Amer. Civ. 10 Mr. Reinbold
STUDY GUIDE: MLK - Civil Rights and the Kennedy Years
The Kennedy Years
1. The 1960 election between Democratic candidate John F Kennedy and Republican
candidate RICHARD NIXON was one of the closest in American history.
2. The CUBAN MISSILE crisis brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any time since
WWII.
3. JFK was aggressive and confrontational against Russian leader NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV
when he needed to be during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
4. Khrushchev built a wall through the city of Berlin to restrict people from the Soviet
sector from flooding into WEST Berlin.
5. LYNDON JOHNSON felt sympathy for the poor after travelling the country to see people
living below the poverty line first hand.
6. The WARREN COMMISSION concluded that John F. Kennedy’s assassination was the
result of a lone gunman – not a conspiracy.
7. The BAY OF PIGS plot was an unsuccessful attempt by the US to train Cuban exiles to
assassinate Fidel Castro.
8. To help create economic progress in developing nations and discourage their
governments from turning to communism, JFK started a program called the
PEACE CORPS.
9. Kennedy’s domestic agenda was called the NEW FRONTIER.
10. The 1960 election was greatly influenced by the use of the relatively new technology,
TELEVISION.
11. During the Space Race, the US showed they could achieve the most difficult of goals by
landing a man on THE MOON.
12. President Kennedy was assassinated in in the city of DALLAS.
13. One concern, for some, about Kennedy leading up to the election of 1960 was his
CATHOLIC religion.
14. Kennedy’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was himself killed shortly after the Kennedy
assassination by JACK RUBY.
15. While Johnson had some successes, his presidency was tarnished by the VIETNAM War.
16. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for many landmark decisions during the 1960s
was EARL WARREN.
17. The Supreme Court case MIRANDA V. ARIZONA was responsible for making sure that
police suspects must be reminded of their constitutional rights at the time of arrest.
18. For the first time in American history, the 1960 election featured a PRESIDENTIAL
DEBATE which was shown on television.
Amer. Civ. 10 Mr. Reinbold
19. People who heard the debate on radio thought NIXON had won, while those who saw it
on TV thought KENNEDY won the debate.
20. Wealth, strong speaking skills, Hollywood connections, and the political friendships of
his father all helped KENNEDY to win the election.
21. “ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU, ask what you can do for your
country” was the famous quote from JFK during his inaugural address that was a call to
service for all Americans.
22. A famous accomplishment of JFK was the creation of the Peace Corps which was
designed to help “THIRD World” countries escape from poverty as well as resist
COMMUNISM.
23. JFK was not a very effective “DOMESTIC” president but he was very successful
international relations or FOREIGN policy president.
24. The closest we ever came to nuclear war as during the CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS.
25. As part of the deal to end the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviets had to remove their
missile from Cuba while Kennedy pledged not to INVADE CUBA.
26. While JFK was married to JACKIE Kennedy, his relationship with MARILYN MONROE is
one of the most famous presidential affairs of all time.
27. To help with the possibility of future guerrilla wars, JFK authorized the creation of the
U.S. Army Special Forces, also known as the GREEN BERETS.
28. Since the world watched the Soviets remove their missile from Cuba, Khrushchev was
embarrassed and eventually FORCED OUT of power.
29. JFK emerged from the Cuban Missile Crisis as appearing tough on communism since the
U.S. agreement to remove missiles from Turkey was part of the “SECRET” deal to end
the stand-off with the Soviets (unlike how the USSR removed their missiles).
30. Even though the Bay of Pigs invasion was probably doomed to fail anyway, JFK looked
indecisive and weak when he didn’t deliver on promised AIR SUPPORT for the invading
rebels.
31. Fidel Castro led the communist takeover in Cuba in 1959 forcing the U.S.-backed leader
BATISTA from power.
32. Conspiracy theories center around several notions including that a single bullet or
“MAGIC BULLET” could not have caused multiple wounds on the President and Texas
Governor John CONNALLY.
33. When a crime is planned and/or carried out by two or more people it can be referred to
as a CONSPIRACY.
34. According to the government the gunshots came from the TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK
DEPOSITORY Building.
35. The first man to walk on the moon was NEIL ARMSTRONG.
36. The name of the moon mission was the “APOLLO 11.”
Amer. Civ. 10 Mr. Reinbold
37. The famous quote once the astronauts arrived on the moon was ONE SMALL STEP FOR
MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND
38. The Soviets not only had the first satellite in space, SPUTNIK, they also had Yuri Gagarin
become the MAN IN SPACE.
39. America responded with Alan Sheppard going into space and shortly after, John GLENN
became the first American to ORBIT the Earth.
40. JFK was the YOUNGEST ever to be elected President, while TEDDY ROOSEVELT was the
youngest to serve as president (took over after an assassination).
Civil Rights
41. The Supreme Court case that desegregated schools was BROWN V. BOARD OF
EDUCATION.
42. The BLACK PANTHERS were a militant African American group who believed that
violence was necessary for African Americans to gain civil rights.
43. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. applied the non-violent philosophy and techniques of GANDHI
to the civil rights movement.
44. African Americans boycotted CITY BUSES in Montgomery, AL as a result of the arrest of
Rosa Parks.
45. In LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas the governor tried to prevent African American students from
entering the all-white Central High School.
46. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on
WASHINGTON DC.
47. Unlike Martin Luther King, MALCOLM X promoted a separatist, Black Nationalist
philosophy as a way to gain civil rights.
48. The 1896 Supreme Court case, PLESSY V. FURGESON, established the separate but equal
doctrine.
49. The Freedom Riders were organized to end segregation on BUSES.
50. De FACTO segregation is not mandated by law but more by custom and tradition.