This paper explores the political and social climate of the 1960s in the US focusing on the US government’s decisions regarding the Vietnam War, the students’ anti-war protests, and the civil movements for equal rights. The unrest of the sixties was mostly due to people’s dissatisfaction which resulted in massive marches and protests all over the US. The paper’s analyses of selected poems from each of the movements shows how the current events influenced writers and their works as well as to illustrate the public reaction concerning the key issues. Particularly young Americans were determined to bring about changes. They were especially persistent in their efforts to make the government withdraw the US troops from Vietnam and to stop the war. The impact of the campus protests was so great that protests crossed the borders of universities and became a national issue. People were finally encouraged to fight for their rights, which is evident as the Black Power Movement and the Feminist Movement originated. The exploration of both the history and the literature of the turbulent sixties makes evident not only that the political and social situation shaped the literature but that the literature shaped public opinion and encouraged people to act.