The Kennedy and Johnson Years
Mr. Bernich, US II Enriched
American Royalty
 JFK and his wife, Jacqueline, built a
style in the White House that for
latter generations would be
referred to as “Camelot”.
 During his term in office, JFK and his
beautiful young wife, Jacqueline,
invited many artists and celebrities
to the White House
 The press loved the Kennedy charm
and JFK appeared frequently on
T.V.
THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST
 JFK surrounded himself with
what one journalist described as
the “best and the brightest”
available talent
 Of all of his elite advisors who
filled Kennedy’s inner circle, he
relied most on his 35-year-old
brother Robert, whom he
appointed attorney general
RFK was John’s closest
friend and advisor
• Eisenhower approved a CIA plan to train
anti-Castro exiles for an invasion
• 4/17/1961- 1,500 exiles landed, however
no air support
• Invasion plan failed
Bay of Pigs
Invasion
• 1200 survivors were captured and traded
a year later for $53 million worth of U.S.
medicine and supplies.
• Made Castro stronger
• saw this as a sign of U.S. weakness
Cuban
Missile Crisis
• Nikita Khrushchev sent nuclear-armed
missiles to Cuba, as well as the technical and
military personnel to install and operate
them.
• Kennedy addressed the nation and
announced a naval blockade of Cuba
• Khrushchev backed down and offered to
remove the missiles under U.N. supervision
and we promised never to try to invade Cuba
again
• Khrushchev lost prestige
• Kennedy emerged as more mature
• Led to less tension between nations diplomacy
• “hotline” installed for emergency
communication
Effects of the
Cuban Missile
Crisis
 The Soviet Union
removes missiles from
Cuba
 The United States
removes missile from
Turkey
 The U.S. and the Soviet
Union avoid nuclear
war
 In 1963 The U.S. &
Soviets, & Great Britain
sign the Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty
Berlin
Wall
• In the 11 years since the Berlin Airlift,
almost 3 million East Germans (Soviet
side) had fled into West Berlin (U.S.
controlled) to flee communist rule
• The Soviets did not like the fact that
East Berliners were fleeing their city
for the democratic West
• Their departure hurt the economy
and the prestige of the USSR
• Just after midnight on August 13,
1961 the Soviets began construction
of a 90-mile wall separating East and
West Berlin
• Kennedy orders troops into West
Berlin
• Neither side claims victory
Key to image:
1. East Berlin 2. Border area 3. Backland Wall 4. Signal fence
5. Different kind of barriers 6. Watch towers 7. Lighting system
8. Column track 9. Control track 10. Anti-vehicle trenches 11. Last Wall, known as the "Wall" 12. Border 13. West Berlin
New Frontier
Initiatives of the Kennedy Administration
Military
•Increased military spending
•Supported a “flexible response” policy
Economics
•Passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 improving wages for
women
•Increased minimum wage
•Improved the nation’s welfare system
•Embraced policy of deficit spending
Civil Rights
•Introduced civil rights legislation in 1963 to provide money
for school desegregation, and prosecute voting rights
violations
Space
Exploration
•Declared the U.S. should commit to landing a man on the
Foreign Aid
•Created the Peace Corp in 1961; aided developing nations
moon by 1970
w/ infrastructure & provided workers who lived in the
 And then there was the Zapruder film, taken by an onlooker at
the time of the assassination, which convinced many
conspiracy theorists - as well as much of the public - that
Oswald could not have acted alone.
 The motion of the head backward appears that the bullet
entered through the front of the head - not the back. Thus to
many viewers, there had to be a second gunman
The Warren Commission
 After the report was issued, 53% of the public
agreed with the Commission's conclusions, but the
report was filled with inconsistencies. The
Commission concluded that 3 shots were fired
within 5.6 seconds, and yet some say that it takes 3
seconds to reload the gun (to put the next bullet
in place -there is disagreement on this point).
 In conclusion – Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone
 Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby
The Great Society: Civil Rights
 Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Outlawed discrimination in
voting, education, & public
accommodations (hotels,
restaurants, etc)
• Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission created to fight
discrimination in hiring
• Title VII – prohibited
discrimination based on sex
The Great Society: Education
 Elementary & Secondary Education
Act
• gave federal funds to poor
schools to improve libraries,
language laboratories, & other
services
• Increased funding for Indian,
inner city, & Mexican-Am schools
The Great Society: Poverty
 1964 Economic Opportunity Act
• Job Corps- trained men & women between
ages 16-21 in work skills to get better jobs
• VISTA- Volunteers in Service to Americaserved in inner-city schools, Indian
reservations, rural health clinics, & urban
hospitals
• Head Start – funds provided for play
groups, day care, & activities to help
underprivileged kids get ready for
elementary school
The Great Society: Healthcare
 Amended the Social Security
Act
• Medicare for the elderly
(65 or older) provided
basic hospital insurance
• Medicaid provided basic
medical services for the
poor & disabled who
were not already in the
Social Security system
The Great Society:
Immigration
 Immigration &
Nationality Act of
1965
• Altered the quota
system to allow
over 300,000 new
immigrants into the
country
Major Decisions of the
Warren Court
 Voting Rights
• Baker v Carr (1962) –
• Mandating the
redrawing of state
districts was within
the power of federal
courts
• Reynolds v Simms
(1964)
• Districts must be
drawn based on
current census data
Major Decisions of the Warren Court
 Rights of the Accused
• Mapp v Ohio (1961)
• Evidence obtained from an illegal search could not be used in
a criminal trial
• Gideon v Wainwright (1963)
• If a person accused of a crime could not afford a lawyer the
state must appoint one to them
• Miranda v Arizona (1966)
• Being questioned by police, suspects must be informed of
their right to keep silent, as well as to have an attorney
• Escobedo v Illinois
• an accused criminal had the right to a lawyer before they
were questioned and any evidence obtained from the suspect
who had not been informed of their rights could not be used
in court
Major Decisions of the Warren Court
 Separation of Church and State
• Engle v Vitale (1962)
• Recitation of prayer in public schools was a
violation of the 1st Amendment’s
Establishment clause
• Abington v Schempp
• Bible reading for religious purposes in
public schools violated the First
Amendment