The G.I. Generation (Hero, born 1901-24) developed a special and "good kid" reputation as the beneficiaries of new playgrounds, scouting clubs, vitamins, and child-labor restrictions. They came of age with the sharpest rise in schooling ever recorded. As young adults, their uniformed corps patiently endured Depression and heroically conquered foreign enemies. In a midlife subsidized by the G.I. Bill, they built gleaming suburbs, invented miracle vaccines, plugged missile gaps, and launched moon rockets. Their unprecedented grip on the Presidency (1961 thru '92) began with a New Frontier, a Great Society and Model Cities, but wore down thru Vietnam, Watergate, deficits, and problems with "the vision thing." As senior citizens, they safeguarded their own "entitlements" but with little influence over culture and values. Representative members: John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Hazel Bishop, Judy Garland, Joe DiMaggio, John Steinbeck, Walter Cronkite.

the silent generation

The Silent Generation (Artist, born 1925-42) grew up as the suffocated children of war and Depression. They came of age just too late to be war heroes and just too early to be youthful free spirits. Instead, this early marrying "lonely crowd" became the risk-averse technicians and professionals as well as the sensitive rock 'n' rollers and civil-rights advocates of a post-Crisis era in which conformity seemed to be a sure ticket to success. Midlife was an anxious "passage" for a generation torn between stolid elders and passionate juniors. Their surge to power coincided with fragmenting families, cultural diversity, institutional complexity, and prolific litigation. They are entering elderhood with unprecedented affluence, a hip style, and a reputation for indecision. Colin Powell, Elizabeth Dole, Woody Allen, Martin Luther King Jr., Hank Aaron, Gloria Steinem, Elvis Presley.

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