The Stormy Sixties: 1960-1968

Chapter 38

AP Notes

1960 Election

• R.M. Nixon v. J.F. Kennedy

• Obstacles for Kennedy….– Age– Religion

• Promises…• Liberal

Consensus…

The Debates…

Kennedy Strengths V. RMN Weaknesses

What were the results of the 1960 election?

Camelot….

The Kennedy Cabinet• “The Best and the Brightest”

• McGeorge Bundy – NSA

• Robert McNamara – Secretary of Defense

• Dean Rusk-

– Sec. of State

• RFK- Attorney

General

Kennedy’s New Frontier..

• Higher minimum wage

• Greater federal aid to education

• Increased Social Security

• Medical care for the elderly

• Support for public housing

• Anti-poverty measures – influenced by Michael Harrington’s The Other America

Successes….

• Slight increase in minimum wage• Modest expansion of Social Security• Higher Education Act 1963• NASA….• Commission on the Status of Women

– Equal Pay Act of 1963

Race to the Moon• In April, 1961 the USSR put the first man in

space, Yuri Gagarin

• JKF increased funding to NASA, $33 billion by 1969

• Cape Canaveral and Houston Space Center were built

• JFK pledged to go to the moon by the end of the 1960’s

• Universities expanded science programs, new industries and technologies emerged

JFK and Civil Rights• At first wanted to avoid the issue – too

controversial

• RFK was ordered to investigate racial injustices in the South

• He sent federal troops to desegregate Old Miss (James Meredith)

• He sent federal marshals during the Freedom Rides

• Sent a Civil Rights bill to Congress in 1963

Kennedy on CR?

• Appointed approx. 40 African Americans to high federal positions

• Thurgood Marshall apptd. to federal appellate court

• Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity – fight discrimination in federal civil service and in corporations with government contracts

• Invigorate CR division of Dept. of Justice

Failures….

• Over 300 bills sent to Congress – less than 50% passed

• Congress rejected federal aid for :– Medical care for the elderly, education,

cities, and mass transportation

• Reasons? Close election – Kennedy doesn’t have a mandate and opposition from southern democrats and conservative republicans

JFK’s Domestic Legacy?

• Strengthened executive branch

• White House staff appointed by the President made many key decisions…

Kennedy’s Foreign Policy?

• Shifted from aggressive containment to efforts at easing tensions

• At first built up nuclear and conventional weapons

• Increased defense budget

• Created elite force – Special Forces – Green Berets to supplement CIA covert operations

Peace Corps

• Young volunteers • Sent to third world

nations for 2 years• Provide technical

support and educational assistance

• Epitomized Kennedy’s ideal of service by idealistic youth

• Peace Corps – 35,000 volunteers in 60 nations

• Alliance for Progress – offered economic and technical assistance to Latin American countries ($20 billion in aid) – A Marshall Plan for Latin America

Kennedy and Vietnam…

• Pursued containment

• Supported the Diem against southern Vietnamese insurgents – Vietcong

• Sent Green Berets and military advisors

• 1963 sent 16,000 support and combat troops to support Diem

• Diem’s regime corrupt – failed to win support of the people

Buddhist monk burning himself to death in protest over Diem’s repressive regime.

Kennedy and Vietnam…

• South Vietnamese army continued to disintegrate

• 1963 with knowledge of the CIA – a group of Vietnamese generals assassinated Diem and his top advisers

• South Vietnam will be ruled by a series of generals for the duration of the war

Berlin Wall?

• 1961 – JFK met with Khrushchev in Vienna to discuss the future of Germany

• Khrushchev wanted a permanent division and to force U.S. out of W. Berlin

• 3 million East Germans had fled to W. Berlin since end of WWII

• Kennedy tried to stand up to him – asked Congress for increased defense funding

• Soviets built the wall

The Assassination of JFK…

• Dallas, Texas – November 22, 1963

• Accused killer – Lee Harvey Oswald

• Two days later – Oswald shot and killed on national T.V. by Jack Ruby

• Chief Justice Earl Warren appointed to head a commission to investigate the killing – Warren Commission said Oswald was the lone gunman

The Kennedy’s Arrive in Dallas

LBJ, Jackie Kennedy, and JFK

LBJ and The Great Society

What was LBJ’s path to power?

• From Texas

• 1937 – New Deal Congressman

• FDR helped him secure key committee assignments

• 1948 – Senator from Texas

• 1955 Senate majority leader

LBJ’s path to power…

• Master politician – very persuasive• Knew how to handle Congress to

secure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957

• Chosen by Kennedy family to be Vice President…..

• Given the Oath of Office aboard Air Force One….

How did Johnson complete Kennedy’s agenda?

• Kennedy was the inspiration to solve world and national problems

• Johnson – got the job done

–Tax cut bill

–Civil rights bill

Tax Cut

• February 1964 tax reduction of over $10 billion passed into law

• Spurred economic growth….• People spent more• More profit for business• Increased tax revenues• Lowered deficit from $6 billion to 4 billion• It worked!!!!

What was LBJ’s role on Civil Rights?

• After Kennedy shot – Johnson pledged to carry on his work

• Used his political skill to see that Kennedy’s bill was passed

• Passed in the House – filibustered in Senate

• Johnson ended filibuster and Kennedy’s bill became the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Prohibited discrimination because of race, religion, national origin, and gender

• Gave all citizens the right to enter libraries, parks, washrooms, restaurants, theaters and all public places

• Gave government more power to desegregate and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Violence in northern cities?

