John F Kennedy and the 'New Frontier', 1960-1963

kennedys strengths as candidate

- war hero

- young and handsome

- strong support from northern democrats and catholics

- extensive experience in congress

- chose lyndon b johnson (experienced texas senator) as vp

- appealed to african american voters with targeted promises

- father's wealth and political connections

nixons strength as candidate

- reputation as staunch anti-communist

- extensive experience in congress

- extensive foreign policy experience

big kennedy weakness

his catholicism - despite efforts to campaign to protestants too, it cost him 1.5 million votes

what weakness did nixon target in his campaign

kennedys inexperience

what weakness did kennedy target in his campaign

nixons failure to prevent the soviets building their nuclear weapon stores and allowing a 'missile gap' to form

successfully undermined nixons image (although later proven to be untrue)

what did mr birds friend get in his gcse results

F U D G E

what did kennedy do that increased his favour with african americans

bailed martin luther king out of jail where he was imprisoned for participating in a sit-in

by how much did kennedy win the black vote

70:30

how did nixon flop his debate

- wore a grey suit which blended into the backdrop

- looked sickly as he was recovering from an injury and the flu

- was sweating profusely under the lights

reception to the kennedy-nixon debate

radio listeners thought nixon won by a narrow margin

tv audience of 74 million thought kennedy won by a large margin

key members of kennedys cabinet

lyndon b johnson - vice president

sargent shriver - ambassador to france, driving force behind peace corps

robert mcnamara - head of department of defence

dean rusk - secretary of state

bobby kennedy - attorney general

mcgeorge bundy - national security advisor

the new frontier

jfk's plans as president

science and space - space race

peace and war - vietnam, berlin, etc

ignorance and prejudice - civil rights

poverty and surplus - housing and welfare

kennedy housing act

created 420,000 construction jobs

impact of increased minimum wage under kennedy

added $175 million to american workers' personal wealth

kennedy welfare

$200 million spent on extra welfare benefits

applied to 750,000 children

kennedy unemployment benefits

$780 million spent

helped 3 million americans get back on their feet

1962 executive order

provided federal employees with collective bargaining rights

which act under kennedy established standards for working hours and safety

1962 contract work hours and safety standards act (+ 1961 fair labour standards act)

how did kennedy's worker-focused programmes specifically help young people

placed young people in jobs and training to protect them from being underpaid in service and retail industries

how many job salaries were protected by the 1962 acts

2 million

by how much were social security benefits increased under kennedy

20%

how many were fed by kennedy's food stamp programme

250,000

how many more americans were covered by the extension of the benefits system

5 million

how was kennedy's approach to healthcare unique

went further than any president before him in moving towards a system of universal healthcare

expanded healthcare to help the elderly, migrant workers, those with disabilities and those reliant on therapeutic drugs

which act got millions of children vaccinated

1963 social security act

how much of new frontier legislation had an educational aspect

1/3

how did kennedy reform education

increases in vocational training via 1963 vocational education act

expansion of scholarships and student loans

targeted programming to improve education for those with disabilities

how much did kennedy spend on housing programmes

$3.2 billion

how many new homes were constructed under kennedy

100,000

kennedy's environment reforms

1963 clean air act

doubled funding for prevention of water pollution

presidential commission on the status of women

established by kennedy in 1961

issued 'american women' report in 1963 which drew attention to discrimination against women in the workplace

recommended reforms to combat these issues (eg paid maternity leave)

equal pay act

1963

allowed 171,000 women to reclaim pay amounting to $84 million over ten years

kennedy civil rights reforms

1962 voter education project

1963 civil rights bill introduced

committee on equal employment opportunity established

discrimination in public housing prohibited

how much extra money did kennedy give to nasa to enable them to put a man on the moon by the end of the 60s

$9 billion

berlin wall goes up

13th august 1961

kennedys response to berlin wall

quite minimal - said a war was better than a wall, but told rusk to exploit the situation for propaganda as much as possible

neither media nor republican party criticised his response

what did khrushchev think of kennedys lack of response to the berlin wall

saw his non reaction as proof he was weak and cowardly on foreign policy

believed kennedy could be used to the soviet unions advantage

when did castro overthrow the US-backed dictator of cuba

january 1959

when was the bay of pigs invasion

1961

was the bay of pigs invasion successful

no

what did khrushchev do in oct 1962

placed soviet missiles in cuba

u.s. cities within range of soviet missiles for the first time

when was the cuban missile crisis and how long did it last

oct 1962

lasted 13 days

public response to kennedy's handling of the cuban missile crisis

praised him for his diplomatic skills

leader of south vietnam

ngo dinh diem

supported by U.S., hated by the vietnamese for his persecution of the buddhist majority

north vietnam's proposal to deal with diem

1960 encouraged rebellion in the south to oust diem and reunify the country

kennedys initial handling of vietnam

mostly ignored it

how did kennedy further the vietnam war

increased number of military advisers in vietnam from 800 to 23,000

also added 250,000 to the south vietnamese army

how many vietcong stood in opposition to u.s. advisors and south vietnamese army

12,000

strategic hamlets

moving vietnamese peasants to fortified villages protected by the south vietnamese army to prevent the influence of the vietcong

were strategic hamlets successful

no - resented by the peasants and vietcong influence occurred anyway

how did the vietcong garner peasants' support

treated them respectfully and paid for food

thich quang duc

buddhist monk who self-immolated in 1963 in protest of diem's persecution of buddhists

significance of duc's self-immolation

brought international criticism of america's support of diem

assassination plot against diem

uncovered by CIA, but they failed to intervene and diem was killed

why did kennedy ignore britain and france's advice not to get further entangled in vietnam

felt need to:

