Ch. 38 Notes
The Stormy Sixties
The Election of 1960
1. In 1960, the Republicans nominated vice
president Richard Nixon while the Democrats
nominated John Kennedy and Lyndon
Johnson.
2. The major issues of the election were the
Cold War, the civil rights movement and
Kennedy’s religion (he was Catholic – people
were afraid the Pope would have a hand in
the governing the U.S.).
The First Televised
Debates
1. On September 26, 1960,
Kennedy and Nixon took
part in the first televised
debate between
presidential candidates.
2. Television had become
such a large part of
American’s lives that
many observes blamed
Nixon’s loss to Kennedy
on his poor appearance
in the debates.
3. Kennedy came across as
cool, collected and
more presidential.
The Influence of the Civil Rights
Movement on the Election
1. In October of 1960, Martin Luther King Jr.
was arrested for conducting a sit-in at a lunch
counter in Georgia.
2. King was sentenced to hard labor by the local
judge but Robert Kennedy, JFK’s brother,
worked to have him released.
3. This incident swayed many African Americans
to support Kennedy in the election.
1. Kennedy won the
election by fewer than
119,000 votes – the
closest election results
since 1884 when Grover
Cleveland defeated
James Blaine.
2. Kennedy became the
countries youngest
elected president – 43
(Teddy Roosevelt was 42
but took the office when
William McKinley was
assassinated.
The Election
Results
JFK’s New Frontier
1. JFK’s domestic platform was known as the New
Frontier.
2. JFK challenged Americans to think of ways they
could serve, famously saying “Ask not what your
country can do for you – ask what you can do for
your country.
3. In 1961, Kennedy will create the Peace Corps,
asking individuals to volunteer to work abroad
and work for the development of progress and
peace in 3rd world countries – those countries
that were neither aligned with the west
(democratic) or the east (communist).
The Alliance for Progress
1. JFK also created the
Alliance for Progress,
an organization
intended to improve
economic growth and
democratic reforms in
Latin America.
2. It will not be very
effective.
The 1962 Trade Expansion Act
1. Although the 1950’s had
been an era of prosperity,
the economy suffered
through several
recessions.
2. To combat this, Kennedy
proposed a general tax
cut – it won’t be
implemented until after
his death though.
3. He also had Congress pass
the Trade Expansion Act,
which reduced U.S. tariffs
and increased
international trade.
Kennedy and the Cold War
1. Kennedy’s strategy in the Cold War was one of
flexible response – it called for a variety of military
options that could be matched to the scope and
importance of the crisis.
2. This was a departure from Ike’s “massive retaliation”.
3. Kennedy tripled our nuclear capability, increased
troops, ships and artillery and created the Green
Berets, a special forces group that could go anywhere
at any time to help with anything.
4. He also promoted a “space race”, proposing to put a
man on the moon – largely to restore American
prestige that had been damaged by the Soviet Union’s
Sputnik launch.
The Green Berets
The Bay of Pigs
1. In March of 1960, Ike gave the CIA permission to
train a group of Cuban exiles for an invasion of
Cuba.
2. When Kennedy learned of the plan (nine days
into his presidency, he allowed the mission to
continue but without U.S. air support.
3. It was a disaster – in April of 1961, the 1200
Cuban exiles came ashore and were met by
25,000 Cuban troops backed by Soviet troops.
4. Kennedy will go on t.v. and accept the blame for
the failed mission.
Bay of Pigs
The Berlin Wall
1. The Soviet Union
didn’t like that East
Berliners were fleeing
their city for the
democratic west.
2. Just after midnight on
Aug. 13, 1961, they
began the construction
of a 90 mile wall to
separate East and
West Berlin.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
1. The Bay of Pigs fiasco strengthened Cuba’s ties to the Soviet
Union.
2. In October of 1962, U-2 photographs of Cuba revealed that the
Soviets were secretly installing nuclear missiles in Cuba.
3. In response, Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba – the
U.S. would stop any Soviet ship attempting to bring weapons into
Cuba – and demanded that Khrushchev remove the missiles.
4. For almost two weeks the country waited as Soviet ships
approached Cuba but at the last moment, Khrushchev agreed to
a compromise – the Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles
on the condition that the U.S. would leave Cuba alone (and we
also agreed to remove missiles from Turkey).
