John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Civil Rights, Domestic policy and Foreign policy

The New Frontier and The Great Society!

Election of 1960 Kennedy v. Nixon Kennedy is young,

Catholic, WWII Veteran

Nixon served with Truman in Office

Kennedy wins by a razor-thin margin

Results of 1960 election

Kennedy Domestic programs “New Frontier” Investigated a possible price fixing by U.S. steel

companies Steel companies back down on price increase

Increase in minimum wage Twenty-fourth amendment

Outlawed poll tax Equal Pay Act

All employees doing substantially the same work in the same work-place must be given equal pay

Domestic Programs: NASA We were falling behind

Russian technology 1961: Soviet Union

announces that Yuri Gagarin circled earth

1962: John Glenn successfully completed three orbits around the earth

1969: Neil Armstrong lands on the moon

Kennedy Civil Rights 1960: over 70,000 students had participated in

sit-ins, 3,600 had served time in jail Desegregation starts to spread

Freedom rides to test if the southern states would obey the Supreme Court decision

Riders were attacked, beaten and arrested Robert Kennedy reluctant at first to send federal

support, but later sent marshal’s to protect riders

Desegregation spreads

Birmingham, Alabama 1963 King: “the most segregated city in America” A march in planned and begins nonviolently

with protest marches and sit-ins But it is against a city regulation that says a

person/group must have a permit to have a march/parade

King is arrested and thrown in jail

Birmingham continued “Bull” Connor arrested more than 900 of the young

people that joined with King “Bull” used attached dogs, fire-hoses and policemen National televised violence Protesters win which leads to desegregation of city

facilities and fairer hiring practices Kennedy “If the President does not himself wage the

struggle for equal rights- if he stands above the battle- then the battle will inevitably be lost.”

Birmingham, caught in time

Assassination of JFK Dallas, TX, November 22, 1963

President Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline rode throw the streets in an open limousine

Motorcade slowed as it was turning in front of the Texas School Book Depository

Lee Harvey Oswald prime suspect Jack Ruby shot Oswald as he was being transported Conspiracy theory

Did Oswald act alone? Grassy Knoll?

Lyndon Bain Johnson 36th President

Inherited civil unrest, Vietnam conflict and dealing with the assassination of a President and a wounded nation

Expectations were high, hope was high Politically talented and unstoppable ambition Bullied for votes while in the House of

Representatives and Senate

Great Society – legislative initiatives Programs: major poverty relief, education aid,

healthcare, voting rights, conservation, beautification projects, urban renewal & economic development

Laid the platform for the election of 1964 against Barry Goldwater

Initiatives of Great Society Tax cut: GNP rose form 7.1% in 1964 to

9.5% in 1966 War on poverty: Head Start for low-income

preschool children, Volunteers in Service to America sent to help people in poor communities

Aid in Education: Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 sent $1.3 billion in aid to states

Initiatives continued Medicare hospital and low-cost medical

insurance to people over 65, Medicaid provides low-cost health insurance coverage to poor Americans no matter their age who could not afford their own insurance

Immigration Act of 1965 increased quotas and exempted political refugees in the U.S.

Warren Court & Earl Warren Numerous landmark decision of the Supreme

Court: Miranda v. Arizona, Escobedo v. Illinois (could request an attorney while being questioned) Gideon v. Wainwright (were awarded an attorney if they could not afford one), Engel v. Vitale (religious prayer in school was illegal according to 1st amend. –separation of church and state)

Civil Rights keep marching on Washington March: “Jobs & Freedom”

200,000 came to march

Johnson picks up torch That nothing “could be more eloquently

honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill.”

Filibuster-tactic in which senators prevent a vote on a measure by taking the floor and refusing to stop talking

Cloture-procedure that may be used to limit or end debate and call for a vote

Civil Rights Act of 19641. banned different voter registration standards for

blacks and whites2. prohibited discrimination in public accommodations3. allowed withholding of federal funds from public or

private programs that discriminated4. banned discrimination on the basis of race, sex,

religion or national origin by employers and unions, and also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate charges of job discrimination

Black Nationalism Malcolm X- joined Nation

of Islam while in prison for burglary, preached black separation

The visit to Mecca changed his life, came back to the U.S. and joined up with civil rights leaders

Shot and killed nine months later by members of the Nation of Islam

Black Power Movement

De facto segregation Separation caused by social conditions such as

poverty: fact of life in most American cities Riots spread from the east coast to the west coast Los Angeles Riot of 1965 started when a young

black man was pulled over for drunk driving and was beaten.

Riot ensued: 21 dead, 1,000 injured after six days

M.L.K, Jr. Changes approach to attack economic injustice “Poor People’s

Campaign”

Next day King is shot while standing on the balcony of his motel

Robert Kennedy killed

Riots break out over 120 cities across the U.S.

Legacy of Civil Rights MovementSlow progress, but progress was made:

1. Segregation was now illegal 2. thousands of African Americans could vote 3. changed American political life 4. African American officials elected between

1970-1975 rose 88 percent