Kennedy and JohnsonAPUSH 10.1

1960 Election• Republican – VP Richard Nixon• Fresh off 1959 Kitchen debate with Soviet Premier Nikita

Khrushchev• Why would that matter?

• Democrat – John F. Kennedy

• 1st televised Presidential debate• Who won according to radio listeners?• Who won according to TV viewers?

• Closest election in 75 years

A bad start• Bay of Pigs – April 1961• Originally planned by Eisenhower Administration, but Kennedy

signs on (“Group Think”)• Failed attempt to free Cuba

• CIA• Air Force from Texas• Navy• Cuban refugees• Hope for uprising

• JFK publically accepted blame

A new direction• Truman=Containment, Eisenhower=Massive Retaliation• Flexible Response – Kennedy’s new direction• Creation of Special Forces to battle guerrilla forces and small conflicts• Can not use nuclear weapons in every situation

• Alliance for Progress – aid and goodwill gesture for Latin America

• Peace Corp – established by JKF, used volunteers

• How are these ideas different?

Other Foreign Affair Developments• Berlin Wall Crisis• Khrushchev has wall

built around West Berlin• Why?

• Kennedy travels to West Berlin in 1963• “Ich bin ein Berliner”• Wall is symbolic of Cold

War until 1989

• Space Race• May 1961 – Alan Shepard

into space• JFK makes it a goal of the US

to put a man on the moon by end of decade. Why?• What else does the Space Race

improve?

• NASA in Florida• Mission Control in Houston• 1969 – Neil Armstrong

Closest to WWIII• Cuban Missile Crisis – 1962• US reconnaissance planes photographed the USSR was building

underground missile sites in Cuba.• Kennedy announces a Quarantine of Cuba

• If Soviet ships challenged, a full-scale nuclear war was likely• Khrushchev agrees to remove sites in Cuba, and US in Turkey

• “Khrushchev blinked”

Effects of Cuban Missile Crisis• Hot Line established between Kremlin and White House in 1963• Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed in 1963 (no testing in atmosphere)• Other talks at reducing arms start• But new arms race for missile superiority starts (Space Race)

Kennedy’s Domestic Plan• New Frontier – called for aid to

education, urban renewal, and civil rights.

• During his 1000 day administration, he could not get much passed through Congress.

• Some highlights• Robert Kennedy as Attorney General

using Federal Gov’t in civil rights matters such as the Birmingham Protests

• Housing Act of 1961 – assisted poor in cities and rural areas

• Trickle-down economics – help economy• Increased minimum wage to $1.25 / hour• Many of his ideas would be pushed

through by Johnson’s Great Society

Kennedy’s legacy• Why is Kennedy thought of as a great President by many when

he was only in office for two and half years (1000 days)?• Camelot image – idealistic youth, Jackie• “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what can you do

for your country.”• Even negative such as Bay of Pigs – what did he do?• Cuban Missile Crisis, Space Race, fight for New Frontier programs

Assassination in Dallas• November 1963 – Shocks the country• Lee Harvey Oswald charged with murder• Oswald killed three days later by Jack Ruby

• Warren Commission investigated• Concluded that Oswald had acted alone• Many Conspiracy theories

Johnson and the Great Society• After JFK’s assassination, Lyndon Johnson become President• Former Congressman, he was able to push agenda through

Congress where JFK could not.• Many of his ideas were focusing on problems written about in

Michael Harrington’s The Other America.• Johnson’s Great Society Program known as “war on poverty.”

1964 Election• In contrast to Johnson’s liberal agenda, the Republicans

nominated a staunch conservative.• Barry Goldwater wanted to end TVA, Social Security.• Also seen as extremist in Cold War (Daisy Ad)

• Johnson won in a landslide and the coattail effect made it where Democrats controlled both houses by more than 2/3.• Election showed that if candidate is too extreme, Centrist

American voters won’t elect them (1972 another example)

Great Society Reforms• Medicare – health insurance for those 65 or older• Medicaid – health insurance for disabled and poor• Elementary and Secondary Education Act – aid to poor school

districts• 1965 Immigration Act – end Quotas• Foundation on the Arts and Humanities – funding for creative

and scholarly projects• Increased funding for colleges, housing assistance, and crime

prevention

More Expansion of Government• Office of Economic Opportunity• Created Community Action Programs• Head Start programs• Part of War on poverty

• Department of Transportation• Department of Housing and Urban Development (1966)• Robert Weaver – 1st African-American cabinet member

Two books making changes• Silent Spring by Rachel

Carson (1962)• Expose on pesticides• Launches environmental

movement

• Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader (1965)• Caused regulations to

automobile industry• Start consumer

advocacy program

Johnson and Civil Rights• Southerner Johnson was able to push through Civil Rights legislation.• Used JFK’s death and legacy in political fight• Would be final straw for many Southern Democrats with Party

• 1964 Civil Rights Act• 1965 Voting Rights Act• Federal support of Civil Rights in South

Johnson’s legacy• LBJ’s Great Society did accomplish many of the goals on the

war on poverty. But was it a success?• What were the positives?• What were the negatives?

• What would be the reason focus would go off of the program in the late 1960s?

• Why did LBJ decide not to seek reelection in 1968?

Warren Court • Chief Justice Earl Warren led courts in the 1950s and 1960s• Many cases had to do with Civil Rights and the Rights of the Accused.• 1954 – Brown v. Board• 1962 – Baker v. Carr – reapportionment had to be “one man-one vote”• 1964 – Heart of Atlanta Motel case – upheld Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Used Interstate Commerce Clause of Constitution• Gideon, Escobedo, and Miranda cases – rights for the accused

Reflection Questions• What goals did Kennedy, Johnson, and Warren all have in

common?• What did Kennedy do as President to make him so loved?• What were the positives of the Great Society program?• How did Kennedy change the way the Cold War was fought?

Links• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgV7muq3o3Q – 1960

debate• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAFsQlV4lpc&list=UUZYs757tACChkS-vjS1m66Q&index=37 – review video

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWHdEeHNbXY – Zapruder Film

• http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1964 - Daisy Ad