5. It also led to a hot line being established between the White
House and the Kremlin in 1963 – that same year the U.S. and the
S.U. agreed to ban nuclear testing in the atmosphere.
6. This compromise eventually led to Khrushchev’s removal as the
premier of the Soviet Union – he was replaced by Leonid
Brezhnev
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
“The two most powerful
nations had been squared
off against each other,
each with its finger on the
button.”
-Khrushchev:
“It is insane that two men,
sitting on opposite sides of
the world, should be able to
decide to bring an end to
civilization.”
- JFK:
Vietnam
1. Vietnam had been divided along the 17th parallel at the
Geneva Conference of 1954.
2. North Vietnam was controlled by Ho Chi Minh and South
Vietnam was controlled by Ngo Dinh Diem (Frencheducated Catholic) – within two years they were to hold
democratic elections but Diem backs out because he
knows he’ll lose the election.
3. In South Vietnam under Diem, his family holds all the
power, wealth is horded by the elite, there is a lack of
political freedom (Diem tortured his enemies) and
Buddhism, the religion of most Vietnamese, is forbidden.
4. The U.S. aided Diem – Ike sent him financial and military
aid (675 army advisors had been sent by 1960).
Ho Chi Minh and Diem
Self-Emulation by a Buddhist Monk
1. When Kennedy is elected,
he increased the number
of military advisors to
16,000 to prevent Diem’s
regime from falling to
communist – communist
rebels known as the Viet
Cong are operating in
South Vietnam.
2. Things get so bad in South
Vietnam that Kennedy will
eventually support the
CIA’s involvement in a
military coup to remove
Diem from power.
JFK and Vietnam
JFK and the Civil Rights Movement
1. Kennedy was a strong supporter for the rights of
African Americans – he will appoint several
African Americans to high administrative
positions within the federal government – he
will also appoint Thurgood Marshall to the 2nd
Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
2. However, Kennedy was initially cautious in
advancing civil right legislation because he didn’t
want to lose the support of conservative
southern Democrats as he tried to pass his other
economic and social legislation.
The Freedom Rides
1. May May of 1961, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)
organized an integrated group of “freedom riders” to travel by
bus into the south to focus national attention on the inequality
of the segregated facilities of the south.
2. Violent mobs in South Carolina and Alabama beat the riders
and a bus was firebombed in Alabama.
3. This led Kennedy to embrace the civil rights movement
regardless of the political consequences – JFK and his brother
Bobby (who was his Attorney General) sent federal marshals
into the south to protect the Freedom Riders.
4. He also asked SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee) to focus on increasing the amount of registered
black voters – in MS only around 4000 of the 394,000 African
Americans living there were registered to vote.
The Freedom Rides
Ole Miss
1. In September of 1962, James Meredith attempted to
become the first African American student to enroll in
the University of MS.
2. Governor Ross Barnett prevented him from
registering.
3. JFK ordered U.S. marshals to escort Meredith to the
university to make sure he was enrolled – mobs
moved in to prevent him from enrolling and riots
ended up breaking out in Oxford.
4. JFK responded by sending in federal troops to stop
the violence and make sure Meredith was enrolled – 2
people were killed and 375 were wounded.
James Meredith
The Birmingham March
1. In 1963, MLK led a
march on Birmingham,
AL, the most
segregated big city in
the nation.
2. TV cameras captured
the Birmingham police
(under chief Bull
Connor) using attack
dogs, clubs and fire
hoses to end the
demonstrations.
The Effects of Birmingham
1. The visual evidence of the vicious attacks on the
peaceful demonstrators led American and world
opinion to turn strongly in favor of the civil
rights movement.
2. It also led Kennedy to request support for a
strong civil rights bill to end segregation and
protect black voters.
3. In August of 1963 MKL led a peaceful March on
Washington in support of the new legislation –
this is where he delivered his famous “I Have a
Dream” speech.
1. On June 12, 1963 (the
day after JFK addressed
the nation, claiming that
segregation was a “moral
issues” that had to be
addressed) Medgar
Evers, the head of the
NAACP in MS, was
assassinated outside his
home by Byron de la
Beckwith.
2. He was tried twice and
both trials ended with
hung juries (finally
declared guilty in 1994).
Medgar Evers
The Assassination of JFK
1. As the election of 1964 neared, Kennedy is concerned
because he has lost the support of southern
Democrats because of his stance on civil rights.
