The 1960s Liberal Era

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The 1960s Liberal Era

• Chapter 28

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1960 Election Kennedy v. Nixon
Kennedy after beating out two prominent
Democrats (Adlai Stevenson and Lyndon B. Johnson)
due to his political connections from wealth and
the growing line of Kennedy politicians, Kennedy
sought to establish a more active federal
government, and to balance the ticket Southerner
Lyndon Johnson was chosen as the VP (Kennedy was
Catholic) Nixon Richard Nixon identified
himself with the Eisenhower administration and
was unanimously selected by Republicans after
success as the Vice President after he had made
the famous Checkers Speech that saved his
political life, Nixon ran on more middle way
policies and his standing up to Nikita Khrushchev
in the kitchen debate, but liberals and others
did not forget his close ties to McCarthyism
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The Election of 1960
For the first time, television was the main
medium for the campaign and Kennedys telegenic
personality allowed him to gain the upper hand
over Nixon (who looked pale and tense during the
four televised debates) In one of the closest
elections in history, Kennedy won the election
and was thankful that his running mate Johnson
helped him carry key southern states
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Kennedys Advisors
Kennedy with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
and the Shah of Iran
Attorney General and brother Robert Kennedy
Kennedy, the youngest President, promised to the
lead the nation into a New Frontier and
surrounded himself with pragmatists (Robert
McNamara), liberal academics (Galbraith), and
family (Robert Kennedy and wife Jackie Kennedy,
who brought style and glamor to the White House,
which became known as the Camelot
Years) Kennedys New Frontier beliefs included
support for education, urban renewal, civil
rights, and health care but many of these never
happened during his Presidency
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Kennedy and Foreign Policy

• Kennedys failing domestic agenda forced him to
  concentrate on foreign affairs and promoting
  economic growth through military spending and
  business tax incentives, which eventually made
  defense expenditures the largest portion of the
  federal budget
• Kennedys first foreign policy issues included
• Peace Corps volunteers sent to give aid to
  other nations (to help against communism)
• Alliance for Progress promotes land reform and
  economic development in Latin America
• Trade Expansion Act reduced tariffs between
  Western European nations and the US
• All of these served to increase US activity in
  foreign nations and had mixed success

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Kennedys Foreign Affairs
Peace Corps is created
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Berlin Wall is built
Kennedys biggest blunder was the Bay of Pigs
invasion, where Cuban exiles were trained to
invade Cuba (the plan failed and Castro used it
to gain Soviet support) Kennedy also refused to
remove troops from West Berlin, resulting in the
creation of the Berlin Wall to keep East Germans
from fleeing to West Germany
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The Cuban Missile Crisis - Brinkmanship

• When Soviet missiles were found in Cuba
• Kennedy set up a blockade to stop Soviet ships
  from going to Cuba
• Agreement was made that Kennedy wouldnt invade
  Cuba if Soviets took down missiles
• After the close call, both nations start Détente,
  or an attempt to avoid conflict, and install a
  hot line from the White House to the Kremlin
• Afterwards, Kennedy used flexible response to
  deal with issues instead of brinkmanship and
  massive retaliation

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Assassination of Kennedy
Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, who was
convicted as the lone assassin, but the events in
Dallas led to many uncertain conspiracy
theories The legend of Kennedy is mixed His
personability and quotes (Ask not what) were
inspiring but many of his Cold War actions have
drawn criticism
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African-American Struggles
James Meredith and Mississippi
The Freedom Riders
Sit-ins Greensboro, NC at Woolworths
Despite Kennedys original support of civil
rights, his concern about alienating Southern
voters kept him from pushing Congress (though he
did send federal support for James
Meredith) African-Americans were tired of waiting
and turned to themselves to push forward civil
rights
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African-American Actions

• For the action given to you
• Create a television script that describes the
  event (what is happening?) and the importance of
  the event about ½ page to 1 page
• Create a political cartoon that shows the
  response of society in the 1960s to the event

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African-American Actions are

• Letters from a Birmingham Jail by MLK Jr.
• March on Washington (1963)
• Mississippi Freedom Summer Project (1964)
• March to Montgomery (1965)
• Actions of Black Muslims and Malcolm X
• Actions of Stokely Carmichael and SNCC
• Actions of the Black Panthers
• Assassination of MLK Jr.

