The John F. Kennedy Years, 1961-1963

1960 Election

A.       The US was demoralized over Sputnik, world affairs, USSR Military Power – many had a sense of drifting with no strength of purpose

Richard M. Nixon 

1\.       won the republican nomination; chooses Henry Cabot Lodge (Massachusetts) as his running mate



a.       Elected to the House in ’46, to the Senate in ’50, as the V-P in ’52

push the idea “America is in good shape

John F. Kennedy

We stand today on the edge of a *New Frontier* – the frontier of unknown opportunities and perils – a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats.”



a.       US Navy war hero – PT 109 (was the subject of a 1963 feature film); Pulitzer Prize winner in ’54 for *Profiles in Courage*

Elected to the House in ’46; to the Senate in ’50; nominated for

push the ideas of the “missile gap,”  getting the American Economy going; 

many of his proposals died in committee at the hands of conservative members of his own party

Televised Debates

Monday, Sept. 26) was the first-ever televised debate and was watched by some 70 million viewers



a.       Nixon failed to make good eye contact with the audience in TV land; looked pale and pasty on TV



a.       JFK handled the TV audience well



more watched on TV than listened on radio!

Religion issue

JFK diffused the Catholic issue with a speech before the Houston Ministerial Association which directly confronted the political implications of Catholicism.



“In America, the separation of church and state is absolute….no Catholic prelate would tell the President – should he be a Catholic – how to act and no Protestant minister should tell his parishioners for whom to vote.”

Martin Luther King

arrested in Atlanta, – GA and sentenced to four months in jail – Robert Kennedy called the judge and told him “that if he was a decent American, he would let King out of jail by sundown.” – King was released, and the JFK campaign distributed some 2 million pamphlets extolling the Kennedys’ efforts on behalf of Dr. King.

Kennedy’s inaugural address

·      “Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans…”



 



·       “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country…”

I.                     World Affairs

continue the policy of Containment – using new methods and “Flexible response” – Guerilla tactics and Green Berets

no “missile gap” continued the nuclear build-up, as did the USSR

Indo China

1\.       Laos had fallen into a struggle for power between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Laotian Army. JFK and the Soviets negotiate a neutral coalition

government

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1\.     Vietnam-  President Diem was unable to deliver social and economic reforms, and his repressive tactics spread to the Buddhist majority as well as the Communists, he continued to dispatch more military “advisors” to stabilize the situation. Buddhist

monks protested the repressive regime of Diem – many lighting themselves on fire in protest!

     murder Diem and other officials – although without explicit American approval

Generals provide no more stability, and the South Vietnamese government will undergo several coups which result in one military leader after another

A.       The Congo

1\.       Belgians left in 1960



2\.       Pro-communists and anti-communists compete for control



3\.       UN sends in troops to restore peace



4\.       Krushchev threatened the UN – JFK backed the UN and won the bluff

A.       Latin America

1\.       Alliance for Progress -- $100 billion program to provide economic aid to Latin America – More Truman Doctrine/Marshall Plan thinking – give economic aid to keep the communists out – inhibit Castro



2\.       Peace Corps – US Helping the third world through a volunteer effort – “The toughest job you’ll ever love.” An army of idealistic and mostly youthful volunteers to bring American skills to underdeveloped countries.



3\.       AID – Agency for International Development – Co-ordinate foreign aid from the US

Cuba – Bay of Pigs

1\.       Military and CIA told Kennedy that an invasion must take place at once in order to stop communism in Cuba (just miles from the Florida coast)



2\.       The invasion was set for April 17, 1961 with about 2,000 exiled troops



a.       problems:  not large in numbers; lack of adequate training;  the landing place (Bay of Pigs) was not deserted and it was 80 miles from the mountains where the exiles hoped to take refuge;  Cuba had planes available and bombed the invasion, preventing any local uprising in support of the invasion;  Supply ships were sunk or fled;  Cuba’s govt. arrested 200,000 who might have risen in revolt

b.       Disaster:  All the invaders were either killed or taken prisoner within 72 hours

Castro won a great propaganda victory

A.       Berlin – Vienna Summit

b.       Krushchev under pressure from hardliners who are unhappy with the failure of Détente - *refers to a general relaxing in the tension and threats between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the Cold War*

K put on “screws” then relaxed pressure on the allies to withdraw

K threatens a treaty with GDR (East Germany) which will attempt to force allies out of West Berlin

– Krushchev threatened war if allies did not withdraw – he thought Kennedy to be weak, “…did not finish the job in Cuba.”

