JFK and Key Events in His Presidency

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to JFK and significant events during his presidency.

TV Debates

Helped JFK but hurt Nixon in the Election of 1960; JFK appeared polished and relaxed.

Massachusetts

State where John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born and elected from.

LBJ

Served as JFK's Vice President.

23rd Amendment

Provided Washington D.C. with 3 electoral votes.

Camelot

Name given to the idealistic image of the Kennedy White House.

MLK, Jr.

Gave the famous 'I have a Dream' speech in D.C. in August 1963 while JFK was President.

Attorney General RFK

Robert Francis Kennedy, served in this capacity in his brother's Cabinet.

Warren Commission

Group that investigated the JFK assassination and determined there was only one lone assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.

New Frontier

Name of JFK's domestic program dealing with the economy, poverty, civil rights, and space.

Flexible Response

Name of JFK's foreign policy, especially when dealing with the USSR.

Lee Harvey Oswald

Alleged JFK assassin on November 22, 1963.

Jack Ruby

Dallas strip club owner who shot and killed JFK's alleged assassin on November 24, 1963.

Texas School Book Depository

Famous building where shots were allegedly fired on November 22, 1963.

Grassy Knoll

Location from which conspiracy theorists claimed bullets came during JFK's assassination.

John Connally

Texas Governor who was shot but not killed on November 22, 1963 while riding in JFK's limo.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Failed attempt to oust Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1961.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Crisis resolved when the US promised never to invade Cuba and later removed missiles from Turkey.

Berlin

European city where JFK announced US support against the Russians in June 1963.

Nikita Khrushchev

JFK's Russian adversary; the Soviet Premier.

Peace Corps

Established by JFK to spread American goodwill and democracy without military force.

Berlin Wall

Constructed to stop East Germans from going to West Germany in August 1961.

Quarantine (Blockade)

The option JFK chose to handle the Cuban Missile Crisis.

South Vietnam

JFK sent military advisors here; there were about 16,000 by November 1963.

House Select Committee in 1979

Group that concluded there was probably a second gunman involved in the Kennedy assassination.

Best & the Brightest or The Harvard Gang

Name given to JFK's Cabinet.