CHAPTER 20

THE NEW FRONTIER AND THE GREAT SOCIETY

1961—1968

I. JOHN F. KENNEDY AS PRESIDENT (35TH PRESIDENT)

A.ELECTION OF 1960

1. The outcome of the 1960 presidentialelection was strongly influenced by the TELEVISED DEBATES between Nixon and

Kennedy. Two things helped Kennedy with the voters: His personal CHARM and his promise to get the COUNTRY MOVING AGAIN

2. To soothe religious concerns, Kennedy, a Catholic from Massachusetts, spoke in support of separation of

CHURCH AND STATE. The Supreme Court supported separation of church and state in decisions such as ENGEL V. VITALE

KENNEDY INAUGURATION

2. At his inauguration, John Kennedy said, “The torch has been passed to a new generation. “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you—ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOURCOUNTRY.”

B.DOMESTIC FRONT

1. Kennedy’s legislative agenda was known as the NEWFRONTIER.

2. Many Democrats as well as REPUBLICANS ANDSOUTHERN DEMOCRATS defeated a number of

his programs because they viewed them as too bigand costly. Many Democrats in Congress did not feelhe helped them win their seats

3. Kennedy convinced Congress to invest more in DEFENSE AND SPACE EXPLORATION.

4. To stimulate the lagging economy, Kennedy usedSUPPLY-SIDE ECONOMICS for reducing taxes, andDEFICIT SPENDING to increase growth

5. Kennedy helped promote WOMEN'S RIGHTS, INCREASE the minimum wage, and aid to

DISTRESSED AREAS.

6. In response to the recommendations of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, Kennedy ordered

an end to GENDER DISCRIMINATION in the federalcivil service; the first social reform of its kind initiated inthe United States.

7. In 1963, Kennedy ordered his brother, U. S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy, to have his Justice

Department investigate RACIAL INJUSTICES in the South. He presented Congress with a sweepingCIVIL RIGHTS BILL and a proposal to cut taxes by over $10 billion.

C.REFORMS OF THE WARREN COURT

1. The Supreme Court, headed by CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN, played a major role in shapingnational policy during the Kennedy years and into theJohnson years. Decisions of the Warren Court werepraised by liberals.

2. The Warren Court:

a. banned PRAYER in public schools

b. rights of the accused:

1) MAPP V. OHIO: evidence seized illegally could not be used in state courts.

2) BAKER V. CARR (1962): upheld “one person,one vote.” (Balancing representation in urban areasto equal that in rural - voters in rural areas had morerepresentation and thus more power than those inurban areas)

REYNOLDS V. SIMS (1964): extended the principleof “one person, one vote” to state legislative districts. The way in which states draw up political districts based on changes in population is called REAPPORTIONMENT, which boosted the political power of African Americans. The Warren Court required reapportionment.

3) GIDEON V. WAINWRIGHT (1963): required criminal courts to provide a lawyer in criminal cases to anyone

who could not afford one.4) ESCOBEDO V. ILLINOIS (1964): declared that an

accused has the right to have an attorney present when being questioned by the police.

5) MIRANDA V. ARIZONA (1966): ruled that police must inform suspects of their legal rights at the time of arrest.

c. The Warren Court’s decision requiring police to read a suspect their rights provides for DUEPROCESS (ensures that all people are treated thesame by the court system) under the law. Accordingto the 14th Amendment, "no state shall . . . Depriveany person of life, liberty, or property without dueprocess of law."

II. KENNEDY AND THE COLD WAR

A. COLD WAR1. Kennedy attempted to reduce the threat of nuclear

war and to stop the spread of communism withprograms that included FOREIGN AID, the PEACE CORPS (a success) and aCONVENTIONAL WEAPONS buildup.

a. He planned for a FLEXIBLE RESPONSE to war (ability to fight a limited style of warfare) byincreasing defense spending to build up conventional troops and weapons, plus an elite branch of the army called the Special Forces, or GREEN BERETS.

b. He tripled the overall NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES of the United States, enabling the U. S. to fight limited wars around the world while maintaining a balance ofnuclear power with the Soviet Union (there wasconcern about a MISSILE GAP - that the U.S. lagged behind the Soviets in weaponry).

2. His hope for world peace was the central theme of the ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESS PROGRAM (a

series of cooperative aid projects with Latin Americangovernments) adopted in 1961 was to improve socialand economic conditions in Latin America. Kennedyhoped a prosperous Latin America would be lesslikely to support COMMUNIST-INSPIREDREVOLUTIONS.

B. SPACE1. Funding of the space program had the greatest

influence on Kennedy’s interest in winning the spacerace . One of Kennedy’s top priorities: launching theUnited States into SPACE EXPLORATION andlanding a MAN ON THE MOON.

2. The early U S space programs were known as

MERCURY (single-man flights), GEMINI (two-man flights), and

APOLLO (for landing man on the moon - the MAIN purpose of NASA’s Apollo Program)

3. SPACE FLIGHTS:

a. First person in space: YURI GAGARIN (SOVIET UNION)

Mercury astronauts had primitive space food. Pictured are packets of mushroom soup, orange-grapefruit juice, cocoa beverage, pineapple juice, chicken with gravy, pears, strawberries, beef and vegetables.

b. First American into space (made a 15-minute sub-orbital flight): ALAN

SHEPHERD

c. Second Americaninto space was

VIRGILGRISSOM

d. First astronauts to die were all killed in Apollo 1, January 27, 1967: VIRGIL GRISSOM, ED WHITE and ROGER CHAFFEE

"If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life." –

Gus Grissom

Edward H. White II, Virgil I. Grissom, and Roger B. Chaffee

e. First American to orbit the earth? JOHN GLENN. With his later flight aboard a space shuttle, he became the OLDEST PERSON to go into space.