2. So he scheduled a trip to Texas (LBJ’s home state) to
try to rebuild some support in the south.
3. As he drove into Dallas, he was assassinated by Lee
Harvey Oswald from a window of the Texas Book
Depository building.
4. Oswald was later killed by Jack Ruby, leading to an
investigation into JFK’s death – the Warren Report
later declared that JFK had indeed been shot and
killed by Oswald.
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lyndon B. Johnson
1. LBJ became president
when he took the oath
aboard Air Force One.
2. As president, LBJ will
continue Kennedy’s
domestic and foreign
goals and will later begin
his own war on poverty.
3. Johnson will have more
success working with
Congress than JFK did.
4. After Kennedy’s death,
the 25th Amendment will
be added to the
Constitution to establish
the procedures for filling
a vacancy in the office of
vice president.
1. In 1964, the Democrats
nominated Johnson and
the Republicans
nominated Barry
Goldwater.
2. Goldwater was a
conservative who
opposed the Democrat’s
social legislation.
3. He also wanted to take a
hard line with the Soviet
Union – was in favor of
using nuclear weapons in
Cuba in N. Vietnam.
The Election of
1964
The Election of
1964
1. Johnson wins the
election in a landslide,
largely because of
loyalty to JFK’s legacy
and because people
liked his proposed social
programs and his stance
on Vietnam.
2. People were also afraid
that Goldwater would
end up getting us into a
war with the Soviet
Union.
1. Johnson’s social platform
was called the Great
Society and was designed
to fight poverty,
discrimination,
unemployment, pollution
and other social ills within
the the U.S.
2. At this time (mid-1960’s)
the U.S. had the highest
standard of living in the
world but there were still
many “pockets” of poverty
in the U.S. – especially the
inner cities, the rural areas
of Appalachia and the deep
South and on Native
American reservations.
The Great Society
The War on Poverty
1. Johnson declared “War on Poverty” in January 1964.
2. Project Head Start was created to help underprivileged
preschoolers.
3. The Job Corp was created to give free education and
vocational training to young adults.
4. The VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program was
created to get volunteers to provide the training within the job
corp (also known as Americorp).
5. The National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities was
created to support artistic projects in the U.S.
6. The Medicare and Medicaid programs were created to
provide health care for the impoverished and elderly.
7. The Office of Economic Opportunity was created to run all
these programs and many people in the U.S. supported these
programs because they saw the benefits they provided.
The Immigration and Nationality Act
of 1965
1. LBJ also had Congress pass the Immigration and
Nationality Act.
2. This law removed the old quota system set up after WWI
(although it did put some restrictions on the overall
number of immigrants entering the U.S. from the Western
Hemisphere for the first time ever).
3. Instead, it increased the overall number of immigrants
allowed in the country each year and made
provisions/exceptions for the admission of family
members of immigrants already living in the U.S.
4. During this time, the U.S. is going to see a shift in it’s
population patterns – less immigrants will come from
Europe and the majority of immigrants begin coming
from Latin American and Asia instead.
LBJ and the Civil Rights Movement
1. The Civil Rights Act of
1964 will be passed and
will ban any type of racial
discrimination in public
(and private if they serve
the public)
accommodations and
employment.
2. It will also prevent sexual
(gender) discrimination as
well.
3. The 24th Amendment will
also be ratified to abolish
the use of poll taxes as a
requirement to vote.
Freedom Summer
1. In the summer of 1964
SNCC will organize
Freedom Summer.
2. Over 800 college
students from all over
the U.S. will descend
on MS. to help register
black voters – they will
also have schools for
black children and
adults.
Neshoba County
1. During Freedom
Summer, three civil
rights workers were
murdered in Neshoba
County, MS.
2. The FBI will be sent in
to investigate and
sailors from the U.S.
Navy will be used to
search for the bodies.
Neshoba County
1. An informant will help lead
to the location of the
bodies.
2. Other informants lead to
the arrest of 21 men.
3. Instead of trying them for
murder, they will be tried
in federal court for
violating the three men’s
civil rights.
4. Only seven were convicted
– the mastermind, Edgar
Ray Killen had his trial end
in a hung jury – he was
later convicted in 2005.
1. Early in 1965, MLK
resumed a voterregistration campaign in
Selma, AL.
2. On a march from Selma
to Montgomery, state
troopers used tear gas,
whips and horses on the
peaceful marchers –
James Reeb, a white
minister from Kansas,
was beaten to death.