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Government Actions are

• Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Creation of the EEOC
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 is passed
• The Kerner Commission report

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The March on Washington
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Black Power and the Panthers
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The Civil Rights Act and Voting
Voting Rights Act of 1965, helped along by
Freedom Summer, where blacks risked to get other
blacks to vote
Johnson convinces Congress to pass the Civil
Rights Act of 1964
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Lyndon Johnson

• Johnsons rise into politics was different than
  Kennedy, not as sophisticated and polished but a
  much more experienced politician and a determined
  lawmaker
• After taking over for Kennedy, Johnson
  immediately began to work on
• An expanded version of the civil rights bill
  proposed by Kennedy
• An income tax cut proposed by Kennedy which would
  increase jobs and consumer spending throughout
  the 60s (it also reduced the federal deficit as
  more revenue came in)
• The creation of a Great Society using liberal
  legislation

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Johnsons War on Poverty
Inspired by The Other America by Harrington,
Johnson and Congress declared a war on poverty
passing the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964,
which founded Job Corps, The Office of Economic
Opportunity (OEO), VISTA, Head Start, and the
Community Action Program
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Election of 1964
Johnsons Great Society programs gave him a
decidedly liberal agenda, but his success at
implementing them won him the election easily
over conservative Barry Goldwater (helped by the
Daisy Girl TV ad that showed him as a dangerous
extremist)
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Great Society Programs to Know

• Johnson continued the Great Society with
• Medicare and Medicaid (health care)
• Immigration Act of 1965
• Omnibus Housing Act of 1965
• National Endowment for the Arts (1965)
• Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Higher
  Education Act (1965)
• Cities and Metropolitan Area Development through
  the DOT and HUD
• Clean Air and Water Laws (resulting from Silent
  Spring and Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader
  car pollution)

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Warren Court Cases to Know

• The Warren Court assisted Johnson by
• Thurgood Marshall - African-American justice who
  leads civil rights charge
• Baker v. Carr, Wesberry v. Sanders, Reynolds v.
  Sims (apportionment helping blacks)
• Gideon v. Wainwright (6th Amendment)
• New York Times v. Sullivan, Yates v. US, Engel v.
  Vitale (Freedom of Press, Speech, Religion)
• Miranda v. Arizona, Escobedo v. Illinois (5th
  Amendment)
• Mapp v. Ohio, Griswold v. Connecticut (4th
  Amendment and Privacy)

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Voices of Protest

• Activism was prominent for many groups during the
  1960s, including
• Native Americans tribes band together to
  denounce the termination policy (AIM and Red
  Power), and Johnson abides by removing the
  policy and establishing self-determination and
  the National Council on Indian Opportunity
  (worked to battle poverty on reservations)
• Hispanics Cesar Chavez and the United Farm
  Workers organized groups to increase pride in
  their culture, as did La Raza Unida and the Young
  Lords
• Asian-Americans created the Asian-American
  Political Alliance to protest the war in Vietnam
• Women After a decade of content, women were
  becoming increasingly unhappy (as stated in The
  Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan) and got
  little support until the founding of NOW in 1966
  where they lobbied for equality in the workplace
  (Equal Rights Amendment) and used The Womens
  Strike for Equality

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The Escalating Vietnam Problem
Kennedys belief in the domino theory made him
determined not to let the NLF (National
Liberation Front Vietcong) win in South Vietnam
and sent large shipments of weapons to Diem, who
was then murdered by his generals and South
Vietnam became embroiled in turmoil Kennedys
death led to Johnson taking over the war, where
he made plans to commit troops to Vietnam and
officially convinced Congress to take all
necessary measures against North Vietnam after
the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (where the US
claimed North Vietnam ships had fired on the
US) Johnson started sustained bombing of North
Vietnam, but it had little success and forced
Johnson into committing ground forces and turning
it into an American war (leading to the debate
between doves and hawks)
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The Great Society

• As a political cartoonist, show your support (or
  lack thereof) of one of the Great Society
  programs passed by Johnson visually show what
  effect the program is having on society