The 1960s Liberal Era

Chapter 28

1960 Election – Kennedy v. Nixon

Kennedy – after beating out two prominent Democrats (Adlai Stevenson and Lyndon B. Johnson) due to his political connections from wealth and the growing line of Kennedy politicians, Kennedy sought to establish a more active federal government, and to balance the ticket Southerner Lyndon Johnson was chosen as the VP (Kennedy was Catholic)

Nixon – Richard Nixon identified himself with the Eisenhower administration and was unanimously selected by Republicans after success as the Vice President after he had made the famous “Checkers Speech” that saved his political life, Nixon ran on more “middle way” policies and his standing up to Nikita Khrushchev in the “kitchen debate”, but liberals and others did not forget his close ties to McCarthyism

The Election of 1960

For the first time, television was the main medium for the campaign and Kennedy’s telegenic personality allowed him to gain the upper hand over Nixon (who looked pale and tense during the four televised debates)

In one of the closest elections in history, Kennedy won the election and was thankful that his running mate Johnson helped him carry key southern states

Kennedy’s Advisors

Kennedy with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and the Shah of Iran

Attorney General and brother Robert Kennedy

Kennedy, the youngest President, promised to the lead the nation into a “New Frontier” and surrounded himself with pragmatists (Robert McNamara), liberal academics (Galbraith), and family (Robert Kennedy and wife “Jackie” Kennedy, who brought style and glamor to the White House, which became known as the “Camelot Years”)

Kennedy’s “New Frontier” beliefs included support for education, urban renewal, civil rights, and health care but many of these never happened during his Presidency

Kennedy and Foreign PolicyKennedy’s failing domestic agenda forced him to concentrate

on foreign affairs and promoting economic growth through military spending and business tax incentives, which eventually made defense expenditures the largest portion of the federal budget

Kennedy’s first foreign policy issues included:

1) Peace Corps – volunteers sent to give aid to other nations (to help against communism)

2) Alliance for Progress – promotes land reform and economic development in Latin America

3) Trade Expansion Act – reduced tariffs between Western European nations and the US

All of these served to increase US activity in foreign nations and had mixed success

Kennedy’s Foreign Affairs

Peace Corps is created Bay of Pigs Invasion The Berlin Wall is built

Kennedy’s biggest blunder was the Bay of Pigs invasion, where Cuban exiles were trained to invade Cuba (the plan failed and Castro used it to gain Soviet support)

Kennedy also refused to remove troops from West Berlin, resulting in the creation of the Berlin Wall to keep East Germans from fleeing to West Germany

The Cuban Missile Crisis - Brinkmanship

When Soviet missiles were found in Cuba…

-Kennedy set up a blockade to stop Soviet ships from going to Cuba

-Agreement was made that Kennedy wouldn’t invade Cuba if Soviets took down missiles

-After the close call, both nations start Détente, or an attempt to avoid conflict, and install a “hot line” from the White House to the Kremlin

-Afterwards, Kennedy used “flexible response” to deal with issues instead of brinkmanship and massive retaliation

Assassination of Kennedy

Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, who was convicted as the lone assassin, but the events in Dallas led to many uncertain conspiracy theories

The legend of Kennedy is mixed: His personability and quotes (Ask not what…) were inspiring but many of his Cold War actions have drawn criticism

African-American Struggles

The Freedom Riders

James Meredith and Mississippi

Sit-ins – Greensboro, NC at Woolworth’s

Despite Kennedy’s original support of civil rights, his concern about alienating Southern voters kept him from pushing Congress (though he did send federal support for James Meredith)

African-Americans were tired of waiting and turned to themselves to push forward civil rights

African-American Actions

• For the action given to you:

1) Create a television script that describes the event (what is happening?) and the importance of the event– about ½ page to 1 page

2) Create a political cartoon that shows the response of society in the 1960s to the event

African-American Actions are:

• “Letters from a Birmingham Jail” by MLK Jr.• March on Washington (1963)• Mississippi Freedom Summer Project (1964)• March to Montgomery (1965)• Actions of Black Muslims and Malcolm X• Actions of Stokely Carmichael and SNCC• Actions of the Black Panthers• Assassination of MLK Jr.

