the 1960s - tumwater.k12.wa.us€¦ · lbj’s great society • lyndon b. johnson (1963-1969) •...
TRANSCRIPT
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)• First Catholic elected as
POTUS• Promises to get “America
moving again”• The New Frontier• Massive investment in the
space program and military technology
• Minuteman missile program
• Man on the moon by the end of the decade
• Bay of Pigs disaster
Showdown with the Communists
• Ousting Fidel Castro in Cuba
• Renewing our commitment to Berlin
• Increasing the number of military advisors to Vietnam
• Cuban Missile Crisis
Dialogue with the Soviets• After Cuban Missile
Crisis, JFK & Khrushchev renew commitment to discuss peace
• Red line from the White House to the Kremlin
• Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Tackling Civil Rights• 1st took office = not at the
top of his agenda• Numerous clashes in the
South• Urged by his brother,
Bobby Kennedy, to take action
• Televised national address
• Introduction of new Civil Rights legislation
• Stalls because of Southern opposition
Kennedy Assassination• November 22, 1963• Trip to Dallas to smooth
over differences within the Democratic Party over Civil Rights
• Dealey Plaza = shots ring out
• Lee Harvey Oswald• Warren Commission
Report• Conspiracy???
A Different View
LBJ’s Great Society• Lyndon B. Johnson
(1963-1969)• From Texas = Very
different from JFK• Great Society Programs• War on Poverty• Massive increase in
programs to fight hunger, poverty, homelessness, etc.
Civil Rights Legislation
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 = Outlawed discrimination in restaurants, housing, motels/hotels, public bathrooms, libraries, public schools, etc.
• Banned unequal interpretations of voter registration standards
• 24th Amendment = elimination of poll taxes
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 = Literacy tests & grandfather clauses are illegal; voter intimidation is illegal
Huge Escalation of Troops to Vietnam
• Domino Theory• Tonkin Gulf Resolution• Gave the president broad powers
to wage war in Vietnam• Massive increase in the number of
troops sent to Vietnam• To check communism• US troops vs. peasant farmers
(communist rebels led by Ho Chi Minh)
• Beginning of the War = Strong US support
• By the end = many had turned against it
Counter Culture of the ’60s
Election of 1968• Eugene McCarthy (D) = peace candidate
forced to drop out because of RFK• Robert Kennedy (D) = peace candidate
who is assassinated• Hubert Humphrey (D) = LBJ’s VP ends up
being the Democratic nominee• Richard Nixon (R) = secures the
Republican nomination & wins a narrow election