3. The nation watched
“Bloody Sunday” on t.v.
and was horrified.
The March on
Selma
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
1. As a result of the Selma march, LBJ signed the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 into law in August of 1965.
2. This law outlawed literacy tests as a requirement to
vote and also sent federal registrars into the south to
help register African American voters.
3. This law will cause a huge change in politics in the
south as white southerners begin changing their ways
to get the African American vote.
4. More African Americans will begin serving in public
office during this time as well.
The Watts Riots
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
In August of 1965, rioting broke out in Watts, an all African
American neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles was a segregated city (de facto segregation) and
African Americans were often subjected to police brutality.
A young black man was pulled over by the police because he was
suspected of drunk driving.
A crowd gathered, became unruly, and as more law enforcement
was called in, a riot eventually broke out.
For five days, business (African American businesses) were looted
and burned – the fire department was blocked from entering.
In the end, 34 people were killed, over a thousand were injured
and over $40 million worth of property was destroyed.
MLK was furious, claiming that the black population was
destroying themselves – the people of Watts said at least we
made the country pay attention to us.
The Watts Riots
1. The Watts Riot symbolized a
more militant,
confrontational phase of the
civil rights movement.
2. The younger generation of
African Americans were
tired of the slow process of
gaining their rights and they
were mad that political gains
didn’t equal economic gains.
3. This Black Power attitude
was championed by Stokely
Carmichael, the former
leader of SNCC.
4. He emphasized racial pride
and called for black
separatism.
Black Power
Black Power
Malcolm X
1. Born Malcolm Little,
Malcolm X got rid of his last
name because it was his
slave name – the X
represented his long lost
African name.
2. He joined the Nation of
Islam (also known as the
Black Muslims) and urged his
followers to defend
themselves against
discrimination by “any means
necessary”.
3. In 1965 he was assassinated
by competing members of
the Nation of Islam.
1. In 1966, Huey Newton
and Bobby Seale formed
the Black Panthers in
Oakland, California.
2. The Black Panthers were a
militant group that pushed
for black separatism.
3. They patrolled city streets
to maintain order and
opened up doctors clinics.
4. Because of their socialist
ideas, LBJ has the FBI get
involved – they arrested
its leaders and the
movement collapsed.
The Black Panthers
The Assassination
of MLK
1. On April 4, 1868, Martin
Luther King Jr. was killed
outside his hotel room in
Memphis, TN, by James
Earl Ray.
2. Ray was tried and
sentenced to 99 years in
prison – he died in 1998.
3. MLK’s death rocked the
African American
community – it will
spark a week of rioting
in several major cities,
leaving around 50
people dead.
MLK’s Influence
1. MLK’s efforts will spark other minority groups to
begin pushing for more equality.
2. In 1969 Cesar Chavez will become a labor activist by
forming the United Farm Workers to aid migrant
workers in California.
3. Betty Friedan(author of The Feminine Mystique) will
help form NOW – the National Organization for
Women.
4. The American Indian Movement will organize to push
for rights for Native Americans – they were more
militant and 1969 they took over Alcatraz island for
nineteen months.
LBJ and Foreign Affairs
1. When it came to Vietnam, LBJ didn’t want to involve
the U.S. in foreign wars but he also didn’t want to
appear weak or allow a communist victory.
2. If he pulled our support S. Vietnam would fall (and if
the domino theory was right, so would the rest of S.E.
Asia).
3. If he continued with limited support of S. Vietnam, it
could still end in a defeat.
4. He could actively enter the war and attack N.
Vietnam, but that could lead to war with the Soviet
Union.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolutions
1. What LBJ decided to do was to begin secretly bombing
positions held by the Vietcong.
2. He also used the U.S. Navy to support S. Vietnamese raids
along the coast of N. Vietnam.
3. Then in August of 1964, LBJ announced to the American
public that N. Vietnamese boats had fired on two
American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin (he claimed
they were unprovoked attacks – not quite true).
4. In response, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolutions, giving LBJ an open hand to do whatever he
decided needed to be done with Vietnam – Congress
handed their war powers over to the President.
5. LBJ ordered a massive bombardment of N. Vietnamese
bases – it only strengthened the resolve of the N.
Vietnamese and the Vietcong.
Escalation
1. In February of 1965, LBJ
ordered an escalation
(military expansion) of the
war.