1961 – Berlin Wall

built to keep people from fleeing to West Berlin

Cuban Missile Crisis – October 1962 – “Brinksmanship

1\.       Construction technicians in Cuba from USSR – USSR says they are helping with defensive preparations citing the Bay of Pigs and the need…



1\.       The Missiles must be removed.”JFK orders a nava blockade of Cuba – an act of war! – USSR ships are turned back by US Navy – construction continues – air attack on Cuba planned



1\.       Krushchev blinks – in two messages, 1) USSR out in exchange for “no invasion pledge” in Cuba and 2) removal of US from Turkey sites – JFK ignores the second provision in order to not be caving in to Soviet demands, however at a later date, the missiles are removed from Turkey

This was the closest to war since 1945

A.       improved relations

1\.       JFK states that “Diversity is safe in the World”



2\.       US and USSR agree to ban on testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere



3\.       A “hot line” telephone installed to connect Washington and Moscow

An agreement was made to sell the Soviets surplus US wheat

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I.                     Domestic Affairs

A.       “New Frontier” social agenda did not go far

Congress blocked his efforts to increase federal aid to education, provide health insurance for the aged, and

create a new Department of Urban Affairs



a.       Some successes included:  funding for “Alliance for Progress” programs for Latin America and for the Peace Corps; the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which led to tariff cuts of 35% between the US and the European Common Market;  Minimum wage increased to $1.25 per hour; accelerated space program; and $ for Urban Renewal projects



1\.       1962 Tax Cut – Stimulated the Economy

1\.     Space Program

a.       Recovered from Sputnik



b.       May 5, 1961 – Alan Shepherd becomes the first American into space



c.        Feb. 2, 1962 – John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth



d.       Race to the Moon – JFK pledges the country to place a man on the moon by the end of the decade – In a technological race with the USSR, the US will land the first humans on the moon in 1969!

University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and James Meredith

September 30, 1962, however, James Meredith was enrolled.  That night rioting broke out across the campus and 2 people were killed and many others wounded as a result of gunfire and other assaults



a.       Once the riot occurred, regular Army troops were dispatched to Oxford to quell the riot, restore order, and protect Meredith throughout his tenure at the University



b.        Meredith graduated from the university in August, 1963.

non-violent protests in Birmingham, Alabama

a.       King was arrested and penned his famous “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” which defended his non-violent tactics and admitted that he and other Civil Rights activists sought to “create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”



b.       JFK was swayed to introduce new legislation to deal with the race question.

George Wallace

Gov. of Alabama, dramatically stands in the doorway of a building at the University of Alabama to block the enrollment of several black students



a.      JKF said “…If an American because his skin is black, cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place?  Who among us would be content with the counsels of patience and delay?”

Medgar Evers

a.       NAACP State Field Secretary for Mississippi, is shot to death in the carport of his Jackson, Mississippi house as he returns home.

March on Washington -- August 28, 1963

1\.       Martin Luther King's



"I Have a Dream" Speech delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial...the largest civil-rights demonstration in American history…

I.                     JFK Assassination

A.       November 22 (Friday) – Dallas, TX Motorcade Lee Harvey Oswald – killed a policeman – arrested, then shot by Jack Ruby (Sunday morning), a local lounge owner



B.       JFK Funeral is November 25 – televised nationally from Arlington National Cemetery



C.       Warren Commission – Chief Justice Earl Warren asked to head a commission to investigate the assassination of the president by LBJ – The Commission findings declare that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and was not part of some larger conspiracy. – However, conspiracy theories continue

Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into office as Presiden

The Warren Court – Earl Warren

Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court from 1953-1969



oversaw a period of transition in US History which extended Civil Rights (typically under the “equal protection clause” of the 14th Amendment) and increased protection for those accused of crime.

*Kennedy and LBJ years*

1\.       *Mapp v. Ohio* (1961) --  illegally seized evidence cannot be used in court against the accused



2\.       *Baker v. Carr* (1962)— “one man, one vote” mandate for voting districts



3\.       *Engel v. Vitale* (1962) – ruling that school prayer mandated by the New York Board of Regents was unconstitutional



4\.       *Gideon v. Wainwright* (1963) – every felony defendant must be provided a lawyer regardless of the defendant’s ability to pay



5\.       *Escobedo v. Illinois* (1964)—person accused of a crime must be allowed to consult a lawyer



6\.       *Miranda v. Arizona* (1966) – accused person in police custody must be informed of certain basic rights



 



The Constitution as a *Living Document:* the US Constitution undergoes reinterpretation that considers changes in society.