12. JFK and LBJ: The 1960s

What was JFK’s “New Frontier” and what did it focus on? (A) Expansion of war (B) Domestic reforms, economic growth, Peace Corps, raising minimum wage, housing/urban renewal (C) Space exploration only (D) Ending Social Security)

(B) Domestic reforms, economic growth, Peace Corps, raising minimum wage, housing/urban renewal

What major housing legislation did JFK pass under the New Frontier? (A) Housing Act of 1961 providing $5 billion for urban renewal (B) Homestead Act (C) GI Bill expansion (D) Rural Housing Act)

(A) Housing Act of 1961 providing $5 billion for urban renewal

What did the Peace Corps (1961) do under JFK? (A) Sent U.S. troops abroad (B) Provided American volunteers to teach and give technical aid in developing countries (C) Created military bases overseas (D) Managed international trade)

(B) Provided American volunteers to teach and give technical aid in developing countries

What was LBJ’s “Great Society”? (A) A foreign policy strategy (B) A social reform program to eliminate poverty and racial injustice (C) A tax program (D) A military doctrine)

(B) A social reform program to eliminate poverty and racial injustice

Which major healthcare programs came from LBJ’s Great Society? (A) Social Security only (B) Medicare and Medicaid (C) Affordable Care Act (D) War on Drugs)

(B) Medicare and Medicaid

What did the Economic Opportunity Act (1964) under LBJ aim to do? (A) Reduce taxes (B) Launch the War on Poverty through job programs and community action (C) Increase military spending (D) Expand foreign aid)

(B) Launch the War on Poverty through job programs and community action

Why did student protests begin in the early 1960s? (A) Sports regulations (B) Demands for civil rights, free speech, and student freedoms (C) Disputes over tuition (D) Movie censorship)

(B) Demands for civil rights, free speech, and student freedoms

What was the Port Huron Statement (1962)? (A) A document supporting war (B) SDS’s call for participatory democracy and critique of bureaucracy (C) A civil rights law (D) A Supreme Court ruling)

(B) SDS’s call for participatory democracy and critique of bureaucracy

What was the Free Speech Movement (1964) at UC Berkeley? (A) Protest against tuition (B) Student protest demanding political freedom on campus, using sit-ins and building occupations (C) Music festival (D) Court case)

(B) Student protest demanding political freedom on campus, using sit-ins and building occupations

Why did student protests intensify after 1965? (A) End of dress codes (B) Escalation of the Vietnam War and the draft (C) Increase in tuition (D) Lack of sports funding)

(B) Escalation of the Vietnam War and the draft

What is the New Left? (A) Conservative party (B) Politically active students seeking democratic participation, equality, antiwar reforms (C) Hippie movement (D) Communist party)

(B) Politically active students seeking democratic participation, equality, antiwar reforms

What defined the Hippie counterculture? (A) Support for traditional norms (B) Rejection of materialism, drug experimentation, communal living, new fashion, and alternative lifestyles (C) Militarism (D) Wall Street activism)

(B) Rejection of materialism, drug experimentation, communal living, new fashion, and alternative lifestyles

What major Cold War failure embarrassed Kennedy in 1961? (A) Cuban Missile Crisis (B) Bay of Pigs invasion (failed CIA-backed attempt to overthrow Castro) (C) Berlin Airlift (D) Korean War)

(B) Bay of Pigs invasion (failed CIA-backed attempt to overthrow Castro)

Why did the Berlin Wall go up in 1961? (A) To stop U.S. imports (B) To prevent East Germans from fleeing to democratic West Berlin (C) To blockade the Soviets (D) To block NATO)

(B) To prevent East Germans from fleeing to democratic West Berlin

What triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)? (A) U.S. troops in Cuba (B) Soviet construction of nuclear missile sites in Cuba (C) Castro invading Florida (D) Failed diplomacy)

(B) Soviet construction of nuclear missile sites in Cuba

How was the Cuban Missile Crisis resolved? (A) U.S. invades Cuba (B) USSR removes missiles; U.S. promises not to invade Cuba and secretly removes missiles from Turkey (C) NATO attacks USSR (D) Cuba surrenders)

(B) USSR removes missiles; U.S. promises not to invade Cuba and secretly removes missiles from Turkey

What event gave LBJ broad authority to escalate the Vietnam War? (A) My Lai (B) Gulf of Tonkin Resolution after alleged attacks on U.S. ships (C) Tet Offensive (D) Bay of Pigs)

(B) Gulf of Tonkin Resolution after alleged attacks on U.S. ships

What was Operation Rolling Thunder? (A) U.S. ground invasion (B) Massive bombing campaign on North Vietnam (C) Peace talks (D) Naval blockade)

(B) Massive bombing campaign on North Vietnam

What was the Tet Offensive (1968)? (A) Peace agreement (B) Surprise North Vietnamese attacks across South Vietnam that shifted American public opinion (C) U.S. invasion of Hanoi (D) Student protest)

(B) Surprise North Vietnamese attacks across South Vietnam that shifted American public opinion

What happened at My Lai (1968)? (A) Viet Cong surrendered (B) Hundreds of Vietnamese civilians were massacred by U.S. troops and the event was initially covered up (C) Peace talks began (D) U.S. won the war)

(B) Hundreds of Vietnamese civilians were massacred by U.S. troops and the event was initially covered up

Why did LBJ decide not to run again in 1968? (A) Health issues (B) Collapse of public support due to Vietnam and Tet Offensive (C) Impeachment (D) Financial scandal)

(B) Collapse of public support due to Vietnam and Tet Offensive

Who assassinated JFK in 1963? (A) Jack Ruby (B) Lee Harvey Oswald (C) James Earl Ray (D) Sirhan Sirhan)

(B) Lee Harvey Oswald

Who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968? (A) Lee Harvey Oswald (B) James Earl Ray (C) Jack Ruby (D) George Wallace)

(B) James Earl Ray

What was the conclusion of the Warren Commission? (A) Soviet plot (B) Oswald acted alone; Ruby acted alone (C) Cuban government ordered it (D) Mafia conspiracy)

(B) Oswald acted alone; Ruby acted alone

When did the U.S. win the Space Race? (A) 1957 (B) 1961 (C) 1969 with Apollo 11 landing on the Moon (D) 1975)

(C) 1969 with Apollo 11 landing on the Moon

Who were the astronauts on Apollo 11? (A) Shepard, Glenn, Gagarin (B) Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins (C) Armstrong, Glenn, Shepard (D) Nixon, JFK, LBJ)

(B) Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins

What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 accomplish? (A) Ended literacy tests (B) Ended segregation in public accommodations and employment discrimination; created EEOC (C) Overturned the New Deal (D) Established Medicare)

(B) Ended segregation in public accommodations and employment discrimination; created EEOC

What did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 do? (A) Required voter ID (B) Ended literacy tests, sent federal examiners, outlawed poll taxes, increased Black voter registration dramatically (C) Banned mail voting (D) Allowed only property owners to vote)

(B) Ended literacy tests, sent federal examiners, outlawed poll taxes, increased Black voter registration dramatically

Which movement did Cesar Chavez lead? (A) AIM (B) National Farm Workers Association—organized grape boycotts and better working conditions (C) SDS (D) Black Panthers)

(B) National Farm Workers Association—organized grape boycotts and better working conditions

What was the significance of the Stonewall Riot (1969)? (A) End of Vietnam War (B) Beginning of modern gay liberation movement after violent confrontation with police (C) Start of hippie movement (D) Founding of NOW)

(B) Beginning of modern gay liberation movement after violent confrontation with police