MERCURYASTRONAUTS

1962 1998

f. First woman in space (June 16, 1963):VALENTINA TERESHKOVA

JFK & the Space Program• Early Soviet

successes in space made many Americans believe that the U.S. was lagging too far behind

• JFK established the goal of beating the Soviets to the moon

• Research began for the Apollo Program

• Goal = to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade

g. First American woman in space (June 18, 1983): SALLY RIDE

h. The space craft that carried the first men to the moon was

APOLLO 11:

1) Man first stepped onto the moon July 20, 1969

2) Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon, and said:

“THAT’S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND”

3).Astronaut with Armstrong: BUZZ ALDRIN

4)Name of the lunar module that carried them down to the moon: “EAGLE”

5)They left a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969 A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND.”

6)Astronaut who remained in the spacecraft orbiting

the moon: MICHAELCOLLINS (l to r) ARMSTRONG,

COLLINS, ALDRIN

C. CUBA AND BERLIN

1. Tensions heightened as the Americans and Soviets each tried to prove their strength in CUBA AND IN BERLIN, GERMANY

2. CUBA:

a. On April 17, 1961, CIA trained Cuban Exiles, known as La Brigada, landed on the

south coast of Cuba at the BAY OF PIGS. The

invasion failed and left Kennedy embarrassed.

Bay of Pigs

b. On October 22, 1962, President Kennedy announced that the Soviet Union had placed long-range missiles in Cuba. During the CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, Kennedy informed the Russians that in the event of a

missile attack from Cuba the United States would respond by MOUNTING A NUCLEAR

ATTACK ON THE SOVIET UNION.

c. What solved the “Crisis?”

1) Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed to respectively remove MISSILES FROM TURKEY AND FROM CUBA

2) Our pledge not to invade CUBA

3) Both agreed not to admitthat ANY SUCHAGREEMENT WAS MADE

D. BERLIN (The chief area of debate between Kennedy

and Khrushchev in 1961)

1. BERLIN WALL The symbol of the cold war’s division of Europe,

a carry-over of World War II.

2. In 1963 JFK visited West Berlin, and, speaking at the Berlin Wall, said “ICH BIN EIN BERLINER” ["Ich bin ein Berliner" ("I am a citizen of

Berlin") is a famous quotation from a June 26, 1963 speech of U.S.

President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin.]

3. The Wall was torn down in 1989.

E. In 1963, a HOT LINE was established connecting the White House and Kremlin. It made communication

between the two nations easier and eased Cold Wartensions.

F. DEATH OF KENNEDY

1. NOVEMBER 22, 1963: Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

2. The man accused of killing President Kennedy was LEE HARVEY OSWALD. 3. The purpose of the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone.4. John F. Kennedy term of office would be known as

the “DAYS OF CAMELOT.”

3rd shot

1st shot

Sniper perch

4 OUT OF 178 WITNESSES CLAIMED TO HEAR SHOTS COMING FROM MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS

III. LYNDON B. JOHNSON AS PRESIDENT: 36TH PRESIDENT:

A. SOCIAL PROGRAMS:

1. Johnson’s promise to Congress was to continue the PROGRAMS KENNEDY HAD

PROPOSED2. THE GREAT SOCIETY: Name for Johnson’s

legislative programs. His inspiration for these programs came from his personal experience with

POVERTY, the goals of the CIVIL RIGHTSMOVEMENT, and FDR’s NEW DEAL

3. Before the end of 1964, Johnson won passage ofa TAX CUT, a MAJOR CIVIL RIGHTS BILL, and a significant ANTI-POVERTY PROGRAM.

4. Johnson’s first most important piece of legislation? CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964, (outlawed

discrimination in public accommodations such as hotelsand restaurants, housing, jobs) and INCREASED FEDERAL POWER to prosecute civil rights abuses.

5. Passed 24TH AMENDMENT (1964) making POLL TAXES illegal

6. Passed the VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 that ended the practice of requiring voters to pass LITERACY TESTS, plus permitted the federal government to monitor voter registration.

7. Passed 25TH AMENDMENT defining PRESIDENTIAL DISABILITY

8. Created by Congress in 1964 set up in 1964 to create jobs and fight poverty the OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY that:

a. funded a preschool program for the underprivileged: HEAD START,

b. created a training program for youth (JOB CORPS) and

c. encouraged poor people to join in public-works programs VISTA (Volunteers in Service toAmerica); putting young people with high ideals towork in poor school districts and neighborhoods.

9. Passed a MEDICARE PROGRAM to provide medical insurance for those over 65; and MEDICAID, which financed health care for welfare recipients.

10. Granted millions of dollars to public and private schools for textbooks, library materials, and special education

programs: ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965

11. ROBERT WEAVER: first African American to serve in the cabinet as the secretary of the Department of

Housing and Urban Development

12. IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 1965: played a key role in changing the composition of the American

population by ending quotas based on nationality

13.HEART OF ATLANTA MOTEL v. UNITED STATES: Ruled that desegregation of publicaccommodations established in the Civil Rights Act

of1964 is legal

14.ABINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT V. SCHEMPP: Ruling that state-mandated Bible reading in school was banned

B. "JOHNSON TREATMENT”: nickname known throughout Washington for the tactics Johnson used topersuade others.

C.What did Martin Luther King, Jr. mean when he said “the Great Society has been shot down on the battlefields of Vietnam.” The war took money from SOCIAL PROGRAMS AND DIVIDED THE NATION

D. Republican Presidential who ran against Johnson in 1964? BARRY GOLDWATER.

Many voters feared that Goldwater might lead the nationinto a NUCLEAR WAR since he suggested it might bean alternative in VIETNAM AND CUBA