JFK, LBJ, Counterculture

Election of 1960

Kennedy vs. Nixon, Kennedy (due to televised charisma) won over Nixon (pale and nervous). Kennedy wins. Establishes modern election tactics.

Richard Nixon

Vice President under Eisenhower and 37th President of the United States. Republican who lost to Kennedy in Election of 1960 due to lack of media training.

Age of Camelot

Refers to President JFK's term as President. Known for JFK's idealism and his reliance on close friends in his cabinet.

JFK Inaugural Address (1960)

Famously challenged Americans to "Not ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" Also challenged Americans to advance in areas on Science and Arts, promising we would be the first on the moon.

New Fronteir

The campaign program advocated by JFK in the 1960 election. He promised to revitalize the stagnant economy and enact reform legislation in education, health care, and civil rights.

Cuban Exiles

Cuban people who fled to another country, mostly US following the Cuban Revolution in 1959 where Castro took power. US CIA trained them to invade Cuba in the Bay of Pigs, major US foreign policy failure. Most exiles were either killed or captured.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Failed invasion of Cuba in 1961 when a force of over 1,000 Cuban exiles, backed by the United States, landed at the Bay of Pigs. Goal was to invade, get local Cubans to join in the revolt and overthrow the Castro regime. Locals did not join in and most exiles were either killed or captured. Solidified Cuba and the US as enemies and led to escalation of the Cold War.

Fidel Castro

Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927)

Quarantine

JFK's policy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Technically a naval blockade where US ships surrounded Cuba to prevent missiles/ nuclear materials from entering or leaving the island. Blockade is technically declaration of war so labeled as a quarantine. Ultimately successful.

Robert Kennedy

Attorney General during his brother, JFK's presidency. Was able to successfully negotiate with the Soviets to end the Cuban missile crisis. He was a Democrat who ran for president in 1968 promoting civil rights and other equality based ideals. He was ultimately assassinated in 1968, leaving Nixon to take the presidency but instilling hope in many Americans.

Peace Corp

President John F. Kennedy's program that sent thousands of American volunteers to developing nations where they assisted local people. Sent for two years and usually unpaid. Still in use today.

JFK Assassination

JFK assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was then shot by Jack Ruby when being transferred between jails. The Warren Commission was created to investigate the crime. Determined Oswald was the only one responsible for the assassination.

JFK Conspiracy Theories

As Oswald was killed before a trial could happen many theories developed as to what his motivations were/ alternatives to the Warren Reports' story.
Mafia: Tropicante + Giancana corsican hitmen
Cia: Allen +3 tramps hunt, strugis, harrel
Castro + Cuban Communists
KGB + Soviet communists
FBI+ J Edgar Hoover
KKK+white supremacists
Conservative Republicans Murcheson + Nixon
Texas Oilmen wanting LBJ

Lee Harvey Oswald

On November 22, 1963, he assassinated President Kennedy who was riding downtown Dallas, Texas. Oswald was later shot in front of television cameras by Jack Ruby.

Jack Ruby

Night club owner assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963. Wanted to keep Jackie Kennedy from having to testify at a trial.

Warren Commission

Commission made by LBJ after killing of John F. Kennedy. (Point is to investigate if someone paid for the assassination of Kennedy.) Conclusion is that Oswald killed Kennedy on his own. Commissioner is Chief Justice Warren.

Jackie Kennedy

JFK's wife and First Lady. Became a social and political figure. Known for her style and family first attitude. Worked to redecorate and restore the White House. Brought in pieces of priceless artwork and helped redefine the role of First Lady.

1964 Election

Republican Barry Goldwater v. Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson, LBJ won by a landslide. Starts trend of deep Southern states voting Republican.

Barry Goldwater

1964; Republican contender against LBJ for presidency; platform included lessening federal involvement, therefore opposing Civil Rights Act of 1964; lost by largest margin in history. Leader of Conservative movement and helped to establish platform.

The Great Society

President Johnson’s campaign program during his presidency. Meant to HELP poor Americans. In 1965, Congress passed many Great Society measures, including Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education.

The War on Poverty

Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in his 1964 State of the Union address. A new Office of Economic Opportunity oversaw a variety of programs to help the poor, including the Job Corps and Head Start.