2. U.S. planes began bombing
more targets and the
decision was made to send
in ground forces.
3. The problem was large
numbers of troops weren’t
effective because of the
guerilla warfare used by
the N. Vietnamese and
Vietcong.
1. Because the Vietcong
wouldn’t come to them,
the U.S. troops began to
send out patrols searching
for the enemy.
2. Armored divisions weren’t
effective so they
developed new tactics.
3. They dropped napalm and
Agent Orange to kill the
jungle vegetation and the
enemy in it.
4. They burned villages that
they believed were
supporting the Vietcong.
5. None of it was very
effective.
Limited Warfare
The Tet Offensive
1. By late 1967 General
Westmoreland is telling
LBJ (and he’s telling the
U.S. public) that we’re
winning and the end is
near.
2. But on January 30, 1968
(Tet Holiday –
Vietnamese New Year)
the Vietcong and N.
Vietnamese launch a
coordinated attack on all
U.S. bases in S. Vietnam
and on most of S.
Vietnam’s major cities.
The Tet Offensive
1. The Tet Offensive will
ultimately be defeated
by the U.S. troops but it
will be a serious blow to
LBJ’s Vietnam policy.
2. Westmoreland will
request 209,000 more
troops to help continue
the war.
3. This is going to lead to
growing protest to the
war in Vietnam and it
will come mainly from
the younger, more
affluent generation.
Aftermath of the
Tet Offensive
LBJ and More Escalation
1. In March of 1968 LBJ stops most of the bombing
runs and will hold peace negotiations in Paris
but no agreement could be reached.
2. LBJ then decides to begin secretly bombing the
Ho Chi Minh in Cambodia – the N. Vietnamese
are using it to move troops and supplies into S.
Vietnam.
3. He doesn’t like the U.S.’s involvement in
Vietnam but doesn’t want to be the first U.S.
president to end the war.
The Counter Culture
Revolution
1. The counter culture
revolution was made up
of young people
rebelling against the
established values and
beliefs of the 1950’s.
2. They studied different
religions and
philosophies, they
experimented with
hallucinogenic drugs,
they dressed
unconventionally and
even left home to live in
communes.
Hawks and Doves
1. People who supported the Vietnam War were
known as hawks – it was largely made up of the
blue collar portion of society who believed it
was their patriotic duty to answer the call of
their government during times of war.
2. Those opposed to the war were known as doves
– largely college students and college professors
who openly protested the war and especially the
draft – many burned their draft cards and even
moved to Canada to avoid the draft.
The Antiwar Movement
1. Anti-war protests became even more
common after the Tet Offensive – people felt
lied to because the government had been
telling them the war was almost won.
2. LBJ even had the CIA spy on domestic
antiwar protestors, which was illegal.
3. As all this was going on, LBJ was approaching
reelection.
The Election of
1968
1. As the election of 1968
nears, LBJ begins facing
challenges from within his
own primary – his Great
Society is falling apart
because of war spending.
2. In the New Hampshire
primaries, LBJ was nearly
defeated by Senator
Eugene McCarthy of
Minnesota.
3. Then Senator Robert
(Bobby) Kennedy then
entered the ring (JFK’s
brother).
4. On March 31, 1968, LBJ
announced that he would
not run for reelection.
The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy
1. When LBJ drops out,
Bobby Kennedy slowly
begins emerging as one
of the frontrunners for
the Democratic
nomination.
2. Then, after winning the
California primary, he
was assassinated by
Sirhan Sirhan, an
immigrant from Jordan
who didn’t like the U.S.’s
support of Israel.
The Democratic Convention in
Chicago
1. When the Democrats
meet in Chicago to
choose their candidate,
the frontrunner is
Hubert Humphrey, LBJ’s
vice president.
2. Anti-war protestors
show up at the
convention and their
protests (and the actions
of the Chicago mayor
and police) will lead to
major rioting outside
the convention – and
some inside as well.
The Election of 1968
1. The Democrats end up nominating Hubert
Humphrey while the Republicans nominate Richard
Nixon.
2. Former Alabama governor George Wallace also
runs on a third party ticket, claiming he wants to
restore law and order (and segregation) to the U.S.
– he had tried to prevent the integration of the
University of Alabama.
3. Nixon ends up winning the election by exploiting
the division within the Democratic party and
appealing to the moderate conservatives of the
nation.