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The Stormy Sixties
1960 - 1968
John F. Kennedy
Youngest cabinet Robert “Bobby” Kennedy as Attorney
General Reform the FBI: focus more on organized crime &
civil rights violations instead of all on internal security
Sec of Defense – Robert S. McNamara
“New Frontier” – domestic policy Peace Corps – bring American skills to underdeveloped countries
The New Frontier at Home
Proposed medical assistance for the aged and increased federal aid to education Remained stalled in Congress
Helped negotiate a noninflationary wage agreement with the steel industry in 1962 Steel industries increased prices then backed
down
General tax-cut to stimulate the economyProject to land on the moon 1969 – Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin & Neil Armstrong
1969 moon landingOn July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil A. Armstrong (shown above) and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin, Jr., plant an American flag on the moon, thus fulfilling President John F. Kennedy's pledge to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. (NASA)
1969 moon landing
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Rumblings in EuropeJFK met Khrushchev in June 1961 in ViennaSoviets threatened to make a treaty with East Germany & cut off Western access to Berlin Soviets backed down but began to construct
the Berlin Wall in Aug 1961
Expansion of European-American trade Trade Expansion Act in 1962 – cut tariffs by
50% Promote trade with Common Market countries
(Kennedy Round)
Charles de Gaulle of France started developing his own atomic force
Foreign Flare-ups African Congo
Received its independence from Belgium in 1960 then exploded into violence
UN sent in a peace keeping force financed mainly by the US
Laos Freed from France in 1954, then civil war began JFK imposed a shaky peace in 1962
“Flexible Response” – McNamara Developing an array of military options that could be
matched to the crisis Replaced Dulles’s massive retaliation policy Developed the Special Forces (Green Berets)
An elite antiguerrilla outfit trained to survive under harsh conditions
Vietnam Diem gov’t in Saigon had ruled shakily since the split of Vietnam in 1954Anti-Diem group headed by Viet Cong threatened to topple the pro-American gov’t1961 – JFK ordered an increase in the number of “military advisors” in South Vietnam Encouraged a successful coup against Diem
in Nov 1963
Bong Son, Vietnam, 1966
A Vietnamese mother and her children, framed by the legs of a soldier in the U.S. First Cavalry Division. (Wide World/AP Photo/Henri Huet)
Bong Son, Vietnam, 1966
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Cuban Confrontations 1961 – Alliance of Progress Extended the hand of friendship with Latin
America // Marshall Plan for Latin America
CIA planned to overthrow Fidel Castro Invade Cuba with anticommunist exiles & they
would trigger an uprising April 17, 1961 – Exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs
No match for Castro’s air force Exiles were forced to surrender
Castro was pushed further towards the USSR
Cuban Missile CrisisOctober 1962 – U-2 spy plane discovered that the Soviets were installing nuclear tipped missiles in CubaOctober 22 – JFK ordered a naval “quarantine” of Cuba & demanded immediate removal of the weapons
Warned USSR that an attack on the US would lead to an attack on the USSR
Soviet ships approached the patrol line
October 28 – Khrushchev agreed to a partially compromise & agreed to remove the missiles
US agreed not to invade Cuba & would remove US missiles in Turkey aimed at the USSR
Catch up with the Russians
US expanded the military JFK pushed for a nuclear test-ban treaty with the USSR
Pact prohibiting trial nuclear explosions was signed in 1963
Aug 1963 – Moscow-Washington “hot line” was installedJFK tried to lay the foundations for a realistic policy of peaceful coexistence
Origins of the “dètente” policy (French for relaxation)
Struggle for Civil Rights JFK had pledged to eliminate racial discrimination in housing during his campaign
Took him 2 years He did not want to isolate Southerners in Congress
Freedom Riders – 1960 Goal was to end segregation in facilities serving
interstate bus passengers May 1961 - white mob torched a bus in Alabama Attorney General Bobby Kennedy’s personal
representative was beaten unconscious Federal marshals were sent to protect the Freedom
Riders
Dogs turned on Birmingham demonstratorsThe ferocious attempts by local authorities in Birmingham, Alabama, led by Eugene "Bull" Connor, to repel nonviolent black protesters using fire hoses (capable of 100 pounds of water pressure per square inch), electrically charged cattle prods, and police dogs were shown nightly on television. Tactics such as these made white supremacy an object of revulsion throughout most of the country and forced the Kennedy administration to intervene to end the crisis. (Wide World)
Dogs turned on Birmingham demonstrators
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JFK & Civil Rights JFK became weary of King’s associates
(Afraid that they had communist associations) Robert Kennedy ordered the FBI director, J.
