The New Frontier JFK and the Cold War

The New Frontier JFK and the Cold War

A War Hero Wins the White House • PT-109 – "It was involuntary. They sank my boat. “ • 1960 - Kennedy V. Nixon • Debates, Economy, Missile Gap & Catholicism • Narrow Victory: 303 -219 • New Frontier Promises • Peace Corps • Increased Aid to Education • Health Insurance to the Elderly • Dept. of Urban Affairs • Equal Pay Act & Women’s Rights • Secure Civil Rights for Black America • Community Mental Health Construction Act & Cognitive Disabilities • Eunice Kennedy Shriver & Special Olympics

Kennedy’s Inaugural Address • We will attempt to identify aspects of Kennedy’s platform through the language of his Inaugural Address. • His intention was a brief and focused statement… • What’s the focus?

Space Race • “ I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon. ” – 1962 - John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth – 1965 - Three men orbit the moon – 1969 - Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land on the moon. “the Eagle has landed. ” • Michael Collins piloted the command module • “This is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Kennedy and Communism • Flexible Response- Less reliance on Nuclear Weapons; more on Special Forces (ie Green Berets) • Refocus on Diplomacy, especially in Latin America • The Bay of Pigs – Eisenhower & Kennedy • The Berlin Wall - Kennedy reaffirms commitment

The Missiles of October The American Spirit – p 467 -472 (TP 1. on 513) 1. Was the Cuban Missile crisis a turning point in the Cold War? Who actually ‘won’ the confrontation over the missiles? Was Kennedy’s Diplomacy courageous or foolhardy?

Thirteen Days • October 28, 1962, JFK & Khrushcev reach a public and secret agreement. • Soviets would dismantle their offensive weapons in Cuba and return them to the Soviet Union, & US public declaration never to invade Cuba. – Secretly, the US agreed that it would dismantle all USbuilt ICBMs deployed in Turkey. • Only two weeks after the agreement, the Soviets had removed the missile systems • Creation of the Hotline Agreement and the Moscow– Washington hotline, a direct communications link between Moscow and Washington, D. C. • HUMILIATION FOR THE SOVIET UNION • Brinkmanship “Eyeball to eyeball, they blinked first” – Dean Rusk, US Secretary of State

Kennedy and Civil Rights (More Later) • Across the nation, more than 70 percent of African Americans voted for Kennedy, and these votes provided the winning edge in several key states. When President Kennedy took office in January 1961, African Americans had high expectations for the new administration. • EEO, Freedom Riders, Integrating Ole Miss & Alabama (School House Door Speech), March on Washington,

The Assassination of Kennedy • Dallas, TX • 11/22/63

Johnson’s Presidency The Great Society

November 22 nd, 1963 • With Jacqueline on one side and Claudia “Lady Bird” on the other LBJ is sworn in. • “The ideas and ideals of (Kennedy) so nobly represented must and will be translated into effective action. ” • “Kennedy’s death commands what his life conveyed- that America must move forward. ”

LBJ’s Resume • 26 years of Congressional Experience • Congressional Staffer • Member of the House of Representatives • U. S. Senator • Majority Leader • Vice-President

“The Johnson Treatment” • Reputation of being “overpowering and intimidating” • Invaded personal space: nose to nose • “Persuasive and personable rather than elegant and charming” • He got things DONE • Did favors, twisted arms, bargained, flattered, threatened, etc.

The Texan’s Style

The Great Society Sweeping Economic Change New Deal-esque Lots of Public Support -The Other America (1962) - Michael Harrington

• Full story: http: //www. washingtonpost. com/wpsrv/special/national/great-society-at-50/

Pros/Cons of the Great Society

War on Poverty “There are tens of millions of Americans who are beyond the welfare state. Taken as a whole there is a culture of poverty…bad health, poor housing, low levels of aspiration, and high levels of mental distress. Twenty percent of a nation, some 32, 000. ” Michael Harrington, author of the Culture of Poverty 1962 The American Spirit p 472 -477 (TP 2. on 513)

War on Poverty “The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice. ” -LBJ 1964 • Medicare and Medicaid (1 st Medicare cards went to the Truman's) • Head Start • HUD • Job Corps • Water Quality and Clean Air Acts • Highway Safety Act • Fair Packaging and Labeling Act • Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 • Gun Control Act of 1968

Evaluating the Great Society from the Washington Post LBJ was elected in 1964 with what was then the biggest landslide in U. S. history. Just two years later in the midterm contests, his party lost three seats in the Senate, 47 in the House and eight governorships. Republicans would win five of the next six presidential elections. Among those presidents was Ronald Reagan, who memorably said that the United States had waged a war on poverty and poverty won. Reagan wrote in his diary on Jan. 28, 1982: “The press is dying to paint me as now trying to undo the New Deal. I remind them I voted for F. D. R. 4 times. I’m trying to undo the ‘Great Society. ’ It was L. B. J. ’s war on poverty that led to our present mess. ” The irony, of course, is that while Reagan and other presidents tried to eradicate Great Society programs, nearly all survived in some form, and spending on them continued to rise. The federal government has grown even larger — more than five times as big as it was in 1960, in real dollars — while public faith in it stands near all-time lows. “That’s the paradox of the Great Society, ” said Peter Berkowitz, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s conservative Hoover Institution. “It has never been more entrenched. ”

Executive Order 11246 • Uses an already established phrase: “Affirmative Action” to state that… • Ensure applicants are employed and treated without regard to their… • Race, Color, Religion, Sex, or National Origin. • Also required contractors with 51 or more employees and contracts of $50, 000 or more to implement affirmative action plans to increase the participation of minorities and women in the workplace if a workforce analysis demonstrates their under-representation

“The Daisy Ad”

Johnson/Humphrey

“WE SHALL OVERCOME” Civil Rights Legislation Under LBJ Civil Rights Act 1964 Voting Rights Act 1965 Executive Order 11246 - 1965 Thurgood Marshall on the Court – 1967 Civil Rights Act of 1968 The American Spirit p 472 -477 (TP 2. on 513)

• Compare and Contrast FDR’s New Deal to LBJ’s Great Society. To what extent did the president’s use federal power to advance social and economic goals?