Chapter 31 Lecture Outline New Frontiers: Politics and Social Change in the 1960s 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
LBJ http://wwnorton.com/college/history/america9/full/ch/31/studyplan.aspx
Kennedy versus Nixon The New Frontier Vice-President Nixon was nominated for the presidency representing by the Republicans, while the Democrats chose Senator John F. Kennedy (JFK) The Vigorous New Administration JFK was the youngest president elected, he chose to select for his administration leaders of industry instead of political appointees
Kennedy- Nixon debates John Kennedy s poise and precision in the debates with Richard Nixon impressed viewers and voters.
The Kennedy Record The New Frontier JFK s domestic program was called the New Frontier. many of his programs blocked by partisans in Congress. did succeed in getting the Housing Act passed, which provided $5 billion for urban renewal over four years. Kennedy s Inaugural address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxa4hdgfwfs The Warren Court The Supreme Court continued to be the decisive influence on domestic life in this era. The abolishment of prayer in schools requiring a lawyer for every defendant regardless of ability to pay the notification of constitutional rights when being arrested are just some examples of landmark cases.
Expansion of the Civil Rights Movement Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides When four African American college students sat at a whiteonly counter and refused to move, the concept of the sitin was born. Few weeks later Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is born. In 1961, to test a federal order banning segregation of buses, the Congress of Racial Equality sent groups of people on trips across the country to make sure the law was upheld. "Freedom Riders" Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8cakaxr-am
Freedom Riders Two activists are escorted by armed National Guardsmen on a bus to Jackson, Mississippi.
Expansion of the Civil Rights Movement Federal Intervention In 1962, Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent in troops to enforce a federal law abolishing segregation at the University of Mississippi when the governor refused to abide by it. Letter from Birmingham City Jail https://youtu.be/svd2rnm4plq?t=970
Birmingham, Alabama, May 1963 Eugene Bull Connor s police unleash dogs on civil rights demonstrators. Forest Gump at U of Alabama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eluxkoqxm28
I Have a Dream, August 28, 1963 Protesters in the March on Washington make their way to the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his now- famous speech. I have a dream speech https://youtu.be/smeqnnklfys?t=719
Early Setbacks Bay of Pigs failed. Foreign Frontiers Two months after that, he met with Khrushchev, who bullied and threatened the inexperienced Kennedy. Upon returning home, JFK called up the army reserve and national guard. The Soviets would respond by erecting the Berlin Wall, dividing West and East Berlin.
Foreign Frontiers The Cuban Missile Crisis 13 days movie trailer: https://youtu.be/-yfiohxoo9e In 1962, Soviet missiles were discovered in Cuba. They were put there to protect Castro from another attempted coup. JFK would place a blockade around Cuba, not allowing anything in or out until the missiles were removed. On October 24, Soviet ships stopped short of the quarantine line, and two days later, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles.
Foreign Frontiers Kennedy and Vietnam South Vietnam was still being supported by the might of the US. However, the premier was showing an unwillingness to govern his people wisely or listen to American advice. As Communist forces continued to invade the south, Kennedy dispatched military advisers to the region to train the soldiers. In the fall of 1963, the United States supported a coup against the premier and he was murdered. Kennedy s Assassination On November 22, 1963, JFK was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald
Presidential assassination John F. Kennedy s vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, takes the presidential oath aboard Air Force One before its return from Dallas with Jacqueline Kennedy (right), the presidential party, and the body of the assassinated president.
Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society Politics and Poverty Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) had been added to the ticket to provide balance to the inexperienced Kennedy. He would continue with Kennedy s domestic program, and through his leadership, had most of it passed. In 1964 he would announce a war on poverty aimed at educating and elevating the nation s poor. The Election of 1964 LBJ would be nominated for president in 1964 and would face Barry Goldwater, senator from Arizona. The result was a landslide, with LBJ winning 61 percent of the vote Goldwater revitalizes conservatism
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 President Johnson reaches to shake hands with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after presenting the civil rights leader with one of the pens used to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society Landmark Legislation In 1965, LBJ got Congress to approve his Medicare program, which provided for health insurance for the aged. In the end, the Great Society would generate 435 bills that would pass Congress. The Immigration Act The Immigration Act abolished the use of quotas from the 1920s
Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society Assessing the Great Society Although there were many programs in the Great Society that were successful, a good percentage of them were ill-conceived and poorly funded. As a result, they did not have the impact they intended or had unexpected effects
From Civil Rights to Black Power Civil Rights Legislation Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ensured all citizens had the right to vote. It abolished literacy tests and other state policies designed at keeping African Americans from voting. Selma movie trailer: https://youtu.be/x6t7vvtxaic
Black Power From Civil Rights to Black Power A race riot in Watts, a neighborhood in California, led off a summer of racial violence in 1966. Malcolm X Groups of protestors supporting black power took to the streets, and one of their leaders was Malcolm X. He would be assassinated by a rival faction of Black Muslims in 1964. Malcom X movie trailer: https://youtu.be/sx4sevhyeve
The Tragedy of Vietnam Escalation LBJ inherited the policy of preventing Communist supremacy in Indochina. He did not see any reason to save Vietnam, but since the United States was already committed, he saw no way to extricate the advisers. On August 7, 1964, LBK appeared on TV and informed the American public that the USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy had been fired on by North Vietnamese vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin. He asked Congress for a resolution authorizing the president to take all necessary steps to repel attacks against U.S. forces. He would receive it. March 1965, combat troops began to arrive in Vietnam.
The Tragedy of Vietnam The Context for Policy LBJ s decision to go into Vietnam was consistent with the foreign policies of all presidents back to Truman. At the time, military intervention was the logical next step for him to take. In a battle of wills, the North Vietnamese won, as public support in the United States eroded.
The Turning Point The Tragedy of Vietnam On January 31, 1968, the Viet Cong launched an attack on South Vietnam that was dubbed the Tet Offensive. due to it occurring on the Vietnamese New Year. Although it was beaten back and was a staggering loss for the Viet Cong, the American public viewed it as a tremendous loss. LBJ s popularity would decline 35%, leading him to announce that he would not seek a second term on his own in the 1968 election. Ted Ed Ho Chi Minh Trail: https://youtu.be/poe_nnw9-yk
How Deep Do You Figure We ll Get Involved, Sir? Although U.S. soldiers were first sent to Vietnam as noncombatant advisers, they soon found themselves involved in a quagmire of fighting.
The Tet offensive Many Vietnamese were driven from their homes during the bloody street battles of the 1968 Tet offensive. Here, following a lull in the fighting, civilians carrying a white flag approach U.S. Marines.
A Traumatic Year Sixties Crescendo The year 1968 was marked by tragedy. Martin Luther King Jr. would be assassinated along with Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who had just clinched the Democratic nomination for president. Chicago At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley ordered 20,000 police and national guardsmen to keep order, but when they could not, anxious reporters broadcast the riots across the nations.
Nixon Again