Chapter 38

1960 Election:
1. TV debates
2. Religion
3. MLK Jr. released from jail
Republican candidate: Richard Nixon
Democrat candidate: John F. Kennedy. although he was catholic he still believed in separation of church and state
Results: 49.7%-Kennedy; 49.5%- Nixon
Kennedy was more concerned on foreign policy during his presidency but not too much on the domestic front. Kennedy did want new, fresh cabinet members. His brother, an uninformed Bobby Kennedy, was made the Attorney General without law practice.
His inaugural address was very famous nd helped third world countries.
NASA: wanted the first man on the moon by the end of the decade.
Stuff passed:

• The Trade Expansion Act of 1962 lowered tariffs.
• Alliance for progress: Marshall plan for Latin countries was supposed to give aid and money to latin countries to help get rid of communism. As America got more involved elsewhere the amount of money promised wasn't given.
• Peace Corps: strove for friendly foreign alliances. young, idealistic Americans would go to third world nations to help out and teach. Usually the fields were health, agriculture, languages and math.
• Housing Act and Area Redevelopment Act- more federal spending for urban renewal.
• 1963: Equal Pay Act: abolished pay differences between sexes and races.

He attempts to apply minimum wage to minorities like women.
His Domestic Program was called the NEW FRONTEIR.
In November 1963 JFK was shot on the neck in Texas, then blasted in the skull and died. Lee Harvey Oswald (communistic ties) was the suspect but he was killed by another man named Ruby. The Warren commission said Oswald acted alone.
Michael Herrington: "The Other America"

Civil Rights Movement

• Freedom Riders (191) would challenge segregation of busses and railways. 18 freedom riders went from May to September on a trip facing resistance and violenve. On May 14th a mob of white racists surrounded a bus of Freedom riders and threw in a bomb while blocking exits. The riders escaped but were attacked.
• James Meredith 1962: wants to enroll in a University but is met with violence, Marshalls sent by JFK were attacked and troops were sent in.
• "Moral Issue"/ Civil Rights act 1963
• Birmingham, AL 1963- MLK knows he can protest peacefully here but he also knows the sheriff uses violent methods against protesters. He was thrown in jail and wrote his nonviolent letters that said protesters must accept penalties and made whites look bad.

Foreign Policy

• Bay of Pigs Invasion 1961 (Cuba): attempt to overthrow Castro, but they're ready for our invasion. No success. Kennedy backs off with US air support. He says this is his bad to the country.
• Berlin Crisis (1961) Khrushchev- Berlin wall is being built separating east and west berlin. JFK increases military size. Heats up Cold War
• Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) US spy planes spot Soviet missiles and troops in Cuba. Now we have Soviet weapons and troops on our doorstep. JFK gives the scariest speech ever. We bring in US ships and surround Cuba (we quarantine them). Crisis is put down and Khrushchev turns around. We stopped a nuclear war and missiles are taken out of Cuba. We promise not to invade Cuba and we take missiles out of Turkey which we were going to do anyways.
• Hotline established in 1963. red telephones with direct line to DC and Moscow.
• Nuclear Test Ban treaty: no more atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons
• Vietnam: fear of communism and domino effect of it. 16,000 advisors. 1963-65 Johnson comes in and Tonkin Gulf resolution doesn't allow us to pull everyone out by 1965. Public kept in dark about it. 1964 LBJ makes statements that white boys wont be sent to Vietnam to do Asians jobs. He does it anyways during his presidency.

LBJ and Civil Rights

1. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident: In August 1964, there was the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. There, two U.S. warships had been attacked by the North Vietnamese. In response, the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed by Congress essentially giving the president a blank check for return action.

1. Summarize or make a bullet-point list of the information on JFK’s foreign policy


2. Briefly take notes on the following: SNCC, freedom rides, Birmingham protests and Bull Connor, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Medgar Evers, March on Washington, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Freedom Summer, Selma, Voting Rights Act of 1965.How did the civil rights movement change in this period?  Why did racial and civil unrest turn violent? Make sure you include Malcolm X, Black Muslims, Stokely Carmichael, Black Panthers, long hot summers


3. Make a list of the Great Society programs.  Make sure you know what each one did.  How can we assess Johnson’s domestic program?

4. What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?  Why didn’t the escalation of American involvement in the War succeed?How did the conduct of the Vietnam War affect American domestic affairs?What was the impact of the Tet offensive on American morale and politics