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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