1. Politics of the 1960s

2. President Dwight D. Eisenhower In March of 1960 Eisenhower told the CIA to begin training Cuban exiles In an attempt to over throw The Cuban government.

3. In May of 1960 Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Which put federal inspectors at local polls in order to allow all people to vote that showed up to register. Some people think that the Sit-ins in Greensboro had something to do with this act.

4. On May 5, 1960 the Soviets shot down an American U2 spy plane. Two days later on May 7 Eisenhower confirmed this Announcement. In 1961 Eisenhower cut Relations with cuba.

5. John F. Kennedy Beat out Republican Richard Nixon to earn the presidency. He was the youngest elected president in United States history. “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

6. Major Events in Kennedys Presidency Bay of Pigs

7. The Cuban Missile Crisis

8. Civil Rights Movement

9. Other Important Events In 1961 Kennedy founded the Peace Corps. In August of 1961 the Berlin wall was constructed. The Space race was also very prominent during this time. Yuri Gagarin, Apollo.

10. The Assassination On November 22, 1963 in Dallas Texas john F Kennedy was Shot in the upper torso and head while riding in an open top limousine.

13. Lyndon B. Johnson Took Over after Kennedys death. In 1964 he was re-elected and won the popular vote by the largest margin in us history 15,000,000,votes.

14. In 1964 he passed the civil Rights Act. Which banned bias based on race or skin color when applying for jobs. In addition to the Johnson helped pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Which disallowed prerequisites for voting. Despite this there were many race riots and a black supremacist group named the black panthers emerged.

15. The Great Society Its major goals were to get rid of racial prejudices and poverty. While new programs focused on education, heath care and transportation were put forth. Examples: Medicare, medicaid, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

17. The Vietnam War

18. In the Eisenhower term, the UN declared that Vietnam was to be divided at the 17 th parallel The United States supported the republic in South Vietnam and fearing the effects of the Domino Theory, the US sent over one billion dollars in economic and military aid to South Vietnam Ho Chi Minh was to lead North Vietnam and Ngo Dinh Diem would lead South Vietnam

19. Communist North Vietnam began to take over South Vietnam In 1961, President Kennedy sent “advisors” to Vietnam In 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown and later killed In 1964, North Vietnam supposedly attacked US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin which led to the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave President Johnson a “blank check” to do what ever he thought was needed in Vietnam With this, Johnson authorized Operation Rolling Thunder and put over five hundred thousand American troops in Vietnam by 1968 which was known as “Americanization”

20. The Vietnam war included much Guerilla Warfare and atrocities were committed by both the Vietnamese and the US Americans were updated on the war through the television The supporters of the war were called “hawks” while those who disagreed with the war were called “doves”

21. In January 1968, the US was attacked by surprise by the Vietcong and engaged in severe battles across Vietnam in the Tet Offensive including battles at Hue and the US embassy This is thought to be a turning point of the Vietnam War Although the US won, a lot of American public support was lost for the cause of the war and this led to President Johnson withdrawing from the run for reelection