5. John F. Kennedy (D)
● Won 1960 Election
Against Richard Nixon (R)
○ First Roman Catholic
to be nominated since
Al Smith's losing
campaign in 1928
○ Youngest elected
president
○ First Election with
televised debates
● Peace Corps program
● Space program
○ MOON!
6. New Frontier
● Set of domestic reforms
● GAME PLAN:
○ Stimulate Economy
○ Attack Poverty
● Congress = Frustration
● Successes:
○ Tariff Reductions
○ Building legislation that
calls for significant tax
cuts to promote economic
growth
7. JFK's Assassination
● A lot of people loved
Kennedy
● November 22, 1963,
Dallas, TX
● Warren
Commission:
ignored evidence of
wider conspiracy
behind murders of
suspected
assassinators
8. Lyndon B. Johnson (D)
● Got a lot of support
due to JFK
assassination
● "Great Society"
● Won 1964 Election
against Arizona Rep.
Barry Goldwater
● Democratic majority
in both houses = Easy
passage of legislature
9. Medicare and Medicaid
● Debate: National
Health vs. Socialized
Medicine
● Medicare - Middle
class constituency
○ Not need based
○ Eg Social Security
● Medicaid - federal
medical assistance to
welfare
10. Community Action
● Involving poor people in the administration
of the programs designed to help them
● Gave political and administrative experience
to workers
● Could not be sustained
○ Administrative faults
○ Lack of funding
■ WHY?
● Ideally sound, but failed to give significant,
nationwide results
11. Cities, Schools,
Immigration
Housing
● Housing Act of 1961 - preserve open spaces, develop
mass transit, subsidize middle-income housing
● Department of Housing and Development
● Model Cities Program
Schools
● Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965) -
extend aid to private and parochial schools, based on
student needs
Immigration
● Immigration Act of 1965 - eliminated national origins
system
12. Great Society
● Enhance social welfare = increase in federal
spending
● Education and job training to escape poverty
cycle
● Achievements
○ Civil Rights Act of 1964
○ Voting Rights Act of 1964
○ Medicare and Medicaid
○ War on Poverty
○ Federal aid to education
14. Protests, protests, protests!
● John F. Kennedy won the hearts of many African
Americans
○ He helped win the release of MLK in Georgia prison
● SNCC- was formed by the people who had participated
in sit-ins against segregation
● CORE- an interracial group of students started the
“freedom rides.” They traveled around in buses and
forced desegregation of bus stations.
● SCLC- created citizen-education which mobilized the
black workers
● University of Mississippi enrolled a black student-
whites protested and JFK sent troops to restore order.
● MLK launched nonviolent demonstration in
Birmingham, Alabama.
15. Battle for Voting Rights
● “Freedom Summer” -
campaign that worked on
behalf of black voter
registration and
participation.
○ produced the MFDP
● King organized a major
demonstration in Selma,
Alabama– demanded for the
rights of blacks to register to
vote
● Johnson proposed and won
the passage of the Civil
Rights Act of 1965 (Voting
Right Acts)
16. The Battle for Racial
Equality
● Tensions worsened because school desegregation was
already legal (de jure), but it reached de facto (accepted
by society), bringing fights to the north.
● AA leaders were demanding that employers adopt
positive measures that would compensate for past
injustices.
● Johnson supported "affirmative action" which extended
to all institutions supported by the government.
● Chicago Campaign: organizers hoped to direct
national attention to discrimination in N. industrial
cities in the same way campaigns exposed racism in the
South but instead evoked violent opposition from whites
and failed to trigger national conscience.
17. Urban Violence
● Poverty gained national
attention through outbreaks of
violence in black neighborhoods
and major cities.
● Watts Riot: white police
officer struck a black bystander
which caused a week of violence
(showed how AA's disliked
treatment from police)
● 34 dead (28 were black)
● Summer of 1966: 43
additional outbreaks (most
serious Chicago and Cleveland)
● Summer of 1967: 8 major
outbreaks (Detroit-43 deaths;
33 black)
● Violence=sense of urgency
18. "Black Power"
● Gave people a sense of
racial distinctiveness.
