Unit 5: Era of Social Change 1950 AMERICANA-----EISENHOWER PRESIDENCY----JFK PRESIDENCY---JOHNSON PRESIDENCY-- ---CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Baby BoomNuclear Family American Dream Suburbia 1950s Americana

G.I. Bill of Rights  Boom in education and homes  GI Bill of Rights passed to benefit WWII veterans  low cost mortgages,  low-interest loans  education benefits.  Effects:  Helped create a middle class  Increased racial inequality( many benefits weren’t given to A.A.

T.V.  TV ownership rose as the cost of owning them dropped.  In 1952 TV Guide outsold every other magazine.  The TV Dinner was introduced in 1954 and altered America’s eating habits.

1950 TV Shows

Consumerism  1950s, Consumerism is due to the growth of media, suburbs, and personal wealth  TV became the center of consumer culture.

The Beat Movement  Expressions of nonconformity by artists, poets and writers.  Beatniks: lived nonconformist lives  Free, open and loose  Shunned by popular culture, did attract media attention as well as college students – pre- counterculture

Rock n Roll Rebellion Music

Dr. Jonas Salk  Developed a vaccine for preventing polio

President Eisenhower Interstate Highway System —Due to civilian and military growth, 1950s President Dwight Eisenhower, approved the Interstate Highway System

1960 Election  Democratic nominee  John Fitzgerald Kennedy = Senator from Mass.  Republican nominee  Richard Nixon = Vice President under Ike  Two factors that helped JFK win – t.v. and civil rights

Kennedy the Candidate  Well-organized campaign  $ backed by large, wealthy family  Obstacles:  Age: only 43  Religion: Roman Catholic

Televised Debate  1 st televised debate ever between presidential candidates  Nixon: expert on foreign policy  Wanted to use the debate to expose JFK’s weakness.  JFK – cool and calm  “Image replaced the printed word.”

Election Outcome  The Presidential election of 1960 was the closest in American history. John F. Kennedy won the popular vote by a slim margin of approximately 100,000 votes. Richard Nixon won more individual states than Kennedy, but it was Kennedy who prevailed by winning key states with many electoral votes.

Kennedy and the King  MLK and 33 demonstrators arrested in Atlanta at a segregated lunch counter  No concern from Ike  JFK showed concern  Bobby K. convinced the judge to have MLK released on bail

Camelot  JFK, wife Jackie, son John Jr., daughter Caroline  Represented a Camelot mystique

JFK Takes Command  Warned against supporting the French in Indochina  JFK’s policy of Flexible Response  Build-up of the nation’s conventional forces (non-nuclear forces)  Created an elite branch of the Army  The Special Forces or The Green Berets

The Berlin Crisis Citizens from E. Berlin flocked into W. Berlin - Better economy N.K. constructed the Berlin Wall to separate the two (Aug. 1961) - Sign of Communist oppression

New Frontier  JFKs legislative program:  Spark economy by increase spending on national defenses  Peace Corps -Increase international aid  Expand space program

Space Race  JFK vows to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s  Invests in NASA- National Aeronautics and Space Administration  Apollo Program-lands Neil Armstrong on the moon  Armstrong quotes “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. race/videos/space-race-cold-war-front

JFK Assassination  Nov. 22, 1963-Dalles TX  JFK arrived to mend political fences with members of the state’s Democratic Party  JFK shot and murdered  Dallas police charged Lee Harvey Oswald with murder-palm print found on rifle used  Conspiracy Theories:  Oswald acted as part of a conspiracy with 2 shooters  Anti-Castro Cubans  Communist-sponsored attack  Conspiracy by the CIA

Lyndon B. Johnson  Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson becomes President  Proves American system works!  LBJ and Domestic legislation  Passed JFK’s Civil Rights Bill..it now becomes the Civil Rights Act 1964— Prohibits discrimination bc of race, religion, national origin, and gender

Great Society  Great Society -LBJ’s Domestic agenda  Aimed to: 1. Reduce poverty 2. Reduce racial injustice 3. Promote a better quality of life in the United States.