Kennedy Presidency1961-1963

US Senator From Massachusetts/ Democrat

Winning a very close election, Kennedy brought youth and a sense of energy and optimism to the White House --The Prince of “American Royalty”.

Creation of the Peace Corps and his pledge to get to the Moon were notable moments in Kennedy’s Presidency, but he is best known for Foreign Policy:

Bay of Pigs (April, 1961) Cuban Missile Crisis (October, 1962) Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963) and buildup of

conventional military arms/forces by the US Initial US Military Involvement/Buildup in

Vietnam (1960-1963)

Assassinated in Dallas Texas on November 22, 1963

Johnson’s (1963-1969)Domestic Policy

Johnson was determined to (1) wage a War on Poverty, (2) expand the social reforms of the New Deal (the Great Society), and (3) further the Civil Rights Movement:

1) Office of Economic Opportunity (OEC) was created and given a billion dollar budget to create self-help programs, such as Head Start for preschoolers; Job Corps for vocational education; literacy programs and legal services for the poor.

Johnson Domestic Policy, Continued

2) “Great Society” programs included Medicaid; Medicare; Elementary and Secondary Education Act; new immigration laws; the National Foundation of the Arts and Humanities; creation of Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD); increased funding for higher education, public housing and crime prevention; and environmental and consumer protection programs.

3) 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1965 Voting Rights Act, and ratification of 24th Amendment

**Plagued by Vietnam, decided not to run for reelection

Nixon Administration Highlights (1969-74)

Domestic Policy: New Federalism – Federal government gives local governments grants to address local needs (rather than dictating from Washington ) - Republican response to Johnson’s Great Society

Economic Policies: Stagflation (Stagnant economy plus lots of inflation, caused by foreign competition, war costs, and OPEC embargo) fought with policies of deficit spending; 1971 90-day wage/price freeze; taking the dollar off the gold standard, and a 10% import tax. Nixon’s policies provided a temporary economic fix, but the “stagflation “ would resurface in the late 70’s.

Nixon Administration Highlights, Continued

Foreign Policy Still fighting (and expanding) the Vietnam War, until Peace

Accords of January, 1973. We will get back to this tomorrow…

Détente with China and Soviet Union Visited China in February, 1972, initiating diplomatic

exchanges that effectively ended the Cold War with China, ultimately led to recognition of the Communist Government in 1979, and opened significant trade with this nation.

Used his relationship with China to put pressure on USSR to reduce some nuclear arms (ABMs) – seen as 1st round of Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT), a significant step in reducing Cold War Tensions.

Nixon visits Chinese premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing, Feb. 1972

In one paragraph summarize what happened during the Watergate Scandal.

What evidence is there that Nixon was guilty of committing a crime? Explain.

If you were Gerald R. Ford would you have pardoned Richard Nixon? Explain.

Explain why the Watergate Scandal caused Americans to lose faith in their government.

Read Pages 917-921 of the textbook, Then ENTRY # 48:

Gerald Ford1974-1977

Replaced Spiro Agnew as Vice President in 1973, when Agnew resigned for having taken bribes when governor of Maryland.

Ford was Scrupulously honest/ Good reputation, BUT… Had to deal with Watergate leftovers – Pardoned Nixon to

end the Watergate “national nightmare” once and for all. Also had the misfortune of lingering Vietnam issues,

including the fall of Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, and the fall of Cambodia to Communism.

Oh, and the economy tanked again Lost the ‘76 election to relative unknown, Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter1977-1981

Deeply religious Christian Washington Outsider, who refused to

play the “political game”, and it hurt his presidency

Human Rights Diplomacy: ex. Cut off aid to Chile and Argentina because of human rights violations by their military governments and renegotiated the Panama Canal Treaty to gradually transfer (critics said “give-away”)control of the Canal from US to Panama

Stagflation was back in full force, as was deficit spending and a new energy crisis…

OPEC

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which regulates the price and supply of oil, created an embargo against Israel's allies during the Yom Kippur War of 1973.

Raised the price of gas by 400% between 1973 and 1979 and

Created an energy crisis, especially during the harsh winter of 1976 to 1977

Huge gas-guzzling vehicles did not help.

Camp David Accords

1979: created a peace agreement between Israel (Begin) and Egypt (Sadat)

Single greatest success for Carter Administration

However, not all was call in the Middle East…

Iran Hostage Crisis 1979-1981 Fundamentalist Islamic holy men, led by

Ayatollah Khomeini took power from Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Iran in Jan., 1979 .

Iranian student radicals took hostages in the US embassy to protest US backing of the former Shah

52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days (November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981)

The hostages initially were held in buildings at the embassy, but after a failed (1980) rescue mission they were scattered to different locations around Iran to make rescue impossible.

Social Revolutions and Cultural Movements of the 1960s and 70s

Civil Rights/ Black Power Student Movement and the

New Left Antiwar (Vietnam) Counterculture and the

Sexual Revolution Minority Rights (Hispanic,

Native and Asian Americans)

Gay Liberation Movement Environmental Movement And…

Individual Rights Supreme Court Cases

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) States must provide lawyers to

indigent defendants

Miranda v. Arizona (1966) Defendant must be read rights

upon arrest

The Women’s Movement The Civil Rights Movement, increased education

and employment since WWII, and the sexual revolution all contributed to the renewal of the Women’s Movement in the 1960’s

Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique is widely credited with sparking the beginning of this second-wave feminism in the US.[2]

National Organization for Women (NOW) worked hard for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which passed through Congress, but failed to be ratified.

Equal Pay Act (1963) and Civil Rights Act (1964) helped women in the workplace…

Steinem at a news conference, Women's Action Alliance, January 12, 1972

Roe V. Wade (1973) Supreme Court Case, in which the Court ruled 7–2

that a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion and thus gave women the right to an abortion until “viability.”

In disallowing many state and federal restrictions on abortion in the US, Roe v. Wade prompted a national debate that continues to this day.