1. The 1960’s

2. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
JFK b/c president in 1960 at the age of 43
The youngest elected president in history
JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963
By Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) took over the presidential office
Johnson also won his own presidential election in 1964

3. The Berlin Wall (1961) Nikita Khrushchev – new leader of the SU
1961 – SU builds a wall that separates East and West Berlin
The Berlin Wall
A massive barrier guarded by barbed wire, flood lights, machine gun towers, minefields, and vicious dog patrols
Built to stop East Berliners from escaping to West Berlin
Getting away from communist oppression

4. Bay of Pigs (1961) Fidel Castro has taken control of Cuba
Set up a Soviet supported communist govt.
John F. Kennedy is US President
JFK approves a secret plan to help Cuban exiles invade Cuba and start a revolution against Castro
Once the b/g the revolt JFK calls off US air support
It turns into a disaster – the expected uprising from Cuban citizens never happened
Many of the US trained invaders were killed or captured

5. Cuban Missile Crisis SU sends arms and military advisers to Cuba
After the US Bay of Pigs disaster
1962 – Khrushchev b/g to place nuclear missiles in Cuba w/i easy range of America
In response to US nuclear weapons that were placed in Turkey w/i easy range of the SU
JFK orders a blockade to stop more missiles from getting into Cuba
This gave each side time to negotiate a peaceful solution

6. Cuban Missile Crisis Effects
The agreements…
Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in Cuba
JFK agreed not to invade Cuba
The crisis brought the world too close to nuclear war!
This terrifying fact had a huge effect on both sides
A hotline communications system b/w Moscow and Washington, D.C was installed in 1963
They could now communicate quickly in a time of crisis

7. The Johnson Administration
Johnson’s goal was to create what he called a “Great Society”
Johnson’s welfare state
Health care for the elderly
Combat poverty
Federal assistance for education
Civil Rights for African Americans

8. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was the leader of Civil Rights Movement
He advocated passive disobedience
Peaceful protests such as marches, sit-ins, etc.
King was assassinated in 1968
By James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee
The movement continued w/o him, but he is remembered as the most influential person of the movement

9. Vietnam
1964 – US president Lyndon B. Johnson sends rising numbers of troops to Vietnam
The goal – to keep the Communist regime of N. Vietnam from gaining control of S. Vietnam
Stop the spread of Communism  Containment!!!
US sees Vietnam in terms of the domino theory
Domino Theory – if S. Vietnam falls to Communism, then other Asian countries will fall too
CONTAINMENT  US foreign policy!!!

10. The Vietnam War
Vietnam was the first war to be brought into American homes every evening on television
Huge effect on the support, or lack thereof
Turned American support against the war
An antiwar mvmt b/g to form in the US
Especially among college students of draft age
US failed to defeat the determined N. Vietnamese
Even w/ the massive superiority in equipment and firepower

11. US Gets Out of Vietnam LBJ does not run for reelection
He was condemned for his handling of the war
Richard Nixon b/c the new US President
He ran on the campaign to get the US out of Vietnam
1973 – Nixon reaches an agreement w/ N. Vietnam that allowed US to w/draw
Within 2 years of the US w/draw, S. Vietnam fell to the communist N. Vietnamese forces
Vietnam showed the limitation of American power!

12. Equality For All! Women’s Liberation Movement Also called Women’s Lib
B/g in the late 1960’s
Women b/g to assert their rights for equality
Equal opportunity, equal treatment
Especially in the workplace  equal pay!
Women b/g to burn their bras in protest to the bondage they had suffered by the hands of men