The New Frontier: JFK and the Age of Camelot

Ch. 29

Part I: The 1960 Election

The Election of 1960 marked a major change in the way

Americans participated in politics. Politics became a televised event.

The New Generation• Americans had hope for the

future– Had gotten through the

Depression– Had beaten Fascism in Europe

and Japan– Had rebuilt the world

(especially the West) to be democratic

– Had the best nuclear arsenal in the world

– Had become more prosperous, lived healthier, and longer than ever

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

• Long established Massachusetts family, made wealthy from selling alcohol during Prohibition

• Considered nouveau riche, part of the newly monied

• Irish-Catholic, attended private schools, including Harvard

• Served in U.S. Navy during WWII, earned medals for valor and purple heart (back injuries)

JFK’s Politics

• Elected to Congress as a Democratic Representative for MA

• Represented the young Baby-Boomer generation

• Promoted Liberal ideas: government should work for the people

Richard Milhous Nixon

• Long established Republican politician from California

• Pushed for strong political and economic conservatism– Small government– Traditional morality– Tax cuts– Strong on Communism

The 1960 Election• JFK looked relaxed, young,

handsome– Made for TV, looked

groomed, PR ready

• Nixon looked stiff, uncomfortable, and sweaty

• First televised debates in history

• Would be a very close election, decided by a few thousand votes

The Issues• Kennedy’s position:

– U.S. faced serious issues abroad and at home

– Needed to spend money to protect and help American interests, especially in Cuba

• Nixon’s position– U.S. was just fine, after 8

years of Eisenhower/Nixon

– Needed to cut spending, because domestic spending was too expensive

Part II: The Age of Camelot

JFK brought a distinctive style of leadership, organizing a young,

ambitious Cabinet and attempting an overhaul of the inner-cities.

The Results

JFK won by narrow majority• Youngest president

elected in American history

• First Catholic president• Assembled youngest

Cabinets, many Harvard grads– Brother, RFK was Attorney

General– Robert McNamara,

Secretary of Defense

The New Frontier

Bold, new domestic programs

• Education• Welfare• Health Care• Elderly Assistance• Inner-Cities• Continue FDR’s social

action

JFK’s Problems• Small Democratic majority in

Congress• Barely won the presidency• Congress didn’t support

policies• Christian Southern

Conservative Democrats didn’t like him

• Battled high inflation• Contending in tensions in

Cuba, Berlin, Russia, and Vietnam

• Most legislation would NOT pass

The Warren Court

• JFK nominated conservative judge, Earl Warren, for Chief Justice

• Became an activist judge, who took a stand on a number of important social issues

Warren’s DecisionsProtect the citizen, protect the police department,

protect the Constitution: Basic civil rights• Baker v. Carr: Change voting laws, reapportion election

process to be based on population (keep power in cities)

• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): can’t use evidence illegally gathered

• Escobedo v. Illinois (1964) and Miranda v. Arizona (1966): the right to remain silent, anything said can be used in a court of law, right to lawyer

• Engel v. Vitale (1962): No prayer in schools

• Griswold v. Connecticut (1965): Overturns ban on birth control

Part III: JFK’s Foreign Policy

As a result of the Berlin Wall, Russia’s deployment of missiles to Cuba, and

the threat of Communism spreading in Vietnam, JFK asked for a flexible response to make America safe.

Flexible Response

• Challenged Eisenhower’s idea of “massive retaliation”

• Pushed for the use of conventional weaponry and military to combat Communism

• U.S. couldn’t rely on nuclear arsenal to protect itself

Alliance for Progress• JFK’s pledge of support for

Latin America• Considered a “Marshall

Plan for brown people”– $20 billion to support internal

improvements– Supported education and

schools– Built hospitals and promote

health care– Helped distribute land

• Pros: helped some• Cons: much abuse and

corruption

The Peace Corps• JFK’s call for American

international volunteerism• The commitment:

– Spend 2 years in developing nations

– Specialize in education, agriculture, irrigation, sewage treatment, or health care

