John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B.
Johnson, Civil Rights, Domestic
policy and Foreign policy
Election of 1960
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Kennedy v. Nixon
Kennedy is young,
Catholic, WWII
Veteran
Nixon served with
Truman in Office
Kennedy wins by a
razor-thin margin
Results of 1960 election
Kennedy Domestic programs
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“New Frontier”
Investigated a possible price fixing by U.S. steel
companies
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Increase in minimum wage
Twenty-fourth amendment
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Steel companies back down on price increase
Outlawed poll tax
Equal Pay Act
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All employees doing substantially the same work in the
same work-place must be given equal pay
Domestic Programs: NASA
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We were falling behind
Russian technology
1961: Soviet Union
announces that Yuri
Gagarin circled earth
1962: John Glenn
successfully completed
three orbits around the
earth
1969: Neil Armstrong
lands on the moon
Kennedy Civil Rights
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1960: over 70,000 students had participated in
sit-ins, 3,600 had served time in jail
Desegregation starts to spread
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Freedom rides to test if the southern states would
obey the Supreme Court decision
Riders were attacked, beaten and arrested
Robert Kennedy reluctant at first to send federal
support, but later sent marshal’s to protect riders
Desegregation spreads
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“Ole Miss”
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James Meredith wishes to
enroll
Supreme Court says the
university has to allow him
to enroll, university says no
JFK sends marshals to escort
Meredith to class
Angry white protesters
destroy vehicles, 2 are killed
and hundreds are injured
Kennedy sent army to
restore order
Birmingham, Alabama 1963
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King: “the most segregated city in America”
A march in planned and begins nonviolently
with protest marches and sit-ins
But it is against a city regulation that says a
person/group must have a permit to have a
march/parade
King is arrested and thrown in jail
http://members.aol.com/klove01/jailltr.htm
Birmingham continued
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“Bull” Connor arrested more than 900 of the young
people that joined with King
“Bull” used attached dogs, fire-hoses and policemen
National televised violence
Protesters win which leads to desegregation of city
facilities and fairer hiring practices
Kennedy “If the President does not himself wage the
struggle for equal rights- if he stands above the
battle- then the battle will inevitably be lost.”
Birmingham, caught in time
Assassination of JFK
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Dallas, TX, November 22, 1963
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President Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline rode throw the
streets in an open limousine
Motorcade slowed as it was turning in front of the Texas
School Book Depository
Lee Harvey Oswald prime suspect
Jack Ruby shot Oswald as he was being transported
Conspiracy theory
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Did Oswald act alone? Grassy Knoll?
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http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=677034534
2515308911&q=Lyndon+B.+Johnson
Lyndon Bain Johnson
36th President
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Inherited civil unrest, Vietnam conflict and
dealing with the assassination of a President
and a wounded nation
Expectations were high, hope was high
Politically talented and unstoppable ambition
Bullied for votes while in the House of
Representatives and Senate
Great Society – legislative initiatives
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Programs: major poverty relief, education aid,
healthcare, voting rights, conservation,
beautification projects, urban renewal &
economic development
Laid the platform for the election of 1964
against Barry Goldwater
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Daisy
+Campaign+Commercial&so=0
Initiatives of Great Society
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Tax cut: GNP rose form 7.1% in 1964 to 9.5%
in 1966
War on poverty: Head Start for low-income
preschool children, Volunteers in Service to
America sent to help people in poor
communities
Aid in Education: Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 sent $1.3
billion in aid to states
Initiatives continued
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Medicare hospital and low-cost medical
insurance to people over 65, Medicaid
provides low-cost health insurance coverage
to poor Americans no matter their age who
could not afford their own insurance
Immigration Act of 1965 increased quotas
and exempted political refugees in the U.S.
Warren Court & Earl Warren
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Numerous landmark decision of the Supreme
Court: Miranda v. Arizona, Escobedo v.
Illinois (could request an attorney while being
questioned) Gideon v. Wainwright (were
awarded an attorney if they could not afford
one), Engel v. Vitale (religious prayer in
school was illegal according to 1st amend. –
separation of church and state)
Civil Rights keep marching on
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Washington March: “Jobs & Freedom”
200,000 came to march
http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid
=navclient&aq=Martin%20Luther%20King%
2C%20Jr.%20speeches&ie=UTF8&rls=GWYG,GWYG:200634,GWYG:en&q=Martin+Luther+King,+Jr.+s
peeches&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv
Johnson picks up torch
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That nothing “could be more eloquently honor
President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest
possible passage of the civil rights bill.”
Filibuster-tactic in which senators prevent a
vote on a measure by taking the floor and
refusing to stop talking
Cloture-procedure that may be used to limit or
end debate and call for a vote
Civil Rights Act of 1964
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1. banned different voter registration standards for
blacks and whites
2. prohibited discrimination in public
accommodations
3. allowed withholding of federal funds from public
or private programs that discriminated
4. banned discrimination on the basis of race, sex,
religion or national origin by employers and unions,
and also created the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission to investigate charges of job
discrimination
Black Nationalism
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Malcolm X- joined Nation
of Islam while in prison for
burglary, preached black
separation
The visit to Mecca changed
his life, came back to the
U.S. and joined up with
civil rights leaders
Shot and killed nine
months later by members
of the Nation of Islam
http://video.google.com/vid
eosearch?q=Malcolm+X
Black Power Movement
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SNCC turns radical under
the leadership of Stokely
Carmichael “Black Power”
Black Panthers
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“to unite, to recognize their
heritage, to build a sense of
community … to begin to
define their own goals, to
lead their own organizations
and support those
organizations.”
De facto segregation
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Separation caused by social conditions such
as poverty: fact of life in most American cities
Riots spread from the east coast to the west
coast
Los Angeles Riot of 1965 started when a
young black man was pulled over for drunk
driving and was beating, riot ensues 21 dead a
thousand injured after six days
M.L.K, Jr.
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Changes approach to attack economic injustice
“Poor People’s Campaign”
http://www.mlkonline.net/video-been-to-themountaintop-speech2.html
Next day King is shot while standing on the balcony
of his motel
Robert Kennedy http://www.mlkonline.net/videomartin-luther-king-assasinationspeech.html?v=_agUA-htonQ
Riots break out over 120 cities across the U.S.
Legacy of Civil Rights Movement
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Slow progress, but progress was made
Sacrifices were numerous: JFK, MLK, Jr., but to
achieve great things, one must sacrifice greatly
1. Segregation was now illegal,
2. thousands of African Americans could vote
3. changed American political life
4. African American officials elected between 19701975 rose 88 percent