaven's Gate, and the corresponding rise of the anti-cult movement.
In some ways, this movement was presaged by events throughout the 1960s.
The baby-boomers, as a generation, distrusted institutions and favored a highly individualistic approach to religion and spirituality, as they did in many other fields. Most churches at this time began to adopt a more “charismatic” approach to their preaching, with even the famously institutional Catholic church adopting some of these changes during this time. The Second Vatican Council - held from 1962 to 1965 - famously allowed for the celebration of mass in native languages, rather than the traditional Latin, among other changes. There was also a shift across the board toward greater emphasis on lay spirituality, with everyday people, rather than ordained or highly-educated church officials, taking on a greater and greater role in church life. These new Christians emphasized a “personal relationship with God” and embraced “the church’s central role in the American community”. Mormonism - the church of the highly devout President George Romney and former faith of Mo Udall - gained tremendous respectability in the wake of two of their own occupying the Oval Office. By the early 1980s, Mormonism was largely seen as “just another denomination” across the United States. Joseph Smith would have been pleased.
Above: Reverend Billy Graham (left); Pope Stanislaus (center); and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (right); arguably, these three men served as figureheads in the Fourth Great Awakening.
Of course, Christianity wasn’t the only faith or spiritual movement making waves in the United States at the time.
Interest in Eastern philosophies and ways of thinking grew steadily throughout the 1960s and 70s, especially among the intelligentsia and college-educated boomers. Western-born advocates for these schools, such as Alan Watts and Ram Dass, brought religions such as Buddhism and Taoism to college campuses and radio shows across Britain and the United States. Over time, words like “zen” and “mindfulness” would begin to enter the popular lexicon. Unlike the “prosperity Gospel” preached by many of the Fourth Great Awakening’s preachers, Dass, Watts, and their acolytes spoke of a slow-lived life of simplicity and purpose. Many found these ideas comforting, especially in the hard economic times of the “Seesaw Seventies”. But as the economy rebounded in 1982 (more on that in a moment), “prosperity Gospel” spread far and wide, especially across the Bible Belt, but infiltrating other regions of the country as well.
Politically, the swelling ranks of evangelical Christians remained an active part of both the Democratic and Republican coalitions across the country, largely along the old, regional lines. In the Midwest, evangelical protestants were mostly Republican. In the South, they stayed “true blue Democrats”. As Billy Graham, one of the most influential leaders of the movement (and a lifelong Democrat, who occasionally voted Republican) put it, “Jesus doesn’t have a political party”.
Ronald Reagan, the GOP candidate in 1980, came the closest to unifying evangelicals as a voting bloc. But even he failed to effectively do so. Robert Kennedy, despite being Catholic, was the most devoutly religious president the US had seen since Romney. Graham, after having opposed JFK in 1960 due to his Catholicism, eventually came around. He endorsed RFK for president in 1980, though he later felt “uncomfortable” supporting Kennedy when the president came out so strongly as an advocate for the acceptance of LGBT+ Americans, and for taking such a pro-choice stance on abortion. Across the country, both communitarian Southern Democrats and conservative Midwestern Republicans were taking notes.
Above: President Robert F. Kennedy kneeling, his hands folded in prayer. The president’s religiosity seemed very much in line with many Americans’ throughout the “Fourth Great Awakening”.
Above: Political cartoon showing President Robert F. Kennedy - “the choice of the baby-boomers” (left); the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street (right). The “Kennedy Boom” of the 1980s would go on to be the best economy (in terms of longest, sustained growth) in US History up to that time.
When Bob Kennedy entered the White House on January 20th, 1981, he inherited what his predecessor - Mo Udall - had called “a mild recession”. Indeed, despite inflation finally being whipped, unemployment remained high - nearly 8% - nationwide.
To combat this, to restore Americans’ faith, and to put money in their pocketbooks (as well as eliminating the federal budget deficit), Kennedy made the
Long-Ullman Tax Act of 1981 his top priority. This law, combined with the president’s order to the federal reserve in the fall of 1981 to finally lower interest rates after nearly seven years of keeping them at record highs, led to an absolute
explosion in aggregate demand by the first quarter of 1982. Americans, with more money in their pockets and easier access to cheap credit, did what Americans do best: they spent. Throughout 1982, the economy ramped up, then
roared back to life. The growth-rate for the nation’s GDP that year was 5.02%, a significant improvement from the doldrums of the last decade.
As industries (whether expanding service sectors or more traditional, manufacturing fields and trades) grew, they sought more workers to meet rising demand. Unemployment plummeted. Every month, hundreds of thousands of new jobs were created, many of which were high-paying union jobs with good benefits, hard-earned during the strikes and labor action of the decade prior. The tech and green energy fields (computer chips, solar panels, wind turbines, etc.) were still in their infancy, but experienced rapid growth throughout the decade. Meanwhile, across the “rust belt”, small to mid-sized cities began to restructure themselves into transportation and logistical hubs between the major factory towns and ports.
While investments in infrastructure and combating inflation the decade prior were necessary steps to lay the foundation for this unprecedented prosperity (which would only continue to grow - 1983 saw GDP growth of nearly 8%), and the aforementioned “oil glut” helped keep prices across the board low, President Kennedy and his Democratic allies in Congress (whether fairly or not) received the lion’s share of the credit from the public.
Heading into the 1982 midterms, President Kennedy coined a new slogan for the Democrats to run on - “Peace and Prosperity”. It was short, to the point, catchy, and really captured what RFK wanted the American people to think of when they pulled the lever for his party. The GOP, he argued, had stumbled through the Seesaw Seventies because they prioritized the interests of the rich and powerful over those of everyday Americans.
“When we invest in the people,” Kennedy would often claim in stump speeches across the nation. “The nation prospers.”
This brand of bottom-up, populist economic policies, “Kennedy-nomics” the press took to calling them, were not only effective at producing growth across the socioeconomic spectrum, but were widely popular as well. Even middle and upper-middle class suburbanites, long the backbone of the GOP coalition, largely approved of Kennedy’s economic policies. These voters - mostly white, college-educated, married, with families - also appreciated Kennedy’s foreign policy, as well as his religiosity, and the socially conservative tone he projected, even as he supported steady social progress on a number of issues. This demographic, which would come to be called “Kennedy Republicans” by pollsters and pundits alike, were key to Democratic strategy in the 1982 midterms and would eventually prove instrumental in the president’s bid for reelection in 1984.
But while RFK was building a successful case for reelection at home, overseas, a major crisis was brewing.
Next Time on Blue Skies in Camelot: The Start of the Hårsfjärden War
