Theme 2.3

When was JFK’s presidency?

1960-63

Who was the first Catholic and youngest elected president?

JFK

What did JFK become during his service in the Navy?

a war hero and author

When was JFK first elected as a congressman?

at age 29

Why was JFK very popular?

due to relative youth, energy, charisma, and family mystique as well as his beautiful and fashionable wife, Jackie

What was JFK’s domestic program called?

the New Frontier

What was the New Frontier influenced by?

FDR’s New Deal

What was the goal of the New Frontier?

to create more social, economic, and racial equality in the U.S.

What was JFK’s Peace Corps?

a (successful) call for college-age volunteers in third-world countries (a.k.a. “a torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans”)

How did JFK attempt to pass the Soviets in the Space Race?

he started an ambitious space race program (Apollo) and convinced Congress to expand NASA

What was JFK’s involvement in civil rights events during his presidency?

he supported the integration of the University of Mississippi and protected the Freedom Riders

What was JFK’s televised civil rights speech in response to?

the Alabama governor blocking the University of Mississippi’s doors

What were some of JFK’s general domestic policies?

federal aid for education/raising social security and Medicare/improving labor relations/cutting taxes/civil rights and women’s rights

Who got JFK’s Civil Rights Bill passed into the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

LBJ

What assessment can be made about JFK’s presidency?

he had an incomplete agenda due to his 1963 assassination, but he served as a role model for future generations

When was LBJ’s presidency?

1963-69

What is LBJ most known for?

his support of the New Deal and the Civil Rights Act of 1957

What did LBJ’s ambitious agenda include?

the Great Society as part of the “war on poverty” in both urban and rural areas

How did LBJ increase the U.S.’s bureaucracy?

by spending billions on education, consumer protection, the arts, highway safety and conservation

Why was the Office of Economic Opportunity created?

to oversee financial aid and job training programs, including VISTA and Head Start

What did the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 24th Amendment, and 1965 Voting Rights Act result in?

black people gaining voting rights and continuing to switch to the Democratic Party, while white Southern Democrats became Republican

Who appointed Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court Justice?

LBJ

What did LBJ’s environmental protection measures include?

clean air and water anti-pollution acts

What were LBJ’s environmental protection measures inspired by?

the book Silent Spring

Who appointed Robert Weaver, the first African American cabinet member?

LBJ

What did LBJ federally funded in healthcare?

healthcare insurance to the poor (Medicaid) and elderly (Medicare)

How did Great Society programs contribute to inflation?

by exponentially increasing the budget without a corresponding tax increase

What damaged Great Society programs?

funding of the escalation of conflict in Vietnam and domestic racial issues (MLK assassination, urban riots)

When was Richard Nixon’s presidency?

1968-72

What was Nixon’s role in the Red Scare?

he was a well-known communist hater

Why did Nixon run as a pro “law and order” candidate?

in backlash to the counterculture and radicalization of the Civil Rights movement (Black Power)

What was Nixon’s southern strategy based on?

converting Democratic Southern segregationists to the Republican party by promising an anti-civil rights agenda

What occurred at the 1968 DNC that helped Nixon get elected?

chaos and riots by young protestors

Who did Nixon narrowly defeat in the 1968 election?

Hubert Humphrey

Who did Nixon win a landslide victory against in the 1972 election?

George McGovern

What was the effect of Nixon’s war on drugs?

it greatly increased the number of black people in prison for drug offenses

What was Nixon’s New Federalism policy rooted in?

state’s rights ideology

Who was Nixon’s vice president?

Spiro Agnew, an ultra-conservative from Maryland that resigned in disgrace during a corruption scandal

How did Nixon reorganize the Supplemental Security Income (SSI)?

to standardize federal payments to the disabled to make payments equal to Social Security

What environmental measure did Nixon create?

the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

What did Nixon’s economy suffer from?

inflation that started under LBJ, the ending of the Bretton Woods system/gold standard, the 1973 oil crisis, and stagflation

How did Nixon attempt to end inflation?

by instituting wage and price freezes

What Supreme Court decisions occurred during Nixon’s presidency?

