Chapter 22

The Kennedy and Johnson Years

Section 1

The New Frontier

1960 electionJFK vs. Nixon

Kennedy• Democrat• Young/ 43 yrs old• Catholic• 14 yrs experience in

House of Rep, but w/o major role

• U.S. Navy WWII

Nixon• Republican• Experienced; VP

under Eisenhower;• U.S. Navy; lieutenant

commander in Pacific• Senator from

California• Major role in Alger

Hiss investigation

Kennedy’s campaign

• Critics said he was too young and would take orders from Rome because he was Catholic

• Kennedy promised to “get America moving again” and spur the sluggish economy

• Used the media to his advantage

Kennedy-Nixon debates• Nixon believed that he would slaughter Kennedy in the

debates because he was skilled in foreign policy• Kennedy looked good! He used TV to his advantage• Radio listeners thought that Nixon won; TV viewers

thought JFK won.

Kennedy arrived to debates rested and tan. He felt comfortable in front of camera.

Nixon was pasty white and tried to cover “five o’clock shadow” with makeup stick called “Lazy Shave”. When he sweated in front of the tv lights, the make up ran down his face.

Kennedy wins, but lacks a mandate.• JFK had courted the black vote, so he chose LBJ, a

powerful Senator from Texas, to balance the ticket.

CamelotRepresented the Kennedy White House image

The New FrontierJFK’s domestic program

• Proposed tax cut to end economic slump- plan got stuck in Congress (lacked mandate, remember?)

• After publication of The Other America, by Michael Herrington, proposed plan to give federal education and medical aid- both failed in Congress

Senior citizens at Welfare Department, New York City 1960.

Poverty in America 1960s

Lower East Side slums, family. New York City. 1963.

Lower East Side slums, bed. New York City. 1963.

Welfare recipients waiting in rain

JFK - more domestic policy• Increased minimum wage

• 24th amendment- outlawed poll tax

• Equal Pay Act – equal pay for equal work

• Housing Act 1961 – urban renewal for slum areas

The Space Program• goal to put a man on the moon by the

end of the decade• The Soviet Union’s launching of the

Sputnik satellite in 1957 and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s orbiting of Earth in 1961 jarred Americans. The United States was being left behind.

• Within a year, Alan Shepard and Gus Grisson became the first two Americans to travel into space.

Allen Shepard-went 115 miles up , but did not orbit Earth.

Watching flight of Astronaut Shepard on television, 05 May 1961.

• On February 20, 1962, John Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit Earth. After more than four hours in space, having circled the earth three times, Glenn piloted the Friendship 7 back into the atmosphere, landing in the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda.

Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the moon was reached on July 20, 1969.

He would not be alive to see it.

Neil Armstrong – first man to land on the moon

Kennedy AssassinatedNovember 22, 1963

• JFK and John Connally were shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in an open car in a Dallas motorcade.

• Connally recovered; JFK mortally wounded.

This is one of the only known photos of Lyndon B. Johnson leaving Parkland Hospital after learning of President Kennedy’s death.

Lee Harvey Oswald killed by Jack Ruby

Warren Commission• Conspiracy theories abound. • The Warren Commission finds that Lee Harvey

Oswald was the lone assassin and acted alone.

Section 2

The Great Society

Lyndon Baines Johnson sworn in as President.

The Great Society• LBJ’s domestic policy agenda

• Poverty, education, healthcare, voting rights, conservation, urban renewal, economic development

Used legacy of JFK to push through his Civil Rights Act of 1964.

1964 election • Johnson received a mandate with a landslide

victory over Barry Goldwater

• LBJ used people’s fear of nuclear war (Daisy commercial)

LBJ’s War on Poverty

• Economic Opportunity Act- designed to combat illiteracy, and unemployment; gave $950 million dollars for projects

• Head Start –preschool program for healthcare, nutrition, and social services

• VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America)- sent people to help in poor communities

Medicaid and Medicare• Medicare –hospital and low-cost medical

insurance to Americans 65 and older• Medicaid –provides low-cost health

insurance coverage to poor Americans of any age who cannot afford it

Warren Court• Increased the rights of those accused

of a crime -evidence seized illegally cannot be used at trial, right to free lawyer and have lawyer present at questioning, Miranda rule

Warren Court-Social Issues

• obscenity ruling, no prayer in public school, struck down law forbidding the use of birth control

Warren Court-“One man, one vote”

• Apportionment –seats in the legislature must be equally divided among the electoral districts; designed to fix the problem of rural areas receiving more representation in the legislature

Johnson accomplished many things, but the war in Vietnam would cost him funding for his

Great Society programs.

Section 3

Foreign Policy in the Early 1960ss

Bay of Pigs Invasion April 17, 1961• Castro came to power in Cuba and was anti-American• Seized property that was held by foreigners, including U.S.

businesses• Castro developed ties to the Soviet Union• JKF followed a CIA plan from Eisenhower’s administration to

overthrow Castro using American trained Cuban rebels• Many warned JFK against using this plan

Bay of Pigs=failure• U.S. Air Force failed to take out Cuba’s air force• Castro’s troops easily defeated 1,500 U.S. supported

rebels• JFK refused to use American planes to support invaders

Results of Failure of Bay of Pigs

• U.S. is exposed invading another country to overthrow its leader

• Loose respect in Latin America• JFK looks inexperienced and incompetent –remember

this was what he was accused of in the election

1,189 invaders were taken prisoner, and 4 American pilots were killed in battle.

The prisoners were tried in mass televised trials, and most were released to the U.S. in exchange for $53 million in food and medicine within a year.

Berlin Crisis• Kennedy feels threatened by Soviet actions in Berlin• Soviets wish to stop the large number of East Germans

that were escaping to West Germany through Berlin (doctors, teachers, industrial workers, etc)

• Soviets built the Berlin Wall – this became a symbol of the Cold War

Cuban Missile Crisis• Soviets were building missile bases in Cuba, 90

miles off coast of U.S.• Kennedy used a naval quarantine around Cuba to

deter the operation and placed the American military on full alert with bombers armed with nuclear weapons

Cuban Missile Crisis resolved• Soviet Union would remove missiles if

Kennedy promised to end quarantine and stay out of Cuba

• The Soviet Union also demanded that the U.S. remove missiles from Turkey

Limited Test Ban Treaty

• Banned nuclear testing above ground

• Designed to eliminate nuclear fallout

JFK’s Alliance for Progress

• $20 billion dollars to Latin America over ten years to improve the basic needs of people living there and to prevent revolution

• People in Latin America saw it as an American ploy to stop the spread of communism

JKF’s Peace Corps• Sent volunteers to foreign countries in

peace to help with education, health care, construction, etc.

• Designed to improve the standard of living in poor countries

Lyndon Johnson’s involvement in Vietnam• Wanted to prevent the spread of communism for North Vietnam into South Vietnam• By 1963 sent 16,000 military advisors to South Vietnam• Gave economic aid to South Vietnam• Involvement in Vietnam took funding away from Great Society programs