Conservative Response to the Great Society

Many Conservatives opposed the Great Society as they felt it increased the power of the government and the president too much. Felt that the private sector should be the one taking care of Americans and the government could not solve every problem in the U.S. Also felt that it increased federal spending too much and did not solve the issue of poverty.

Medicare

A program added to the Social Security system in 1965 that provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other health expenses. "Care for the elderly"

Medicaid

A federal and state assistance program that pays for health care services for people who cannot afford them. "Aid for the poor"

Clean Air and Water Laws

LBJ's Great Society programs aimed to improve the environment. Put laws into place to keep companies from polluting the air as much as they had. Also tried to keep waterways cleaner. In response to the book Silent Spring.

Silent Spring

A book written to voice the concerns of environmentalists. Launched the environmentalist movement by pointing out the effects of civilization development. Written by Rachel Carson. Inspired Great Society programs aimed at preserving the environment and lessening pollution.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

A private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967 to funnel federal funds to nonprofit radio and public television

PBS and NPR

Established by Public Broadcasting Act and Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1960s; non profit, heavily subsidized. Creates free educational programming.

Public Broadcasting Act

Created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to provide public affairs, cultural and educational programs

Head Start

A federally funded early-childhood intervention program for low-income children of preschool age.

Student Loan Program

Great Society program that aimed to increase affordable education. Provided loan interest federal loans to students. Still in use today.

Job Corp

A federal program created to train young men and women in the work skills they needed to get better jobs and move out of poverty

Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)

Federal program that sends volunteers to aid poor communities in the United States. Also known as Americorp.

Federal Food Stamps

Program expanded from the New Deal era. Provides government assistance for buying food/ groceries to low income families.

NASA

United States government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Huge platform of Kennedy and allowed us to be the first country to have men on the moon.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Passed by Congress in 1964 in honor of the late President Kennedy. This act banned racial discrimination in places such as hospitals and restaurants. This act also gave the government the power to desegregate schools. It led to the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Berlin Wall

A wall separating East and West ( ) built by East Germany in 1961 to keep citizens from escaping to the West. Kennedy showed his support to West Berliners but did not declare wall. Later began to fall in 1989 and signified the end of the Soviet Union.

Cuban Revolution

Dictator of Cuba overthrew the Cuban government in 1959 and announced he was a communist, which is when he began seeking economic help from the soviets in 1961. in 1962 the us found out that the soviets were putting nuclear missiles into Cuba, which was 9 miles off the coast of Florida. the us threatened to bomb or invade Cuba if the missiles were not removed. later the soviets turned back ships which were carrying nuclear weapons and took out the missiles.

Mainstream vs Counterculture

Establishment vs. Hippies. Era of conformity vs. the anti-establishment. Hippies valued peace, love, and freedom and experimented with love, drugs, fashion, and music. Mainstream was focused more on predominant American Dream.

Hippies

Believed in anti-materalism, free use of drugs, they had a casual attitude toward sex and anti-conformity, (1960s) practiced free love and took drugs, flocked to San Francisco- low rent/interracial, they lived in communal "crash pads", smoked marijuana and took LSD, sexual revolution, new counter culture, Protestors who influenced US involvement in Vietnam

The Establishment

the ruling class of a society; the authorities in power. Hippies saw their parents/ the government as the establishment

Generation Gap

Differences in attitudes and behaviors between youth and their parents

Haight-Ashburry District

a district of San Francisco, in the central part of the city: a center for hippies and the drug culture in the 1960s. Later as hippie culture turned sour was viewed negatively.

summer of Love

refers to the summer of 1967 when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of SF creating a phenomenon of cultural and political rebellion; SF was the center of the hippie revolution and became a defining moment in the 1960s as the hippie counterculture movement came into public awareness (also, social experimentation in methods of living—communal living, sharking, free love)

Woodstock

3 day rock concert in upstate N.Y. August 1969, exemplified the counterculture of the late 1960s, nearly 1/2M gather in a 600 acre field. Performers like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, etc. performed

British Invasion

Influx of bands and musicians from Britain during the 60's. Huge influence on the American music scene. Beatles were most popular.