• Centuries of de facto segregation had produced social and economic inequalities

• Slums, high unemployment, poor schools all contributed to desperation

• Aggressive Police was a point of contention• In July 1964, a race riot erupted in Harlem

after a 15 year old black student was killed • On Aug. 11th, 1965 the worst riot erupted in

Watts, Los Angeles

• Watts- 34 deaths, $200 million in damages

• Detroit 1967 – 43 deaths, $40 million in property damages

• In 1966 and 67 more than 100 riots and violent clashes took place

• Newark, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Phila., Cleveland, and Dayton

Detroit

What caused race riots and the destruction?

• Heightened expectations from the civil rights movement and LBJ’s promises in the Great Society that were not realized

• “White Racism” poverty, police brutality • The Kerner Commission recommended

extensive public housing, integrated schools, 2 million new jobs, and a national system of income supplementation

Malcolm X and Black Consciousness

• Malcolm Little joined The Nation of Islam when he was in prison and changed his name to Malcolm X

• Preached Elijah Muhammad’s views that whites were the cause of the problem and black should separate from society

• Preached black supremacy• Received media attention which resulted

in resentment from other Nation of Islam members

• In March of 1964 - broke with the Nation and went on the pilgrimage to Mecca

• Malcolm X returned and preached an extremely moderate message, found a new tolerant Muslim organization and proposed working with Dr. MLK

• On Feb. 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam

What was Johnson’s agenda?

• War on Poverty • Create a Great Society• Economic Opportunity Act - 1964

– Job Corps Youth Training Program– VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America)– Project Head Start– Community Action Program – encouraged

poor people to participate in public works programs

Job Corps – Johnson visits

Project Head Start

The Election of 1964

• Republican nominated Barry Goldwater of Arizona– Conservative– Attacked Social

Security and TVA– Suggested use of

nuclear weapons in Vietnam and Cuba

Johnson’s 1964 Campaign Ad

http://www.kolumbus.fi/d.rajala/Atomic%20Bomb%20--%20dabomb3.jpg

Johnson’s victory…

• Most Americans in tune with LBJ– Agreed that government should help solve

nation’s problems

• LBJ played on people’s fears– Goldwater favored more intervention in

Vietnam– LBJ assured that he would not send more

troops

Results of the election…

• LBJ won by a landslide– 61% of the popular vote– 486 electoral votes

• Goldwater – 52 electoral votes

• Democrats increased majority of Congress– LBJ no longer needed help of Southern

Democrats to pass legislation

“Landslide Lyndon”

Johnson’s Vision for America

• The Great Society

• End poverty and racial injustice

• Higher standard of living and equal opportunity

• By end of presidency – enacted 206 measures

“The Johnson Treatment”

LBJ was the master of the Senate – could always get his bills passed

Johnson introduces Great Society

“. . The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time. But that is just the beginning. . . "

Elements of the Great Society…

• Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

– $1 billion in federal aid

–Textbooks and library materials

• Medicare…

• Medicaid…

Housing….

• Money for 240,000 units of low-rent public housing

• Aid to low and moderate income families to buy homes

• Creation of Department of Housing and Urban Development

• Appointment of Robert Weaver as head of HUD – 1st African American in Cabinet

Immigration Act of 1965

• Ended quotas based on nationality

• Reversed immigration laws of the 1920s

• Opened the door for non-European immigrants to come to the U.S.

Johnson’s War…

LBJ Expanded the Conflict in Vietnam

• After Diem’s death the South was unstable

• LBJ felt US creditability is at stake and he did not want to give in to communist aggression

• Remembered Truman’s “loss of China”

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

• In August 1964, a North Vietnamese gun boat fired a torpedo at The USS Maddox

• Two days later the Maddox and another destroyer opened fire on the North

• The USS Maddox had been collecting information off the coast of N. Vietnam

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• Johnson asked Congress for permission to extend bombing into North Vietnam

• Congress adopted the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave LBJ broad military powers in Vietnam – the equivalent of a blank check in Vietnam

The Reality?

• LBJ had prepared the resolution months before hand

• Public was not aware that we had been conducting raids against N. Vietnam

• Commander of one of the Am. Destroyers not really sure an attack had taken place

Operation Rolling Thunder

• Limited bombing had failed to slow movement of communists across the border to S.V.

• Government in S.V. near collapse• Vietcong fired on U.S. Marine base –

killing 8 marines and wounding 100+• Reprisal against N. Vietnam• Campaign of gradually intensifying air

raids

Escalation…

• In March 1965 LBJ began sending troops• Sec. of State advised LBJ to deploy

troops• By June of 1965, 50,000 US troops were

fighting in Vietnam• By the end of 1965, 180,000 US troops

were sent to Vietnam• By 1967 there were 500,000 US troops in

Vietnam

War of Attrition?

• General William Westmoreland• Bombing would exhaust N.V. resources• U.S. ground forces defeat the Vietcong

in S.V.• VC defect and supporters scatter• Restore political stability to South

Vietnam

War of Attrition?

• US bombers pounded VC and North Vietnamese positions

- Napalm and Agent Orange

• VC would not surrender

- high casualties

- North supplied by China and USSR

• By 1967 - 3 million refugees due to US Seek and Destroy missions

Search….

And Destroy…

Credibility Gap?

“We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.”

Credibility Gap?

• Americans viewed scenes of the war on T.V.

• Told that we were defending freedom• Saw human suffering• Read about bombing of population centers

and destruction of southern villages• Told that we were winning the war but

casualty figures mounted to 800/month in 1967

Senator J. William Fullbright

• Chaired Senate Foreign Relations Committee

• Criticized the war

• Called for a negotiated withdrawal

Financial Cost of the War?

• $21 billion/year

• Levied 10% surcharge on individual and corporate taxes

• Tapped into Social Security fund

• Inflation