President John F Kennedy JFK Defeated vice president

President John F Kennedy

JFK • Defeated vice president Richard Nixon in close election • 2 nd youngest President in American history, 43 years old • Major events-Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, Berlin Wall, First men in space, creation of the Peace Corps • Promoted LARGE federal funding to universities to research new technology and industry • Promoted a “New Frontier”-Eradication of poverty and lifting America’s eyes to the stars • Would be assassinated in Dallas, Texas November 22, 1963

President Lyndon Johnson • LBJ, Kennedy’s vice president would assume the Presidency • A former senator from Texas, a brilliant politician-got things done. • Urged congress to pass the civil rights and tax cut bill Kennedy had sent to congress • Civil Rights Act-prohibited discrimination against race, religion, national origin, or sex

Johnson’s War on Poverty • His “Great Society” • Passed the EOA (economic opportunity act)-created VISTA, headstart • Won election on his own in 1964 by a margin of 61 percent • See page 689 • Education-Provided $$ to schools to purchase books • LBJ passed Medicare and medicaid

The “Johnson Treatment”

Other Reforms • Chief Justice Earl Warren • His “Warren Court” very active, a very “liberal court” Loose interpretation of the Constitution • Banned State Sponsored school prayer • Limited communities ability to censor books and movies • Wearing black armbands to school ok

$$$$$$$$$ • The Johnson Tax cuts coupled with the MASSIVE amounts of federal funding for the “Great Society” along with the Vietnam War put the US into massive debt • Conservative backlash emerged due to the debt • In California, actor Ronald Reagan would be elected Governor in 1966