Chapter Twenty-Eight

Promises and Turmoil

The 1960’s
John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier
 The Election of 1960
• Republicans
– Nixon
• Democrats
– Kennedy
• This was the first election in which television
campaigns were utilized
• Kennedy won :)
 Domestic Policy
• Kennedy was the youngest president
• New Frontier Programs
– Most aid programs were stopped by congress
– Brought down inflation
 Foreign Affairs
• Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)
– Kennedy allowed the CIA to overthrow Fidel Castro
– Troops were forced to surrender on the beaches of
Cuba
– Kennedy declined to rescue them
• Berlin Wall
– Khrushchev continued to demand US evacuation
– A great wall was built around West Berlin, to stop East
Germans from running to West Germany
 Foreign Affairs
• Cuban Missile Crisis
– Russia was building missiles in Cuba
– Kennedy blockaded Cuba until Russia left Cuba
– Russia left, and a hotline was created so that the
US and Russia could talk instantly
 Assassination in Dallas
• Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated Kenned on
November 22, 1963
Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society
 The War On Poverty
• The Other Americans
– By Michael Harrington
– Focused on poverty
• Congress created the Office of Economic
Opportunity and gave it a billion dollar budget
 The Election of 1964
• Democrats
– Lyndon Johnson
• Republicans
– Barry Goldwater
– Wanted to end welfare
• Johnson won (duh)
 Great Society Reforms
• Medicare
– Health insurance for 65 or older
• Medicaid
– Health insurance for the poor and disabled
• Elementary and Secondary Education Act
– Provided schools for poor towns
• Immigration
– Quotas were abolished
• National Foundation of the Arts and Humanities
– Federal fund for artists
• Department of Transportation and Dept. Housing
• Increased funding for education, housing, and crime prevention
 Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965
• Segregation was made illegal
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• 24th amendment outlawed Poll Taxes
• Voting Rights Act ended literacy tests
Civil Rights and Conflict
 The Leadership of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.
• March on Washington (1963)
– I Have A Dream speech made
• March to Montgomery (1965)
– Protest in police beatings
 Black Muslims and Malcolm X
• Malcolm X advocated more violent protests
than King did (The ballot or the bullet)
• Assassinated in 1965 (By black people)
 Black Power and Race Riots
• MLK Jr was assassinated in Memphis
• 46 people died in riots across 168 cities
The Warren Court and Individual
Rights
 Criminal Justice
• Mapp vs. Ohio (1961)
– Evidence seized illegally is illegal :P
• Gideon vs. Wainwright (1963)
– Attorney’s must be provided to poor people
• Escobedo vs. Illinois (1964)
– Police were required to inform of Miranda Rights
• Miranda vs. Arizona (1964)
– A lawyer could be present during questioning
 Reapportionment
• Baker vs. Carr (1962)
– Houses of state legislature being based on biased
district lines was UNCONSTITUTIONAL
– ‘One man, one vote’
Freedom of Expression and Privacy
• Yates vs. United States (1957)
– 1st amendment protected communistic speech
• Engel vs. Vitale (1962)
– Prayer readings in school was illegal
• Griswold vs. Connecticut (1965)
– Contraception was not able to be illegal
Social Revolutions and Cultural
Movements
 Student Movement and the New Left
• Students for a Democratic Society
– Tom Haden
– Port Huron Statement
• Supporters became known as the New Left
– Students protested free speech
 Sexual Revolution
• Premarital sex became more common, as well
as infidelity and homosexuality
• Moral codes were loosened because of
increase in illegitimate births
 The Women’s Movement
• The Feminine Mystique (1963)
– Betty Friedan
– New directions for women
• National Organization for Women
• Equal Pay Act (1963)
• Civil Rights Act (1964)
• Equal Rights Amendment
The Vietnam War – to 1969
 Early Stages
• Buildup Under Kennedy
– ‘Domino theory’
– Trained south Vietnamese army
– Buddhists set themselves on fire
– South Vietnamese dictator assassinated 2 weeks
before Kennedy
• Tonkin Gulf Resolution
– Helped secure south Vietnamese shores
 Escalating the War
• Rolling Thunder
– Long air attack that utilized bomber planes
– Search and destroy tactics
– Under General William Westmoreland
 Controversy
• Johnson refused to speak frankly to the American
people
• Hawks vs. Doves
– Hawks supported the war
– Doves condemned the war (And supported communism)
• Tet Offensive
– The Vietcong attacked all capitals and bases in South
Vietnam (During a national holiday)
– Pacifists condemned Johnson because he retaliated, and
saved lives.
• LBJ then decided to withdraw troops
Coming Apart at Home, 1968
The Second Kennedy Assassination
• Robert Kennedy was assassinated by an Arab
nationalist after winning in California’s
primary (1968)
 The Election of 1968
The democrats were divided, and everyone
fought among themselves. Through it all,
Richard Nixon rose above everyone and won
the election (Though this many not have been
the best idea for him)