The Assassination of JFK, LBJ Administration & U.S. Involvement in

Vietnam

Semester 2Week 11

JFK Shot11/23/1963, Kennedy & his wife traveled to TX with VP Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) for a series of political appearances

As the presidential motorcade rode slowly through the crowded streets of Dallas, gunfire rang out

Someone had shot the president twice, once in the throat & once in the head

Horrified gov’t officials sped JFK to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead moments later

Let the Conspiracies BeginLee Harvey Oswald, the

man accused of killing JFK, appeared to be a confused & embittered Marxist who had spent time in the USSR

He himself was shot to death while in police custody 2 days after the assassination

The bizarre situation led some to speculate that the 2nd gunman, local nightclub owner Jack Ruby, killed Oswald to protect others involved in the crime

Warren Commission1964, a national commission headed by Chief Justice Warren concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin

The report of Warren Commission left some questions unanswered, and theories about a conspiracy to kill the president have persisted, though none has gained wide acceptance

LBJ takes over Immediately after JFK was

pronounced dead, officials whisked LBJ to the airport

At 2:38 PM on 11/22, he stood in the cabin of Air Force One, LBJ took the oath of office

LBJ knew that he had to assure a stunned public that he could hold the nation together

A day after the assassination, LBJ appeared before Congress & urged the nation to move on, “The ideas and ideas which [Kennedy] so nobly represented must and will be translated into effective action,” he stated. “John Kennedy’s death commands what his life conveyed- that America must move forward.”

Election of 1964LBJ’s Republican opponent in the 1964

presidential election was Sen. Barry Goldwater (AZ) known for his outspoken conservatism

Few Americans were ready to embrace Goldwater’s message, which was too aggressive for a nation nervous about nuclear war

On Election Day, LBJ won in a landslide, winning all but 5 S'rn states & AZ

After his election, LBJ began working with Major goals of civil rights movements were

achieved with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which barred discrimination of many kinds, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ensured African American’s right to vote

Great SocietyGreat Society was LBJ’s vision of the more perfect &

equitable society the U.S. could & should becomeLBJ’s goals were consistent w/ the times for several

reasonsThe civil rights movement had brought the grievance

of Afr. Amer. to the forefront, reminding many that greater equality of opportunity had yet to be realized

Economics also supported LBJ’s goal The economy was strong, and many believed it would remain so

indefinitelyFrom 1965-1968, more than 60 programs were

passed, among the most significant programs were Medicare and Medicaid

Medicare had especially strong support since it was directed at the entire elderly population in 1965, around half of those over the age of 65 had no health

insurance

Education in the Great SocietyGreat Society programs also strongly supported

educationThe Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965 granted millions of dollars to public and private schools for textbooks, library materials, and special education programs

Efforts to improve education also extended to preschoolers, where Project Head Start

It was directed at disadvantage children who had “never looked at a picture book or scribbled with a crayon”

Another program, Upward Bound, was designed to provide college preparation for low-income teenagers

Legacy of the Great Society

The Great Society programs touched nearly every aspect of American life & improved thousands if not millions of lives

In the years since LBJ left office, however, debate had continued over whether or not the Great Society was truly a success

The impact of the Great Society was limited. In his rush to get as much done as he could, LBJ did not calculate

exactly how his programs might work. As a result, some of them didn’t work as well as people hoped

the programs grew so quickly they were often unmanageable and difficult to evaluate.

A lack of funds also hurt the effectiveness of Great Society programs. The programs themselves were expensive enough. When Johnson attempted to fund both his grand domestic agenda and the increasingly costly war in Vietnam, the Great society eventually suffered

PREPARE FOR QUIZTAKE OUT A SHEET OF PAPER

NUMBER 1-5

QUIZ1. In what city was JFK assassinated?2. Who was accused of assassinating

JFK?3. What claimed that the JFK

assassination was done by a single shooter?

4. Who took over as president after JFK was assassinated?

5. From 1965-1968, how many programs were passed from the Great Society?

Vietnamese HistoryWhen the Japanese seized power

in Vietnam during WWII, it was one more example of foreigners ruling the Vietnamese people

China had controlled the region off and on for hundreds of years

From the late 1800s until WWII, France ruled Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia (a region known as French Indochina)

One of the leaders of the nationalist movement was Nguyen Tat Thanh (AKA Ho Chi Minh)

Ho Chi MinhFound the Indochinese Communist

Party & worked to overthrow French rule

Ho Chi Minh’s activities made him a wanted man; fled Indochina & spent several years in exile in the USSR & China

1941, he returned to Vietnam; By then Japan had seized control of the country

Ho Chi Minh organized a nationalist group called the Vietminh united both Communists & non-

Communists in the struggle to expel the Japanese forces

the U.S. began sending military aid to the Vietminh

Vietnam After WWII8/1945, w/ the Allies’ victory over Japan

the Japanese surrendered control of Indochina

Ho Chi Minh & his forces quickly announced Vietnam independence

France had no intention of seeing Vietnam become independent

Seeking to regain their colonial empire in SE Asia, French troops returned to Vietnam in 1946 & drove the Vietminh forces into hiding in the countryside

1949, France set up a new gov’t in Vietnam

United States Opposes Colonialism In Vietnam the independence movement had become

entangled with the Communist movementU.S. officials did not think France should control Vietnam,

but they did not want Vietnam to be Communist either2 events convinced the Truman administration to help

France: the fall of China to communism the outbreak of the Korean War

Korea convinced American officials that the USSR had begun a major push to impose communism on East Asia

Shortly after the Korean War began, Truman authorized a massive program of military aid to French forces fighting in Vietnam.

IKE defended U.S. policy in Vietnam by stressing what became known as the domino theory (the belief that if Vietnam fell to communism, so too would the other nations of SE Asia)

French Can’t Control the VietminhThe French struggled against the Vietminh, who

consistently frustrated the French with hit-and-run & ambush tactics

These are the tactics of guerrillas, irregular troops who usually blend into the civilian population and are often difficult for regular armies to fight

1954, the French commander ordered his forces to occupy Dien Bien Phu

A huge Vietminh force surrounded Dien Bien Phu and began bombarding the town.

5/7/1954, the French forces at Dien Bien Phu fell to the Vietminh

The defeat convinced the French to make peace & w/draw from Indochina

Geneva ConferenceNegotiations to end the

conflict were held in Geneva, Switzerland

The Geneva Accords temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel

Ho Chi Minh & the Vietminh controlled North Vietnam

a pro-W’rn regime controlled the South

1956 elections were to be held to reunite the country under a single gov’t

U.S. Involvement in Vietnam

After the Geneva Accords partitioned Vietnam, the French finally left

The U.S. almost immediately stepped in & became the principal protector of the new gov’t in the South, led by a nationalist leader named Ngo Dinh Diem

1956, Diem refused to hold countrywide elections, as called for by the Geneva Accords

He knew that the Communist-controlled north would not allow genuinely free elections, and that Ho Chi Minh would almost certainly have won as a result

IKE supported Diem & increased U.S. military & economic aid to South Vietnam

1954, U.S. Joint Chief-of-Staff said Indochina had no strategic advantage to the United States. It was also believed that if the United States got absorbed into a land war in Indochina, the Soviets would make advancements in Europe

PREPARE FOR QUIZTAKE OUT A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER

NUMBER 1-5

QUIZ1. What countries make up French

Indochina? (France is not one of the countries)

2. Who organized a nationalist group called the Vietminh?

3. What 2 events convinced the Truman administration to help France?

4. The Geneva Accords temporarily divided Vietnam along the?

5. Who was the leader in South Vietnam?