Edgar Hoover, to wiretap King’s phone in 1963
Voter Education Project launched to register black voters in the South Oct 1962 - James Meredith registered at the University of Miss with the help of 400 federal marshals & 3000 troopsTV viewers watched peaceful marchers attackedJune 11, 1960 – On TV, JFK called for civil rights legislation
More Civil Rights March on Washington King & 200,000 demonstrators sowed support
for JFK’s civil rights legislation “I Have a Dream Speech”
June 11, 1963 – Medgar Evers was killedSept 1963 – explosion at a Baptist church in Birmingham killed 4 young girls JFK died before passing his civil rights bill
The Killing of Kennedy Nov 22, 1963 – JFK was assassinated in Dallas Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested then shot Jack Ruby assassinated Oswald Chief Justice Warren conducted an investigation
The Warren Commission
Lyndon B. Johnson became president Followed most of JFK’s policies
JFK known more for his ideals than his accomplishments
JFK assassinationAs Jacqueline Kennedy reacts to her husband being fatally shot in the head, their open-air limousine races to nearby Parkland Hospital. The president died less than an hour later. CBS television news anchor Walter Cronkite cried as he told the nation the news. (National Archives)
JFK assassination
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LBJ as PresidentLegislative wheeler & dealer More successful in Congress
Honor JFK by supporting his Civil Rights Bill Civil Rights Act of 1964
Banned racial discrimination in most private facilities open to the public – theaters, hospitals, restaurants
Strengthened federal gov’t to end segregation in schools & other public places
Created Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Title VII passed with the sexual clause
Issued an executive order requiring affirmative action (federal jobs)
President Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act, 1964Surrounded by an illustrious group of civil rights leaders and members of Congress, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Standing behind the president is Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. (Corbis-Bettmann)
President Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act, 1964
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LBJ treatmentNot content unless he could wholly dominate friend as well as foe, Lyndon Johnson used his body as well as his voice to bend others to his will and gain his objectives. (Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library)
LBJ treatment
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LBJ’s Domestic Policies LBJ was successful in passing JFK’s tax bill with added proposals for his “War on Poverty” Concerned about Appalachia
“Great Society” Set of New Dealish economic & welfare
measures aimed at transforming American life Michael Harrington’s The Other America
(1962) 20% of population in poverty 40% of blacks in poverty
Johnson v. Goldwater Election of 1964
Democrat – JohnsonRepublican – Barry Goldwater Attacked federal income tax, Social
Security, TVA, civil rights, nuclear test-ban treaty, & the “Great Society”
Johnson won easily
Tonkin Gulf Episode Aug 1964 – US Navy ships had been helping South Vietnam in raids along the coast of North Vietnam 2 US ships were allegedly fired upon on Aug 2 &
4 (Later reports believe NV fired in self defense
on 2nd & nothing happened on the 4th)
Johnson deemed this an unprovoked attack Ordered an air raid against North Vietnamese
bases Convinced Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf
Resolution Gave the president a blank check in dealing with
Southeast Asia
The Great Society Congress
War on Poverty Doubled the appropriations of the Office of
Economic Opportunity Granted money to Appalachia 2 new cabinet offices
Department of Transportation Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) First black cabinet member – Robert C. Weaver
Creation of the National Endowment for the Arts & Humanities
LBJ’s Great SocietyBig Four Aid to education
Project Head Start Medical care for the elderly & indigent
Medicare – elderly - 1965 Medicaid – poor 1965
Immigration reform Immigration & Nationality Act of 1965 – abolished
the quota system “family unification” provisions
New voting rights bill
Black Revolution ExplodesStruggle 24th Amendment (1964) abolished poll tax in
federal elections Freedom Summer of 1964
3 were killed in Mississippi // FBI arrested 21 1965 – King resumed voter registration in
Selma, Alabama Attacked with tear gas & whips
Voting Rights Act of 1965 Outlawed literacy tests & sent federal voter
registrars into several southern states
Black PowerWatts Riot in Los Angeles (1965) Blacks were enraged by police brutality
burned & looted their own neighborhoods Began militant confrontation
Malcolm X – Nation of Islam Black separatism
Stokely Carmichael – leader of SNCC Black Power Emphasized African American distinctiveness