- show himself as a strong leader

- reassure other non-communist states in asia

- stand up to soviet and chinese aggression

which of kennedys advisers convinced him to increase u.s. involvement in vietnam

McNamara

SCLC

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

founded by mlk

whom did the SCLC face opposition from

- the police

- the white citizens' council

- the KKK

- some black church leaders who feared retaliation

was the brown v board ruling effective in desegregation

no - jim crow laws still operated throughout the south

african americans prevented access to education, transport, restaurants, etc on an equal basis to whites

when did sit-ins begin

february 1960

how many students joined the sit-in movement within a month of it starting

50,000 students in 30 venues across 7 states

SNCC

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

group established in 1960 to promote and use non-violent means to protest racial discrimination

primarily responsible for creating the sit-in movement

CORE freedom rides pt2

1961

wanted to test to see if the 1946 morgan v. virginia ruling was being upheld

faced violence and arrest repeatedly - proved that it was being ignored

bobby kennedy's response to freedom rides

forced governors of alabama, mississippi and louisiana to let them through

demanded icc enforce the ruling

success of the CORE campaign

- ICC ended segregation on all interstate travel

- gained international attention

- effectively used media by provoking white people

when was the albany campaign

1961

what was done in the albany campaign

SNCC aimed to end all forms of segregation in the city

targeted restaurants, libraries, parks and buses

used marches and boycotts

laurie pritchett

police chief in albany who recognised the movement's tactic of provoking violence to spark media attention and presidential involvement

what instructions did pritchett give to police in albany

- police the marches fairly and protect the demonstrators

- ensure that any arrests were given ample jail space

- treat MLK with considerable care if and when he arrived

were pritchett's tactics successful (short-term and long-term)

short-term yes - movement stagnated

long-term no - albany had removed all segregation laws within a year

james meredith

1962 used GI bill to enrol at university of mississippi ('ole miss')

response to meredith's enrolment at ole miss

riots broke out and 2 people were killed

how did bobby kennedy intervene at ole miss

had 500 US marshalls brought in to maintain order

1/3 of the marshalls and 40 soldiers were injured

george wallace university of alabama

blocked 2 black students' access to university of alabama

kennedy federalised the alabama national guard to force wallace aside

when did the SCLC campaign in birmingham take place

1963

mlk arrested in birmingham

MLK arrested for his role in marches, sit-ins and boycotts

SCLC couldn't pay bail so king arrested and held in solitary confinement

wrote famous 'letter from birmingham jail' during this time

why did the SCLC get children involved in birmingham

children garner more sympathy in the media

how did bull connor (politician) deal with the youth that got involved in the birmingham campaign

directed police to arrest the children using clubs and dogs if necessary

told fire service to use high-pressure fire hoses (some of which were powerful enough to strip bark from trees)

what happened on the same night of birmingham

mlk's hotel was bombed

how did bobby kennedy respond to birmingham

sent chief civil rights officer marshall to negotiate and an agreement was reached to start desegregating facilities

how did bobby kennedy respond to mlk's hotel being bombed

sent 3000 federal troops near birmingham and began preparing to federalise the alabama national guard to stabilise the situation to allow for desegregation to continue

birmingham's 16th street baptist church

KKK bomb church, 4 young black girls killed

4 months after birmingham campaign

when was the march on washington

august 1963

how many marchers attended the march on washington

over 200,000

biggest rally for civil rights in american history

who organised the march on washington

Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph

NAACP, CORE, SNCC, SCLC, Urban League, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (the 'Big Six')

how did kennedy handle the march on washington

endorsed it and stationed 19,000 troops in case trouble arose

no marchers were arrested

how many anchormen from international news outlets covered the march on washington

over 1000

celebrities that attended the march on washington

bob dylan, james baldwin, marlon brando, jackie robinson, etc

what % of black housing was substandard quality according to 1960 civil rights commission

57%

black life expectancy compared to white life expectancy under kennedy

7 years lower than white

black infant mortality compared to white infant mortality under kennedy

twice as high

4 groups that opposed civil rights under kennedy

1. the general population

2. white citizens' councils

3. the third KKK

4. dixiecrats

kennedys solution to issues of civil rights

drafted a civil rights bill that was far more comprehensive in its scope than either of eisenhower's

kennedy death

22nd november 1963

limited test ban treaty

oct 1963

banned testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, space and underwater

when were the peace corps made + by whom

1961 by sargent shriver

peace corps

encouraged young people to volunteer to work in poorer areas of the world

eg teaching english, providing medical supplies and improving sanitation

alliance for progress

1961 program which gave economic aid to Latin America

promised $20 billion over 10 years

aim of the alliance for progress

increase income per capita by 2.5%

establish democratic governments

eliminate adult illiteracy

promote land reform

was kennedy's alliance for progress successful

had some positive effects but it was underfunded

nixon also reduced its budget significantly