● Instilled pride in blacks
who were seen as
inferior to whites.
● Encouraged growth in
academics, literary and
artistic movements and
produced interest in
African roots.
● "Afro" hairstyles
replaced straightened ● Interracial organizations- SNCC
● Established Black Leaders
hair. ● Black Panther Party- promised to defend
black rights even if that required violence
● Blacks were more confident
19. Malcolm X
Malcolm X the
● Most celebrated of
Black Muslims.
● Originally Malcolm "Little"
but adopted "X" to
symbolize his lost African
surname.
● Was a drug addict and
pimp in prison, but rebuilt
himself when he became
Muslim.
● Did not advocate violence,
but insisted that blacks had
the right to defend
themselves.
● Died in 1965 when black
gunmen assassinated him
in NY.
20. Expanding American
Influence
● Kennedy favored
peaceful means of
expanding American
influence.
● ALLIANCE FOR
PROGRESS
● Agency for
International
Development (AID)
● Peace Corps
21. Foreign Affairs
Bay of
● Disastrous assault of Kennedy in Cuba– on the Castro's government
● April 17, 1961- 2,000 exiles arrived at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba.
● Castro forces crushed the invaders and in two days the entire mission
collapsed.
Cuban Crisis
● Krushchev and Kennedy's views did little to reduce tensions between their
nations > creation of Berlin Wall on Aug. 13, 1961 to stop the mass
withdrawal of residents from Germany to the West
● October 14, 1962: Aerial photos reveal that Soviets were constructing
nuclear weapon sites in Cuba.
● Soviets believed it was a way to counter the presence of American missiles
in Turkey, but Kennedy saw it as an act of aggression.
● October 22: Kennedy publicly announced that he will order a naval and air
blockade around Cuba against all offensive weapons.
● October 26: Kennedy received a message from Khrushchev proposing the
removal of missile bases in exchange for America to promise not to invade
Cuba.
22. America during the Vietnam
War
● Student protest
movement
○ Free Speech Movement
○ Antiwar
● Reporters from
Vietnam
○ helped sustain the
movement with their
franks revelation
about the brutality and
futility of the war.
23. America's economy during
the War
● The American economy was
beginning to suffer.
○ The inflation rate
remained at 2% through
most of the early 1960s,
rose to 3% in 1967, 4% in
1968, 6% in 1969.
○ Johnson asked Congress
for a tax increase– a 10%
"war tax".
○ $6 billion reduction in
funding for Great Society
programs.
24. The Political Challenge
● Allard Lowenstein tried to mobilize support behind an
antiwar candidate who would challenge Lyndon
Johnson in the 1968 primaries.
● Kennedy declined the invitation.
○ They turned Sen. Eugene McCarthy – nearly
defeated the president.
○ Robert Kennedy entered the campaign and
embittered McCarthy's supporters.
● March 31, Johnson went on television and announced
withdrawal from the presidential election.
● Public animosity toward the president was that Johnson
did not leave the White House to campaign.
25.
26. MLK Assassination
● On April 4 1968, MLK was shot
and killed while standing on the
balcony of his motel.
● James Earl Ray was captured days
later in London and was convicted.
● King's tragic death produced an
outpouring grief among African
Americans.
● Few days after, major riots broke
out.
27. Robert Kennedy Assassination
● June 6, Sirhan
Sirhan shot him in
the head.
● Kennedy died the
next morning.
● "Kennedy legacy"-
set of ideas that
would for a time
become central to
American liberalism:
the fervent
commitment to
using government to
help the powerless.
28. The Conservative Response
● The events in 1968– American society was in
the throes of evolutionary change.
● George Wallace was a third party candidate
who was successful because he based his
campaign on conservative grievances.
● American responded conservatively
● “Silent majority”– in favor of order and
stability that was within the Republican
Party.
