the new frontier and the great society unit 13. the new frontier and kennedy
TRANSCRIPT
THE NEW FRONTIER AND THE GREAT SOCIETY
Unit 13
The New Frontier and Kennedy
Guiding Questions
How did the election of 1960 change the way candidates ran their campaigns?
What were some domestic policies initiated when Kennedy took office?
How important are some of the Warren Court rulings for today’s society?
Terms to Know
Missile gap Reapportionment Due process Arbitrary
Election of 1960
Both parties used television as a campaign method Democrats spent more than $6 million Republicans spent more than $7.5 million
First televised presidential debate Sept. 26, 1960
John F. Kennedy- Democratic candidate Wealthy and powerful Senator from Massachusetts Catholic Outgoing and relaxed
Richard Nixon- Republican candidate Eisenhower’s vice president Quaker Formal and stiff
Election of 1960 Platforms
John F. Kennedy Richard Nixon
• Promised to boost the economy• Was determined to stop the forces
of communism• Claimed the U.S. was behind the
Soviets in weaponry- missile gap• Kennedy’s Catholicism concerned
many Americans, but Kennedy stressed the importance of keeping church and state separate
• Promised to boost the economy• Was determined to stop the forces
of communism• Warned that the Democrats’
financial policies would boost inflation
• Stated he was only wone with foreign policy experience needed for the nation
• Kennedy won the popular vote by 118, 574 votes• Won Electoral College by 303 to 219
• Many people were mesmerized by Kennedy’s youth and optimism• Said a new generation was in charge
Kennedy Takes Office
New Frontier- Kennedy’s programs for a legislative agenda Hoped to increase aid to education Give insurance to the elderly Create a Department of Urban Affairs
Kennedy was unable to win passage of many of his programs Most Democrats felt they did not owe him
anything Southern Democrats saw Kennedy’s programs
as too expensive
New Frontier Success and Setbacks
Successes Setbacks• Congress agreed to raise the
minimum wage• Congress approved Kennedy’s
proposal for the Area Redevelopment Act and a Housing Act which helped create jobs and build low-income housing in poor areas
• Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963- women had a right to equal pay for comparable work
• Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963- gave money to build research centers and mental health centers; Paid to train teachers to work with people with developmental disorders
• Congress blocked a proposed tax cut because they feared it would cause inflation
• Congress blocked Kennedy’s plans for health insurance for senior citizens and federal aid to education
• Poor relations with business community after Justice Department began looking into whether steel industry was illegally setting prices
The Warren Court
Earl Warren became chief justice of the United States in 1953 Governor of California
Under Warren’s leadership, the Supreme Court made several rulings that reshaped U.S. politics and society
Warren Court Reforms
Reapportionment Due ProcessWay in which states draw up political
districtsLaw may not treat individuals unfairly,
arbitrarily, or unreasonably
Rural voters had more political influence even though population was far less
Supreme Court began using 14th amendment to apply the Bill of Rights to the states
• Baker v. Carr (1962)- Court ruled that federal courts could hear lawsuits aimed at forcing states to redraw electoral districts
• Reynolds v. Sims (1964)- Court ruled that states must assign electoral districts over
• “One person, One Vote”- shifted political power to urban areas; Gave African Americans and Hispanics more power
• Mapp v. Ohio (1961)- State courts could not consider evidence obtained in ways that broke constitutional law
• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)- Defendants in state court had the right to a lawyer, even if they could not pay for one
• Escobedo v. Illionois (1964)- People suspect to crime have access to a lawyer; Police must inform suspects of their right to remain silent
• Miranda v. Arizona (1966)- Police must tell suspects they have right to remain silent and that anything they say can/will be used against them; Must tell suspects they have access to a lawyer
Separation of Church and State Engle v. Vitale (1962)
Ruled that states could not create official prayers and order students to recite them in public schools
Abington School Distric v. Schempp (1963) Ruled against state-required Bible readings in
public schools Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
Stated that not allowing the sale and use of birth control devices went against the right to privacy in the Constitution
Discussion Questions
What role do you think television played in Kennedy’s victory over Nixon?
What do you think Kennedy meant by the following statement? “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”
How did Miranda v. Arizona affect defendants in criminal cases?
JFK and the Cold War
Guiding Questions
How were President Kennedy’s programs to combat communism different from the programs of previous administrations?
What was the most important foreign policy event of the Kennedy administration? Why was it the most important?