Roe v. Wade, rejection of Nixon’s request for presidential immunity, allowance of the publishing of the Pentagon Papers, and Bakke v. California

What did Nixon end the draft based on?

his policy of Vietnamization

What led to the Kent State Massacre?

student demonstrations of Nixon’s bombing raids in Cambodia

What was one of Nixon’s defining characteristics that led to the Watergate scandal and his resignation?

paranoia of political enemies

What was the biggest decision that Ford made during his presidency?

pardoning Nixon for all crimes related to Watergate

Why did Ford pardon Nixon?

as an attempt to heal the division in the country

What was the result of Ford naming moderate Republican Nelson Rockefeller as his vice president?

it set up a conflict with conservatives, leading to support for Reagan over Ford

How was there conflict between Ford and the Democratic Congress throughout his presidency?

he attempted to cut taxes, end price controls, and raise tariffs, while Congress was trying to spend money on social programs

What did both Nixon and Ford oppose?

busing – an attempt to integrate Boston schools by busing black students to white schools and vice versa

What type of Whtie House did Carter encourage?

informal and low-key

How did Carter attempt to end inflation?

by deregulating the transportation industry (airplane, trucking, railroad)

Why dd Carter create the Department of Energy?

to regulate domestic supplies and fund research into alternative energy sources

What did Carter’s deregulation of oil and natural gas prices lead to?

increased supply and lower prices

What weakened Carter’s legacy?

the Iranian revolution resulted in a second energy crisis and continuing inflation/he had poor media relations and family embarrassment

Why was Carter a one-term president?

due to public and media perception, a poor economy, and Iran hostage crisis

Who did Carter lose to in 1980?

Reagan

When are presidents seen as having an imperial presidency?

when they are given or take more power than the Constitution allows

What are unilateral executive decisions?

decisions made without the consent of the courts or Congress

How was FDR an imperial president?

by permanently changing the role of the federal government

What was the result of JFK’s Bay of Pigs

What did JFK’s assassination in 1963 illustrate?

the vulnerability of the president

What led Southern Democrats to eventually leave the party for good?

JFK and LBJ’s civil rights agendas

What did the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1968) do?

it gave LBJ as commander in chief almost unlimited power to escalate the war in Asia

What did LBJ’s credibility gap cause?

a gradual widespread distrust of the U.S. government and presidency for the first time in history

What did the public discovery of Nixon’s secret bombing attacks on Cambodia do?

cause violent protests in the U.S.

What did the War Powers Act (1973) do?

limit presidents’ war powers

What did the Pentagon Papers do?

expose that JFK, LBJ, and Nixon’s administrations had been misleading the public about the war for years

What was the Watergate scandal?

a major political scandal revolving around the members of a group associated with Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign breaking into and placing listening devices in DNC headquarters at the Watergate office building in D.C.

What did the Supreme Court force Nixon to do?

hand over secretly recorded tapes to investigators, exposing his obstruction of justice

How did the televised Kennedy/Nixon debate influence the 1960 election?

by gaining favor for JFK

What did coverage of the Kennedy assassination and funeral influence?

sympathy for his incomplete civil rights agenda

What did the coverage of the violet treatment of civil rights marchers in Alabama influence?

the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts

What did LBJ’s negative ad campaign in the 1964 election do?

successfully portray Goldwater as dangerous

How did the civil rights and feminism movements affect TV?

by allowing black people and women to have leading roles on network TV shows in the 1960s and ‘70s

What was the reaction to scenes of anti-war counterculture protests?

it inspired younger people but angered the older generation

What did the Pentagon Papers show?

government hypocrisy about Vietnam

What did the televised Watergate hearings lead to?

the turning of millions against Nixon and his resignation in 1974