1. Kennedy and Johnson

2. 1960 Election Republican – VP Richard Nixon Democrat – John F. Kennedy
Fresh off 1959 Kitchen debate with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev
Why would that matter?
Democrat – John F. Kennedy
1st televised Presidential debate
Who won according to radio listeners?
Who won according to TV viewers?
Closest election in 75 years

3. A bad start Bay of Pigs – April 1961
Originally planned by Eisenhower Administration, but Kennedy signs on (“Group Think”)
Failed attempt to free Cuba
CIA
Air Force from Texas
Navy
Cuban refugees
Hope for uprising
JFK publically accepted blame

4. A new direction Flexible Response – Kennedy’s new direction
Truman=Containment, Eisenhower=Massive Retaliation
Flexible Response – Kennedy’s new direction
Creation of Special Forces to battle guerrilla forces and small conflicts
Can not use nuclear weapons in every situation
Alliance for Progress – aid and goodwill gesture for Latin America
Peace Corp – established by JKF, used volunteers
How are these ideas different?

5. Other Foreign Affair Developments
Berlin Wall Crisis
Khrushchev has wall built around West Berlin
Why?
Kennedy travels to West Berlin in 1963
“Ich bin ein Berliner”
Wall is symbolic of Cold War until 1989
Space Race
May 1961 – Alan Shepard into space
JFK makes it a goal of the US to put a man on the moon by end of decade. Why?
What else does the Space Race improve?
NASA in Florida
Mission Control in Houston
1969 – Neil Armstrong

6. Closest to WWIII Cuban Missile Crisis – 1962
US reconnaissance planes photographed the USSR was building underground missile sites in Cuba.
Kennedy announces a Quarantine of Cuba
If Soviet ships challenged, a full-scale nuclear war was likely
Khrushchev agrees to remove sites in Cuba, and US in Turkey
“Khrushchev blinked”

9. Effects of Cuban Missile Crisis
Hot Line established between Kremlin and White House in 1963
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed in 1963 (no testing in atmosphere)
Other talks at reducing arms start
But new arms race for missile superiority starts (Space Race)

10. Kennedy’s Domestic Plan
New Frontier – called for aid to education, urban renewal, and civil rights.
During his 1000 day administration, he could not get much passed through Congress.
Some highlights
Robert Kennedy as Attorney General using Federal Gov’t in civil rights matters such as the Birmingham Protests
Housing Act of 1961 – assisted poor in cities and rural areas
Trickle-down economics – help economy
Increased minimum wage to $1.25 / hour
Many of his ideas would be pushed through by Johnson’s Great Society

11. Kennedy’s legacy
Why is Kennedy thought of as a great President by many when he was only in office for two and half years (1000 days)?
Camelot image – idealistic youth, Jackie
“ask not what your country can do for you, ask what can you do for your country.”
Even negative such as Bay of Pigs – what did he do?
Cuban Missile Crisis, Space Race, fight for New Frontier programs

12. Assassination in Dallas
November 1963 – Shocks the country
Lee Harvey Oswald charged with murder
Oswald killed three days later by Jack Ruby
Warren Commission investigated
Concluded that Oswald had acted alone
Many Conspiracy theories

13. Johnson and the Great Society
After JFK’s assassination, Lyndon Johnson become President
Former Congressman, he was able to push agenda through Congress where JFK could not.
Many of his ideas were focusing on problems written about in Michael Harrington’s The Other America.
Johnson’s Great Society Program known as “war on poverty.”

14. 1964 Election
In contrast to Johnson’s liberal agenda, the Republicans nominated a staunch conservative.
Barry Goldwater wanted to end TVA, Social Security.
Also seen as extremist in Cold War (Daisy Ad)
Johnson won in a landslide and the coattail effect made it where Democrats controlled both houses by more than 2/3.
Election showed that if candidate is too extreme, Centrist American voters won’t elect them (1972 another example)

15. Great Society Reforms
Medicare – health insurance for those 65 or older
Medicaid – health insurance for disabled and poor
Elementary and Secondary Education Act – aid to poor school districts
1965 Immigration Act – end Quotas
Foundation on the Arts and Humanities – funding for creative and scholarly projects
Increased funding for colleges, housing assistance, and crime prevention

16. More Expansion of Government
Office of Economic Opportunity
Created Community Action Programs
Head Start programs
Part of War on poverty
Department of Transportation
Department of Housing and Urban Development (1966)
Robert Weaver – 1st African-American cabinet member

17. Two books making changes
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)
Expose on pesticides
Launches environmental movement
Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader (1965)
Caused regulations to automobile industry
Start consumer advocacy program

19. Johnson and Civil Rights
Southerner Johnson was able to push through Civil Rights legislation.
Used JFK’s death and legacy in political fight
Would be final straw for many Southern Democrats with Party
1964 Civil Rights Act
1965 Voting Rights Act
Federal support of Civil Rights in South

20. Johnson’s legacy
LBJ’s Great Society did accomplish many of the goals on the war on poverty. But was it a success?
What were the positives?
What were the negatives?
What would be the reason focus would go off of the program in the late 1960s?
Why did LBJ decide not to seek reelection in 1968?

21. Warren Court
Chief Justice Earl Warren led courts in the 1950s and 1960s
Many cases had to do with Civil Rights and the Rights of the Accused.
1954 – Brown v. Board
1962 – Baker v. Carr – reapportionment had to be “one man-one vote”
1964 – Heart of Atlanta Motel case – upheld Civil Rights Act of 1964
Used Interstate Commerce Clause of Constitution
Gideon, Escobedo, and Miranda cases – rights for the accused

22. Reflection Questions
What goals did Kennedy, Johnson, and Warren all have in common?
What did Kennedy do as President to make him so loved?
What were the positives of the Great Society program?
How did Kennedy change the way the Cold War was fought?

23. Links http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgV7muq3o3Q – 1960 debate
– review video
– Zapruder Film
- Daisy Ad
– Magic Bullet bebunked.