April 4, 1968 – King was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis
Combating Communism Dominicans rose in revolt in April 1965 American troops were sent to restore order Johnson was widely condemned
Vietnam continues Viet Cong attacked American air base at
Pleiku, South Vietnam in Feb 1965 Johnson ordered retaliatory bombings & land
attacks March 1965 – Operation Rolling Thunder
Regular full-scale bombing attacks against North Vietnam
Vietnam Johnson planned “step-by-step” escalation of American forces This would drive the enemy to defeat Not successful
South Vietnamese were becoming spectators in their warDomino theory Began in the 1950s by Eisenhower Idea that if one nation in Asia fell to
communism then others would follow
Vietnam Vexations Several nations expelled Peace Corps volunteers because of American involvement in Vietnam de Gaulle ordered NATO off French soil in 1966
Soviet Union expanded their influence in the Mediterranean area, especially in Egypt Six-Day War June 1967 – Israel defeated
Egyptians Israel gained new territories including Golan
Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank of the Jordan River, including Jerusalem
Anti-War Demonstrations Began on a small scale in 1965 on college campuses Gradually expanded into much larger protestDraft dodgers went to Canada & others burned this draft cardsMarchers filled the streets of New York, San Francisco, other major cities Opposition in Congress Senator William Fulbright head of the Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Televised hearings in 1966 & 1967 “Credibility gap” between government & the
people
"Girls say yes to boys who say no," 1968Those opposing the war in Vietnam not only demonstrated against the war but also encouraged young men to resist the draft. Here, singer and activist Joan Baez (left) and her sisters suggest one "benefit" those who say "no" to the draft might expect. (National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.)
"Girls say yes to boys who say no," 1968
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Johnson Responds Announced “bombing halts” in 1966 & 1967 Used by both sides to funnel more troops into
South Vietnam
1967 – LBJ ordered the CIA to spy on antiwar activists FBI was instructed to sabotage peace groups
Tet Offensive Jan 1968 Viet Cong attacked 27 key South Vietnamese
cities including Saigon, simultaneously Military defeat for Viet Cong but it was a
political victory American military leaders responded with a
request for 200,000 more troops Request rejected
Campaign of 1968Democrats Eugene McCarthy – antiwar college students
as campaign workers Robert F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
Announced on March 31, 1968 that he would apply the brakes to Vietnam
Freeze American troop levels & shift more responsibility to South Vietnam
Also declared that he would not seek reelection
Violence at Democratic ConventionPhotographs and televised pictures of the Chicago police beating and gassing antiwar protesters and innocent bystanders at the Democratic convention in 1968 linked Democrats in the public mind with violence and mayhem. The scenes made Republican Richard Nixon a reassuring presence to those he would term "the silent majority." ((c) Bettmann/Corbis)
Violence at Democratic Convention
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Presidential Election of 1968
Hubert H. Humphrey – replaced Johnson June 5, 1968 – Robert Kennedy was assassinated
Because of his pro-Israel views
Democratic Convention – Aug 1968 Riot broke out
Republicans – Richard Nixon Spiro Agnew – running mate
American Independent Party – George C. WallaceNixon won - Minority president who owed his election to divisions over the war & protests
Lyndon Johnson
Accomplished a lot for civil rights Compassion for the poor, blacks, & the ill educated Crucified by Vietnam
Cultural Upheaval in the 1960s
Negative attitude against authority Change in traditional morals & valuesLoss of patriotism Free Speech Movement – Berkeley in 1964Mind-Bending drugs such as LSD very popularHippiesSexual revolution – birth control Dr. Alfred Kinsey – wrote books on adultery &
premarital sex
Flower Children & Flower Power
Hippies in their garden of grass"Grass opened up a new space for middle class white kids," wrote chronicler of the drug culture Jay Stevens, "an inner space as well as outer space. It became a ritual--sitting around with your friends, passing a joint from person to person, listening to music, eating, talking, joking, maybe making out--all the senses heightened." (John and Leni Sinclair Collection, Bentley Historical Library,University of Michigan)
Hippies in their garden of grass
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3 Ps of the 1960s
Population – youthful bulgeProtest against racism & the Vietnam WarProsperity
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