The New Frontier and the Great Society
Chapter 20
1960
• Cold War – Space race between U.S and Soviet Union
• Presidential Election year – Kennedy vs. Nixon
• Soviet Union begins stockpiling nuclear weapons
• Americans begin calling for greater civil rights
Election of 1960
• Democrat – John F. Kennedy
• Republican – Richard Nixon
• Televised Debate – 1st ever – Kennedy appears confident, at ease – appeals to public– Nixon seemed tense, nervous– Big help to Kennedy’s campaign in a close
election
Kennedy wins by less that 119,000 votes
• Televised debate helped campaign in a close election– Helped him overcome his age, 43, and
religion (Catholic)
• Civil Rights – Kennedy and brother Robert help MLK out of jail – Gain votes from African Americans
Kennedy wins election
• John F. Kennedy is sworn in as president, Lyndon B. Johnson Vice President on January 20th, 1961
Camelot
• New era in White House – public becomes very interested in President and his family
Military Strategy
• Flexible Response – Strengthen non-nuclear military forces, fight limited war, non-nuclear response
• Created Special forces – Green Berets
• Tripled Nuclear capabilities – balanced pwr with USSR
Gary Powers and the U-2 Incident
• Shot down over Russia, May 1, 1960
• Held for 2 years in Russian prison
• Exchanged for Russian spy on Feb 10, 1962
Cuba
• Fidel Castro – leads a revolution – gains control of Cuba – with U.S. support
• Castro declares himself a communist and allied Cuba with the Soviet Union
Bay of Pigs
• CIA trains Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro’s government, start a revolution
• JFK authorized invasion
• 1961 – land at Bay of Pigs on Cuba’s southern coast
• Castro’s army was waiting– Invasion failed– 1200 taken prisoner
Huge Failure
• U.S. accepts blame, big embarrassment
• Castro relies more on the USSR
Cuban Missile Crisis• 1962 USSR begins stockpiling nuclear
weapons in Cuba – U.S. spy plane discovers missiles
• Kennedy warns public of weapons – threatens attack on USSR if they are not removed
• Imposes naval blockade of Cuba
Closest we ever came to nuclear war
• Soviet ships stopped or turned back
• Kruschev agrees to remove missiles from Cuba if:1.U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba
2.Remove our missiles from Turkey
Hot Line
• Created a “Hot Line”– Phone line between White House and Kremlin
• Nikita Krushchev vows to build a stronger military– Soviets begin massive military build-up and
U.S. does the same
• Starts the “arms race” again
Crisis in Berlin
• Many begin fleeing from Communist Eastern Germany
• Krushchev tries to close off access to West Berlin – air and land
• U.S. refuses to allow this• In response the Berlin
wall is built
Berlin Wall• Becomes symbol of
Cold war division of Europe
"Ich bin ein Berliner" = “I am a jelly doughnut”
Lasted 28 years
200 people died attempting to escape
5000 succeeded
David Hasslehoff – German Superstar
New Frontier
• Kennedy’s domestic program - wanted Americans to move towards progress– Tried to push reform measures through
Congress
– Lacked a mandate – clear indication of votes to approve a plan
– Kennedy had to play it safe
Economy
• Deficit spending – increased spending and reduced taxes
• Increased spending on defense
• Increased minimum wage to $1.25/hr, extended unemployment insurance, provided assistance to cities with high unemployment
International Policy
• Created Peace Corps – volunteer assistance to developing nations – many recent college graduates joined
• Alliance for Progress – economic and technical assistance to Latin American Countries
Space Race
• USSR sends first man to space• Kennedy vows to send first man to the
moon• NASA constructs new launch facilities in
Cape Canaveral and Houston• U.S. believed reputation depended on
supremacy in Space• As a result Science and Technology
expanded greatly during this time
• First Man Into Space – Yuri Gagarin (1934 – 1968)
• First American in Space – Alan Shepard (1923 – 1998)
• John Glenn, 1st American to orbit the earth, 1962
Gemini Project – 2 men in ship
• Ed White, 1st American to walk in Space
• Apollo Project – 3 men actual moon project
Fire in Spacecraft!
• January 1967, Apollo 1 fire, Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died
Apollo 11
• Neil Armstrong, 1st man on the moon, July 20, 1969
• Buzz Aldron, 2nd man on the moon
Cape Canaveral, FL
Houston, we have a problem….
International Space Station
We spend….
• $25 Billion in space race
Beginning of Vietnam War
• By 1961, 9000 Americans had been sent to S. Vietnam as military advisors
• By 1963 that number had grown to 17,000 American advisors– Most of these advisors were the Green Berets
Dallas, TX - 1963
• Kennedy is allegedly assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald
Oswald later killed by Jack Ruby in Dallas Police station
Conspiracy?
• Warren Commission investigated– Found no conspiracy– Oswald acted alone
Lyndon B. Johnson becomes President
LBJ Years
1963-1968
“War on Poverty”
• Very popular at first– Continued Kennedy’s programs
• 1964 Congress passed the Economic Opportunity Act– $1 billions for:
• Youth programs• Anti-poverty measures• Job training• Small business loans
Election of 1964
• LBJ vs. Republican candidate Barry Goldwater– Welfare State vs. Nuclear War– Goldwater called for nuclear weapons against
Cuba
Landslide win for…
• LBJ – 61% of popular votes– 486 electoral votes
Warren Court
• Chief Justice Earl Warren
• Brown vs. Board of Education- segregation unconstitutional
• State sanctioned prayer in schools and state-required loyalty oaths unconstitutional
• Limited power of government censorship
Rights of the Accused
• Evidence seized illegally could not be used in court
• Free legal counsel to those who could not afford and right to lawyer present during questioning
• Miranda v. Arizona – all suspects must be read rights before questioning
Tet Offensive
• Vietnam War destroyed LBJ’s popularity and presidency– 1968 Tet Offensive
• Convinced LBJ not to run for re-election• 60% of Americans disapproved of his handling of
the War
March 31st 1968
• LBJ announces on TV that he will not run for reelection
The Great Society
LBJ’s Vision to create an equal society
The Great Society
• LBJ’s vision of a more perfect, equitable society
-intended to benefit minorities and the urban poor
- rebuild decaying inner cities
- air-water pollution bills
Goal – eliminate hunger, disease, discrimination
Number of poor dropped from 21% to 11% in 10 years
War on Poverty
• Wanted to stop the cycle of poverty
• Created programs that would solve the root of the problem
• Economic Opportunity Act– $1 billion for youth programs, antipoverty
measures, small business loans and on the job training
Education
• Provided federal aid to help schools purchase textbooks and library materials
• Scholarships and low interest loans for college students
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting – educational TV and radio broadcasting
Healthcare
• Medicare – provided hospital insurance and low cost medical insurance to Americans 65 and older
• Medicaid – extended health insurance to welfare recipients
Housing
• Built affordable, public housing
• Established HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development
Immigration
• Immigration Act of 1965 – ended quotas based on nationality– Increased the number of non-European
immigrants entering the country
Environmental
• Wilderness Preservation Act – set aside land that could not be developed
• Clean air and water acts– Standards put on vehicle emissions– Higher standards for air and water pollutions
Consumer Protection
• Truth in Packaging Act – standards set for labeling consumer goods
• Standards set for auto and tire industries
• Highway safety and transportation safety programs created
• Created Department of Transportation
Impact of the Great Society
• Extended the power of the federal government
• War on poverty – did lower poverty rates but did not accomplish all
• Government budget deficit increased