In 1960, the United States was the most prosperous nation in the world, and it was still growing fast. The nation's prosperity had come on quickly; in the fifteen years since the end of World War II (1939–45), the gross national product (GNP), or the value of all the goods produced in the nation, had shot up by 250 percent. Then, in the first half of the 1960s, GNP grew another 36 percent. Altogether, in the 1960s the United States experienced its longest uninterrupted economic expansion to date in American history (a record for consecutive months of growth unmatched until the 1990s).

This economic boom was fueled by thriving American businesses. By 1962, 66 percent of American manufacturing assets were controlled by the 500 largest companies. Some American corporations grew into global giants. General Motors, IBM, and Coca-Cola, among others, extended their businesses throughout the...