kennedy & johnson years

JFK

• ran against Nixon in 1960

• youngest person to run for president

• 1st roman catholic to win presidency

• Michael Harrington’s The Other America – 1/5 of Americans were living below the poverty line & JFK felt they needed direct federal aid

• Medical / Educational aid proposed by JFK failed in Congress…

  • used executive orders to accomplish goals

JFK & Congress

• Food to unemployed

• Largest, fastest military buildup in peacetime ever (missile)

• Area Redevelopment Law

• Changes to Social Security – 5 million people; retire at 62

• Federal funds to combat water pollution

• Increase of National Parks

• Construction of world’s largest nuclear power plant

• Signing of a Trade Expansion Act; encouraged free trade

• Signing of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; 1st nuclear agreement

Housing Act of 1961

$4.9 billion for urban renewal

24th Amendment

outlawed poll tax

April 1961

– Yuri Gagarin; circled the Earth on Vostok

May 5, 1961 –

Alan Sheppard – 15 min flight; 115 miles altitude

May 25, 1961 –

JFK → USA “should commit itself to achieving the goal,

before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon.”

Feb, 20, 1962 –

John Glenn orbits Earth 3 times

Equal Pay Act

• Added into the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

• stated “all employees doing substantially the same work in the same workplace must be given equal pay.”

mandate

public endorsement of ideas

New Frontier

• 1. Improve the Economy

• 2. Assist the poor

• 3. Compete with USSR in space

• JFK vows to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

  • Less than a year later, John Glenn orbits Earth 3 times.

JFK assassination

• Dealey Plaza in Dallas, TX

• Nov. 22, 1963

• Lee Harvey Oswald determined as culprit by Warren Commission

Warren Commission

• commission appointed by VP Johnson to investigate JFK assassination

• headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren

• concludes that Oswald acted alone

  • however he was murdered by Jack Ruby, hence conspiracy theories

Lyndon B. Johnson

• took oath of office onboard Air Force One at Love Field (airport)

  • Lady Bird (LBJ’s wife) & Jacqueline Kennedy flanked LBJ as he took the oath

• 36th President of the United States

• pushed through JFK’s tax cut w/ addendum to cut gov. spending

  • caused GNP to grow, deficit to shrink, unemployment to fall, & inflation to remain in check

• cut poverty in half

• continued JFK’s policy in Vietnam, sending advisers & economic aid to South Vietnam

LBJ early political career

• Began career in the House of Reps. in 1937 as a “New Deal” Democrat from Texas

• won a seat in the Senate in 1948

• Elected (youngest) minority leader in the Senate in 1953;

  • known for rewarding his friends & punishing his enemies as Majority Leader when the Democrats took control of the Senate in 1954.

• Campaigned to be President in 1960 but failed to receive the nomination,

  • LBJ accepted JFK’s invitation to become VP even though he would admit later that the job of VP bored him because it lacked any real power.

• served 20+ yrs in Congress

Great Society

• Civil Rights Bill

• Tax Cuts

• Public Education

• Better Healthcare

• Eliminate Poverty

• Voting rights reform

• conservation efforts

• urban renewal

• Economic development in depressed areas

Election of 1964

• Landslide victory for LBJ over Republican Barry Goldwater (Senator – Arizona)

  • LBJ – 61% of the popular vote

  • 486 to 52 tally in the Electoral College

  • Democrats won majorities in both house of Congress:

• LBJ’s campaign took advantage of voters’ fears of nuclear war w/ a commercial in which a little girl’s counting game turned into a countdown for a nuclear explosion (“Daisy”)

• “Landslide Lyndon” now had the mandate to move ahead more aggressively

Head Start

preschool program for children w/ low income families

Johnson

Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)

sent people too help poor communities

Johnson

Medicare

health insurance for Americans 65+

Johnson

Medicaid

medical coverage for low income Americans

Johnson

Miranda rule

police must inform criminal suspects of rights before questioning

apportionment

redrawing of electoral districts

Chief Justice Earl Warren

• Warren Commission

• outlawed prayer in schools,

• redefined obscenity laws,

• struck down laws prohibiting birth control

Bay of Pigs invasion

• Eisenhower approved in 1960; JFK agreed despite opposition of covert plan

• CIA would train Cuban exiles to invade & overthrow Fidel Castro

• Cuban opponents invade Cuba in 1961 w/ US backing

• Castro easily defeats invading forces

• Covert plan was exposed to the entire world

• USA faced anger from Latin American countries after violating agreements not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere

• European Leaders were skeptical of JFK’s decision making & leadership

Berlin Wall

• Nikita Khrushchev vs. JFK

• JFK asked Congress increase of $3 billion for DEFENSE,

• separated Communist East Berlin from West Berlin

• JFK responds by promising to protect West Germany’s freedom in June 1963

  • Two days later, JFK spoke near the Berlin Wall stating, “Ich bin ein Berliner”, or “I am a Berliner”.

Cuban Missile Crisis

• October 16, 1962 – US spy planes discovered USSR building missile bases on Cuban soil

• Terrible standoff (13 days) between the USSR & USA – JFK had 4 options:

  • 1. Engage in further negotiations with Khrushchev

  • 2. Invade Cuba

  • 3. Blockade Cuba

  • 4. Bomb the missile sites

• JFK responds w/ “naval quarantine” around Cuba & asks USSR to withdraw missiles

• resolved when US agrees to stay out Cuba & USSR withdraws missiles

Limited Test Ban Treaty

treaty signed by US & USSR banning above ground nuclear testing

Alliance for Progress

called on all Western Hemisphere nations to work to satisfy needs of people in the Americas (North, Central, South)

Peace Corps

program to send volunteers worldwide as health workers, educators, & technicians

Television was a major factor in the election of 1960 because during the campaign

candidates faced each other in the nation’s first televisted debate

Kennedy’s New Frontier included efforts to

improve the space program

The Warren Commission decided that the Kennedy assassination was

the act of a single man

As a member of Congress, LBJ was known for his

great skills as a legislator

LBJ called his plan for improving the nation the

Great Society

Medicare & Medicaid were programs designed to help people afford

healthcare

During the 1960s the Supreme Court made several decisions which

protected the rights of people accused of crimes

The goal of the Bay of Pigs invasion was to

force Fidel Castro from power

Why did the Soviets build the Berlin Wall?

to stop people from escaping from East Germany

The Cuban Missile Crisis ended when

the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba

Vietnam War

• JFK had sent 16,000 military advisors to South Vietnam to train SV army against the Communists led by Ho Chi Minh.

• Gulf of Tonkin Incident / Resolution

• Escalation of American forces

• Eventual protests at home

• Tet Offensive

• LBJ decided not to run for re-election in 1968.