US History Two Chapter 31

John F. Kennedy

President 1961-1963. Democrat. PT boat commander in WW II. Massachusetts Senator. Assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

New Frontier

Kennedy’s domestic program.

Lee Harvey Oswald

Kennedy’s accused assassin. Murdered two days later.

Warren Commission

A board appointed by LBJ to investigate Kennedy’s assassination. Concluded that Oswald had acted alone.

Lyndon B. Johnson

President 1963-1969. Democrat. Elected to the U.S. House in 1936. Senator in 1948. JFK’s VP until his assassination in which gave him presidency.

Great Society

Lyndon B. Johnson’s domestic program. Shared the goals of the New Frontier of maintaining the strong American economy and expanding federal responsibility for social welfare.

Election of 1964

Lyndon B. Johnson defeated ultraconservative Senator Barry Goldwater in a landslide.

Medicare

A program to provide federal aid to the elderly for medical expenses, and early step toward national health insurance.

Medicaid

Extended federal medical aid to all welfare recipients, regardless of age.

Office of Economic Opportunity

The “centerpiece” of the Great Society. Provided for educational programs, job creation, housing assistance, and health care for those in need.

Community Action

The idea was to involve the poor people in the planning and administration of the OEO programs designed to help them.

Department of Housing and Urban Development

A Cabinet department created by LBJ to connect the federal government directly to the cities.

Immigration Act of 1965

It limited newcomers to 170,000n each year, but largely eliminated quotas.

“Sit-in”

To protest segregated lunch counters and restaurants, large numbers of black college students began in 1960 to simply occupy the areas non-violently.

“Freedom Rides”

In 1961, both white and black students traveled on buses throughout the South to protest segregated bus stations.

James Meredith

A federal court order allowed the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi in 1962. The governor refused to obey the order and townspeople rioted in his support.

March in Washington - August 1963

More than 200,000 participated in a peaceful civil rights demonstrations, which culminated at the Lincoln Memorial in Martin Luther King’s speech, “I Have a Dream.”

Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965

Where Kennedy had failed. Johnson succeeded in getting these comprehensive bills passed Blacks made gains in a variety of areas, including housing and voting rights.

Affirmative Action

An effort to compensate for past injustices-hiring practices weighted in favor of minorities.

Watts

A black ghetto section of Los Angeles torn apart by the first major race riot since the end of the World War II. The striking of a black protestor by a white policeman. 34 dies (28 of them black).

Commission of Civil Disorders

Its 1968 report blamed the rioting on poverty and recommended massive spending to eliminate the problems of the ghettos.

“Black Power”

This was a movement away from interracial cooperation and toward pride in racial distinctiveness, and resulted in a split in the civil-rights movement between moderates and racials.

Malcom X

A problem spokesman of the Nation of Islam Black Muslims, who referred to all whites as “devils.” Claimed that Jesus was black. Called for black to join the Islamic faith and practice complete racial separation.

Peace Corps

A Kennedy program which trained and sent volunteers to work in developing areas, to keep these areas from falling prey to radicals or communists.

Bay of Pigs

The CIA trained a small army of Cuban exiles to invade the island and overthrow Castro. U.S. would provide air support. Kennedy agreed to the plan, but at the last minute withdrew air support. Cuban revolt failed to materialize.

Berlin Wall

The USSR ordered East Germany to build a wall to prevent East Germans from escaping to freedom in West Berlins. This wall was heavily guarded. Wall was dismantled in 1989. Two Germany’s reunited.

Cuban Missile Crisis - 1962

The Soviets were detected installing nuclear missiles in Cuba. Cuba was “quarantined.” Russia removed missiles from Cuba, and the U.S. removed missiles from Turkey.

Ngo Dinh Diem

Autocratic ruler of South Vietnam with close ties to the Ho Chi Minh government in North Vietnam. They so infiltrated the native population that the U.S. forces could not succeed in driving them out.

Viet Cong

Communist guerillas in South Vietnam with close ties to the Ho Chi Ming government in North Vietnam. U.S. could not succeed in driving them out.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - 1964

In response to a reported North attack on American forces. Congress authorized President Johnson to “take all necessary measures” to “prevent further aggression” by the communist forces.

Senator William Fulbright

Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He turned against the war and helped influence widespread opposition to Johnson’s policies.

Tet Offensive

Early in 1968, the Viet Cong launched a huge attack in South Vietnam. Extensive television coverage of the savage fighting shocked the American public and intensified the opposition to the war.

King Assassination - 1968

Martin Luther King was shot in memphis, and his death set off rioting in more than sixty cities.

Robert F. Kennedy

JFK’s younger brother. Senator from New York. Outspoken critic of the war. Well on his way to the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968 when he was primary.

Democratic Convention, Chicago

Humphrey was nominated, but the eyes of the nation were on the responses of Mayor Richard J. Daley and the Chicago police to the antiwar demonstration going on the outside.

George Wallace

Governor of Alabama. Third party candidate for President in 1968 who succeeded in carrying most of the Deep South.

Richard M. Nixon

VP for eight years under Eisenhower. Narrowly lost the election of 1960 of Kennedy. Spoke for conservative “Middle America” and advocated stability, law and order, and “peace with honor” in Vietnam. Elected President in 1968.