Government Actions are:

• Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Creation of the EEOC

• Voting Rights Act of 1965 is passed

• The Kerner Commission report

The March on Washington

Black Power and the Panthers

The Civil Rights Act and Voting

Voting Rights Act of 1965, helped along by Freedom Summer, where blacks risked to get other blacks to vote

Johnson convinces Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Lyndon JohnsonJohnson’s rise into politics was different than Kennedy,

not as sophisticated and polished but a much more experienced politician and a determined lawmaker

After taking over for Kennedy, Johnson immediately began to work on:

1) An expanded version of the civil rights bill proposed by Kennedy

2) An income tax cut proposed by Kennedy which would increase jobs and consumer spending throughout the 60s (it also reduced the federal deficit as more revenue came in)

3) The creation of a “Great Society” using liberal legislation

Johnson’s “War on Poverty”

Inspired by “The Other America” by Harrington, Johnson and Congress declared a “war on poverty” passing the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which founded Job Corps, The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), VISTA, Head Start, and the Community Action Program

Election of 1964

Johnson’s “Great Society” programs gave him a decidedly liberal agenda, but his success at implementing them won him the election easily over conservative Barry Goldwater (helped by the “Daisy Girl” TV ad that showed him as a dangerous extremist)

Great Society Programs to KnowJohnson continued the “Great Society” with:• Medicare and Medicaid (health care)• Immigration Act of 1965• Omnibus Housing Act of 1965• National Endowment for the Arts (1965)• Elementary and Secondary Education Act and

Higher Education Act (1965)• Cities and Metropolitan Area Development through the

DOT and HUD• Clean Air and Water Laws (resulting from “Silent

Spring” and “Unsafe at Any Speed” by Ralph Nader – car pollution)

Warren Court Cases to KnowThe Warren Court assisted Johnson by:• Thurgood Marshall - African-American justice who

leads civil rights charge• Baker v. Carr, Wesberry v. Sanders, Reynolds v.

Sims (apportionment helping blacks)• Gideon v. Wainwright (6th Amendment)• New York Times v. Sullivan, Yates v. US, Engel v.

Vitale (Freedom of Press, Speech, Religion)• Miranda v. Arizona, Escobedo v. Illinois (5th

Amendment)• Mapp v. Ohio, Griswold v. Connecticut (4th

Amendment and Privacy)

Voices of ProtestActivism was prominent for many groups during the 1960s, including:

1) Native Americans – tribes band together to denounce the termination policy (AIM and “Red Power”), and Johnson abides by removing the policy and establishing self-determination and the National Council on Indian Opportunity (worked to battle poverty on reservations)

2) Hispanics – Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers organized groups to increase pride in their culture, as did La Raza Unida and the Young Lords

3) Asian-Americans – created the Asian-American Political Alliance to protest the war in Vietnam

4) Women – After a decade of content, women were becoming increasingly unhappy (as stated in “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan) and got little support until the founding of NOW in 1966 where they lobbied for equality in the workplace (Equal Rights Amendment) and used “The Women’s Strike for Equality”

The Escalating Vietnam Problem

Kennedy’s belief in the “domino theory” made him determined not to let the NLF (National Liberation Front – Vietcong) win in South Vietnam and sent large shipments of weapons to Diem, who was then murdered by his generals and South Vietnam became embroiled in turmoil

Kennedy’s death led to Johnson taking over the war, where he made plans to commit troops to Vietnam and officially convinced Congress to “take all necessary measures” against North Vietnam after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (where the US claimed North Vietnam ships had fired on the US)

Johnson started sustained bombing of North Vietnam, but it had little success and forced Johnson into committing ground forces and turning it into an American war (leading to the debate between doves and hawks)

The “Great Society”

• As a political cartoonist, show your support (or lack thereof) of one of the “Great Society” programs passed by Johnson – visually show what effect the program is having on society