Unlike other works, America in the Sixties looks at the era from the perspective of new leftists, liberals, and conservatives, providing readers with the opportunity to see this seminal decade more fully and richly than they could before. It includes the manifestos of both the Students for a Democratic Society and the Young Americans for Freedom, the most prominent radical and conservative student groups of that era, as well as the words of prominent liberals and moderate Republicans, such as Hubert Humphrey and Dwight D. Eisenhower. In addition to selections by the well-known individuals of that era, such as Jerry Rubin and Tom Hayden, it contains pieces by figures often associated with other times, like the Reverend Billy Graham, Ronald Reagan, and Strom Thurmond. Seeking to immerse readers in the decade's key issues in a balanced manner, it includes President Johnson's, General William Westmoreland's, and the AFL-CIO's defense of the Vietnam War as well as Dr. Benjamin Spock's and Paul Potter's criticism of it.

The book covers the civil rights movement, Vietnam, the counterculture, and the women's movement. It looks at some of the 1960's most memorable moments, from the Cuban missile crisis and President Kennedy's assassination to the moon landing and the New York Mets' World Series victory in 1969. A statistical appendix, with data on the economy, the cost of consumer goods, trends in popular culture, and important legal developments, complements the documents.