1. THE AGE OF CAMELOT
Essential Questions:
1. Why is the Election of 1960 important in the nation’s
history?
2. How would one characterize Kennedy’s inaugural address?
3. What was the Bay of Pigs Invasion?
4. What was the Cuban Missile crisis?
5. What was Kennedy’s stance on Civil Rights?
6. How did Kennedy impact the Space race?
7. What is the legacy of John F. Kennedy?

2. West Berlin JFK in Berlin
 After WWII the Allies and Soviets divided
Germany
 A Wall soon separated West and East Berlin
 East Berlin fell under the control of the Soviets
 West Berlin fell under the joint control of the
Allies
 On June 26, 1963, Kennedy visited West
Berlin and gave a speech criticizing
communism
 Kennedy used the construction of the Berlin
Wall as an example of the failures of
communism
 quot;Freedom has many difficulties…but we have
never had to put a wall up to keep our people
in.”
 Nearly five-sixths of the population was on
the street when Kennedy said the famous
phrase

3. Civil Rights
 End of racial discrimination was
the most pressing domestic issue
of Kennedy's day
 The U.S. Supreme Court had
ruled in 1954 in Brown v. Board
of Education that racial
segregation in public schools
was unconstitutional
 Many schools, especially in the
south, did not obey the ruling
 Segregation on buses, in
restaurants, movie
theaters, bathrooms, and other
public places remained
 Kennedy supported racial
integration and civil rights

4. Civil Rights
 During the 1960 campaign Revered
Martin Luther King, Jr. led a peaceful
protest
 He was arrested and jailed
 President Eisenhower refused to
intervene
 Vice President Nixon took no public
stance
 King was being held while all the
others that were arrested were
released
 Jack and Bobby Kennedy however
helped secure the early release of
King

5. Space Program
 On April 12, 1961 the Soviets launched the
first man into space, Yuri Gagarin
 Kennedy was eager for the U.S. to lead
the way in the space race
 Under Kennedy the Americans achieved
the same feat less the a month later
 Alan Sheppard reached Earth orbit
 Kennedy made a speech at Rice
University on September 12, 1962
 A launch facility at Cape
Canaveral, Florida, and a mission control
center in Houston, Texas were soon
constructed to achieve this goal
 On July 20, 1969, almost six years later
Project Apollo's goal was finally realized

6. The Day Camelot Ended
 November 22, 1963 JFK traveled to
Dallas
 Kennedy was assassinated at 12:30
p.m. as his motorcade moved
through the city
 Died younger than any president to
date
 Was only 46 years old
 Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested
and charged with the murder
 Denied shooting anyone, claiming
he was a patsy
 ‘Now President’ Johnson created the
Warren Commission to investigate
the assassination
 Concluded Oswald was the lone
assassin

7. Burial JFK Funeral
 March 1967, Kennedy's body was
moved to a permanent burial plot at
Arlington
 Jacqueline Kennedy and their two
deceased children were buried with
him later
 His brother, Senator Robert
Kennedy, was buried nearby in 1968
 JFK’s grave is lit with an quot;Eternal
Flame”
 Jackie had requested the
flame, inspired by the eternal flame at
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at
the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
 Kennedy and William Howard Taft
are the only two U.S. Presidents
buried at Arlington

8. The Kennedy Legacy
 Public Perception
 Kennedy and his wife were
younger in comparison to
former first families
 Both were popular in ways
more common to pop singers
and movie stars
 Television
 Kennedy was the first
president to ask for TV events
to be broadcast live
 Kennedy era marks the
beginning of television having
an impact on politics and the
way the public perceives their
elected officials

9. The Kennedy Legacy
 The Age of Camelot
 Kennedys’ invited a wide
range of artists, writers and
intellectuals to White House
dinners
 Jackie brought new art and
furniture into the White House
 Directed a restoration – she
revitalized the people’s house
 On the White House lawn the
Kennedys built a swimming
pool and tree house
 Charisma of Kennedy and his
family led to the figurative
term of quot;Camelotquot; being given
to his administration