Terms to Know
Flexible response Space race Hot line
Containing Communism
Flexible Response Alliance for Progress
Peace Corps
• Kennedy wanted to build up conventional troops and weapons
• Felt Eisenhower focused too much on nuclear weapons
• Built up the Special Forces
• Series of cooperative aid projects with Latin American governments
• Hoped to create a free and economically successful Latin America, less likely to support Communist-inspired revolutions
• U.S. gave $20 billion to Latin American countries over a 10-year period
• Provide better schools, housing, health care, and fairer land distribution
• Mixed results
• People volunteered to help local people in less-developed countries
• Spent two years in countries that asked for help
• Built roads, taught English, laid out sewage systems, trained medical staff
The Cold War in Space
Soviets were beating the U.S. in the space race- the Cold War competition over dominance of space exploration capability Sputnik (1957)- First space satellite Yury Gagarin (1961)- First astronaut to orbit Earth
Kennedy feared that Soviet success in space race would convince world that communism was better than capitalism Kennedy stated he wanted to land a man on the moon before the
end of the decade U.S. began a huge effort to develop necessary technology to
land man on the moon John Glenn (1962)- First American astronaut to orbit the Earth
July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon Apollo 11
Kennedy’s Cold War Crises
Bay of Pigs Berlin Wall Cuban Missile Crisis
• Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government and immediately made ties with the Soviets (1959)
• Eisenhower had feared the Soviets would use Cuba as a base for spreading revolution and authorized the CIA to secretly train and arm a group of Cuban exiles (la Brigada)
• Kennedy became president and authorized the invasion
• Launched on April 17, 1961; Landed at Bay of Pigs in southern Cuba
• Complete disaster; Made the U.S. look weak and disorganized
• Kennedy met with Nikita Khrushchev in Austria in June 1961
• Kennedy refused to leave West Berlin
• Khrushchev responded by build a wall around West Berlin
• Berlin wall blocked all movement between the Soviet sector and the rest of the city
• Berlin Wall became a symbol of the Cold War
• U.S. spies learned Soviet technicians and equipment had arrived in Cuba in summer 1962
• Kennedy announced the USSR had long range nuclear missiles in Cuba on October 22, 1962
• Kennedy ordered a naval blockade to stop delivery of more missiles and demanded existing missile sites be taken down
• After secret negotiations, U.S. removed missiles from Turkey and USSR removed missiles from Cuba
• Agreed to banning test of nuclear weapons in atmosphere
Kennedy’s Assassination
Kennedy was shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963
Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and accused of killing Kennedy Confused and resentful Marxist Spent time in the Soviet Union
Oswald was killed while in police custody by Jack Ruby on November 24, 1963 Led many to believe there was a conspiracy
Warren Commission investigated and found Oswald was only assassin
Discussion Questions
Which do you think would be more effective in combating communism—economic aid or military resistance? Why?
Why was it important to Kennedy that the United States to put the first person on the Moon and “win” the space race?
Why do you think Kennedy responded to the Cuban missile crisis with strong words and quarantine instead of with a military solution?
The Great Society
Guiding Questions
How did President Johnson’s experience in Congress help him get legislation passed?
How does Great Society legislation influence current government programs and philosophies?
Terms to Know
Consensus Subsidy
Johnson Becomes President
Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office hours after Kennedy was assassinated 26 years of experience in Congress Ability to build partnerships through favors,
bargaining, flattering, and threatening made him one of the most effective and powerful leaders in Senate history
Johnson urged the nation to build on Kennedy’s legacy
War on Poverty
Johnson was a teacher in a low-income area in Texas and saw extreme poverty firsthand Believed wealthy, powerful government should try to
make the lives of its citizens better Johnson continued on Kennedy’s plans for
antipoverty program Knew anything tied to Kennedy would be popular
Economic Opportunity Act (1964)- created 10 new programs with the Office of Economic Opportunity Focused on public services, illiteracy and
unemployment Many aimed at young, inner-city Americans
Office of Economic Opportunity Programs
Neighborhood Youth Corps Work study program that helped poor young men and women
get a high school diploma or college degree Job Corps
Helped unemployed people ages 16-21 gain job skills Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)
Helped people overcome poverty by putting skilled, community-minded young volunteers to work in poor neighborhoods and rural areas
Upward Bound Offered tutoring to high school students
Work Experience Program Provided day care and other support for those in poor
households so they could go to work
Election of 1964
Johnson easily won reelection over Republican candidate Barry Goldwater Gained more than 61% of the popular vote Won all but 6 states of the Electoral College
The Great Society
Healthcare Education Civil Rights
Urban Problems
Immigration
• Medicare- offered health insurance to all senior citizens
• Medicaid- paid for health care for people on welfare who lived below the poverty line
• Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965- gave millions of dollars to public and private schools
• Project Head Start- included disadvantaged preschoolers in educational efforts
• Civil Rights Act of 1964- barred discrimination
• Voting Rights Act of 1965- protected voters from discriminatory practices
• Department of Housing and Urban Development- designed to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and affordable housing
• “Model Cities”- improve transportation, health care, housing, and policing
• Immigration Act of 1965- ended the immigration system started in the 1920s that favored immigration from northern European immigrants
Legacy of the Great Society
Much debate over the effectiveness of the Great Society Success was limited in many ways Programs did not work as well as hoped
Great Society suffered due to funding of Vietnam War Some Great Society programs continue
Medicare, Medicaid, Department of Transportation, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Project Head Start
Raised many questions regarding How the federal government can help disadvantaged citizens How much government can help society before hindering
private sector How much help can people get without losing motivation to
provide for themselves
Discussion Questions
Why do you think Johnson’s antipoverty programs targeted education and job support for young people?
What were the successes of the Great Society? What were the failures?