– Promote democracy and American influence

• Remains one of the most lasting legacy’s of JFK’s presidency

The Space Race

• JFK’s promise to be the first to the moon

• 1962: NASA sends John Glenn, first American in space– Used Saturn V rocket to

propel out of Earth’s orbit

• 1969: Saturn V rocket launches Apollo 11– First, and only, successful

moon landing– Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin,

and Michael Collins

The Bay of Pigs Invasion

• Considered JFK’s first major foreign policy issue

• Intended to overthrow Fidel Castro, who had become too cozy with Khrushchev

• Eisenhower, before leaving office, had approved CIA training of Cuban exiles

JFK Starts the Bay of Pigs Invasion

(April 17, 1961)• JFK hopes to start a

revolution, authorizes invasion

• Total Failure:– 1,400 armed Cubans, called

La Brigada– Runs aground on a coral

reef– JFK cancels air support,

keep America’s involvement secret

– Castro captured or killed almost all of La Brigada

– Exposed American covert operations

The Berlin Wall(August 1961)

• Immediately following the Bay of Pigs

• JFK and Khrushchev meet in Berlin to discuss E. German refugees escaping to West Berlin

• JFK promises to continue support

• Khrushchev orders the construction of the wall

The Cuban Missile Crisis(Oct. 12, 1962)

• American spy plan discovers the construction of missile launching sites in Cuba

• Khrushchev had offered nuclear missiles to force JFK’s concessions in Berlin

• Began 13 days of an intense negotiation

Nuclear Chicken

• JFK pushes for naval blockade

• Goal:– Seize any ships going

into/out of Cuba– Force the immediate removal

of missiles

• The Problem:– A direct attack on Soviets

would be an act of war– The existence of the missiles

were an act of war

The Fallout(Oct. 28, 1962)• Russia blinks!

• Russia removes missiles from Cuba

• U.S. removes missiles from Turkey

• Quarantine ends, but embargo begins

• The Problems:– Khrushchev forced from office– Kremlin begins nuclear

expansion– U.S. and Russia agree to test

ban treaty– Establish direct communication

link: the red phone

Part IV: LBJ and the Great Society

Taking the presidency after JFK’s assassination (Nov. 22, 1963), LBJ was immediately confronted with an explosion of violence over civil rights, the need to engage more troops into Vietnam, and a need to improve conditions throughout American

society.

Johnson’s Background

• Experience as long-running conservative, Southern Democrat from Texas

• Known for building coalitions by strong-arm, handshake, drinks, and backslaps

• Immediately sworn in as president

• Continued JFK’s social and domestic programs

The Great Society• LBJ’s political experience helped

push many bills through Congress

• Firmly committed to social action• Declared a “War on Poverty”

– Started Economic Opportunity Act to coordinate economic recovery

– Neighborhood Youth Corp: Helped youth graduate and get jobs

– Job Corps: Provide job training and placement for inner-cities

– VISTA (Volunteer Service to America): Domestic Peace Corps

Creating a More Equitable Society

• Medicaid (1965): Comprehensive medical insurance for low-income families

• Medicare (1965): Comprehensive health coverage for the elderly

Education and Environment

• Project Head Start (1965): Fund preschool programs for low-income families

• The Water Quality Act and The Clean Air Act (1965): Increase regulations on industrial pollution

Civil Rights

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Banned discrimination of ANY kind

• The Voting Rights Act of 1965: Ensured voting rights to black Americans

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Barred discrimination based on race OR gender in the workplace

Lyndon Johnson’s Legacy• Provided “entitlement funds”--out of the federal

budget to disadvantaged groups• Skyrocketed federal budget, causing stress on

programs• LBJ distracted by other domestic and foreign

policy issues– Vietnam– Social Protest

• Anti-War• Free Speech• Feminism• Hippies/Free Drug Movement• Civil Rights

Source: st-descartes.esuhsd.org/.../files/PPT%20The%20New%20Frontier.ppt