CH 47-48: JFK & LBJ

1960 Election

• John F Kennedy (JFK) v Richard Nixon – JFK would win in the closest election since

1888, largely thanks to TV & Nixon having the Flu

• New Frontier– Kennedy attempted to surround himself

with the best and brightest advisors he could (like King Arthur’s Court Camelot)

– JFK called for increase spending on education, and programs to end poverty

– He sought to improve the economy in two steps: • 1. Close the “missile gap”• 2. a major tax cut that would “put money in

people’s pockets”

Space Race: A Man on the Moon• 1957: Russia launched the world’s first satellite into earth’s

orbit: Sputnik (Little Traveler)• In 1958 President Eisenhower responded by creating the

National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)• April 1961: Russia sent the first man into space!• May 1961: Kennedy declared the US should “land a man on

the moon and return him safely to earth,” by the end of the decade– On July 20th 1969 the US landed a man on the moon

Cuba goes Communist

• Before 1959 the US supported Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista.

• In 1959 communist revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro took over Cuba

• 90 miles away from the USA

• Cuba & the USSR formed a tight relationship and Cuba shifted towards a planned economy (government controlled almost everything

• Unwilling to live under communist rule exiles started to flee to the US

Bay of Pigs Invasion• In 1961, a small group of Cuban rebels, who had

been trained and equipped by the CIA, attempted to invade Cuba at The Bay of Pigs

• The invasion was a disaster, and many of the rebels were killed or captured

• Numerous officials tried to persuade JFK to send war planes to support the invasion, but he did not want the US any further involved in the poorly planned invasion

Cuban Missile Crisis

• 1962 a US spy plane flying over Cuba spotted what appeared to be missile sites capable of launching a nuclear weapon (USSR supported)

• Kennedy’s advisors agreed that the US should attempt to stop the USSR from building the missile sites, but not exactly how to do it

• Kennedy would end up blockading Cuba, in an attempt to stop Soviet ships from getting to Cuba

• On Nov 22 Kennedy announced the situation to the US, and called on the USSR to stop their aggressive actions

• The Soviet ships continued to head towards Cuba, and JFK put the military on high alert.

• Eventually the Soviet's ships progress slowed, and Khrushchev (USSR President) sent 2 note to Washington – 1: USSR would removed the missile is

the US removed the blockade & not invade Cuba

– 2: USSR would removed the missile if the US removed missiles they had in Turkey

• JFK publically accepted the 1st offer, but privately agreed to the 2nd.

• Kennedy was planning on removing the missiles from Turkey because they were out of date, but did not want to appear publically weak

• The Cuban Missile Crisis is often viewed as the 13 day that almost ended the world.

JFK on Policy• Publically Kennedy tentatively

supported the Civil Rights movement as President, but had supported it more openly as a Senator

• He would submit policy that would eventually turn into the Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Kennedy would issue an executive order that would for the Peace Corps

• The Peace Corps would send thousands of US citizens to developing countries to help with health clinics, education, farming, etc

Nov. 1963- Dallas• Nov 1963: JFK will be assassinated by

Lee Harvey Oswald while in Dallas TX• Kennedy’s vice President Lyndon

Baines Johnson (LBJ) would become President

• Johnson would go about implementing his domestic program, which was known as the Great Society

• Many saw Johnson’s program as a continuation of the work of FDR’s New Deal (good/bad thing)

• Johnson would have to run for reelection in 1964, but won in a landslide

Great Society• LBJ’s had served in the Senate for over 20

years, so he was skilled at the deals of Washington

• His Great Society program took hold– He attempted to end racial inequality (Voting

Rights Act 1965, Civil Rights Act 1968)– Started the “War on Poverty” by creating

programs that offered job training, providing food, a department for urban development

– Provided heath assistance in the forms of Medicare (65+, OLD) and Medicaid (Low Income families)

– Provided for education by giving funding to elementary and secondary schools, created PBS (Sesame Street 1969)

– Immigration Act of 1965 eliminated immigrant quotes based on national origin

– Supported environmentalism by limiting air pollution

– Approved warning labels on cigarettes & seatbelts in cars

Warren Court• Many of the civil rights rulings

passed down at this time were from the Warren Court, so called because of Chief Justice Earl Warren– Mapp V Ohio (1961): Evidence

obtained illegally cannot be used in court

– Gideon V Wainwright (1964): courts were required to provide public defenders if the accused could not afford a lawyer

– Miranda v Arizona (1966): A suspect must be told, “he has the right to remain silent, that any statement he does make may be used as evidence against him, and that he has the right to the presence of an attorney.”

– Miranda Rights