Chapter 30- The Turbulent Sixties - PowerPoint Presentation

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Chapter 30- The Turbulent Sixties

Bridget Heist

Kylie Kratchwell

Gianna Oldrati

Ashley Basat Slide2

*Kennedy Intensifies the Cold War

Critical to John F. Kennedy’s victory in the election of 1960 was his success in televised debates against Richard Nixon

John F. Kennedy’s domestic program was known as the

New Frontier

Priority was foreign policy in

Southeast Asia, Berlin, Cuba, and Soviet Union

John F. Kennedy a “Cold Warrior”

Kennedy supported U.S. hard line against RussiaSlide3

John F. Kennedy

Richard NixonSlide4

Flexible Response

Robert McNamara

was selected to serve as secretary of defense by John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy’s plan to balance out nuclear capability with conventional military strength was known as

flexible response

Arms buildup:

Conventional armed forces

The nuclear arsenal

Special Forces

U.S. strength tempted new administration to challenge U.S.S.R.

Stuart Udall was selected as the Secretary of the Interior

Dean Rusk was selected as the Secretary of State

Abraham Ribicoff was selected as the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. Slide5

Crisis over Berlin

The Soviet Union leader with whom both Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy had to deal was

Nikita Khrushchev

1961: Khrushchev renews threat to kick America out of Berlin Germany

Kennedy’s response:

Announce crisis on nationwide television

Call up the National Guard

Soviets built Berlin Wall

Wall meant to keep East Germans from migrating to the WestSlide6
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Containment in Southeast Asia

Kennedy saw Southeast Asia as focus of U.S.-Soviet rivalry

Supported Saigon’s Diem regime

Increased American military “advisors” and money to Vietnam

November, 1963: Coup against Diem

Kennedy accepted

Coup further destabilized South Vietnam

U.S. involvement in Vietnam deepenedSlide8

Containing Castro: The Bay of Pigs Fiasco

Kennedy supported “anti-Castro forces in exile” to thwart the aims of the Soviet Union and overthrow Fidal Castro

Bay of Pigs invasion a part of 1960 CIA plan under Eisenhower

The Bay of Pigs invasion was Kennedy’s most obvious foreign policy disasterSlide9

Containing Castro: The Cuban Missile Crisis

1962: Russian nuclear missiles confirmed in Cuba

Blockade Cuba to prevent more missiles from coming into Cuba

Threaten nuclear confrontation to force removal of missiles already there

World appears to be on the brink of nuclear war

Khrushchev agreed to remove missiles in exchange for public statement that U.S. would not invade Cuba

Private assurance that U.S. Jupiter missiles in Turkey would be removedSlide10

Containing Castro: The Cuban Missile Crisis

Consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis:

A new maturity in John F. Kennedy’s foreign policy

New negotiations regarding a reduction in nuclear testing

Soviet-American hotline set up

A conviction that the Soviets only understood the language of force

American foreign policy hawks believed that the outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis justified a policy of nuclear superioritySlide11

*The New Frontier at Home

Kennedy’s staff was heavily populated with academics and intellectuals

Seeks legislative and economic reform

JFK was the administration’s greatest asset

Most controversial Cabinet appointment - Robert Kennedy - Attorney GeneralSlide12

The Congressional Obstacle

Southern Democrat-Republican coalition control Congress

Coalition blocks far-reaching reform

Kennedy’s greatest domestic obstacle was CongressSlide13

Supreme Court Cases

From 1953 to 1969, Earl Warren served as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Under Warren's leadership, the Court actively used Judicial Review to over-turn state and federal statutes. During Warren's tenure, the Court became increasingly liberal and activist.

The most far-reaching decisions of the Warren Court involved

legislative reapportionment

.

Engle v. Vitale

The 1962 Supreme Court decision that banned school prayer.

Ruled that State Sponsored prayer of any type is unconstitutional because it goes against the First Amendment's establishment of the religion clause. Slide14

Economic Advance

Economic stimulation:

Increase space and defense spending

Informal wage and price guidelines

1963: Tax cut causes one of the longest sustained advances in U.S. history

Kennedy’s economic policies double growth, and cut unemployment

However, Kennedy was very frustrated when the leaders of the steel industry decided to raise prices. Slide15

Moving Slowly on Civil Rights

JFK downplayed civil rights legislation to avoid alienating Southern Democrats

JFK succeeded in appointing a number of African Americans to high government positions

Robert Weaver-

Chief of the federal housing agency

Thurgood Marshal-

Member of the U.S. circuit court

1961: Federal marshals were sent to protect Birmingham freedom riders

The ‘Freedom Riders’ were sponsored by Congress of Racial Equality.

1962: The National Guard was sent to University of MississippiSlide16

Moving Slowly on Civil Rights

1963: Deputy Attorney General faced down George Wallace at University of Alabama

Civil Rights leader Stokely Carmichael advocated ‘Black Power’

The Supreme court was the most important stimulus for social changes in the early 1960’s.

Civil rights legislation would not have happened in the Senate without the support of Republican Senator,

Everett DirksenSlide17

“I have a Dream”

1963: Violent police suppression of nonviolent protestors in Birmingham

Kennedy intervenes on side of blacks

Unlike Eisenhower, Kennedy provided presidential leadership

Congress asks for civil rights laws

1963: MLK leads march on Washington

MLK delivered “I Have a Dream” speech, the issues being highlighted by this event were addressed by the

Civil Rights Act of 1964

.

Civil rights movement did not accept JFK’s indirect approach to civil right issuesSlide18
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*“Let Us Continue”

November 22, 1963: Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated JFK

VP Lyndon Johnson becomes President

Lyndon Johnson continues Kennedy’s programs

Johnson ultimately exceeds Kennedy’s record on economic and civil rights bills

JFK assassination:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU83R7rpXQYSlide20
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Johnson in Action

Johnson not polished like Kennedy

Most influential Senate majority leader

Knowledge of legislative process in greatest asset

Known for giving the “Johnson treatment”

1964: Kennedy’s tax cut passed and resulted in a sustained economic boom

Civil Rights Act:

Outlawed racial discrimination in employment

Outlawed racial segregation in public facilities

Protected the voting rights of African Americans

Included gender as an unacceptable basis for discrimination in hiring

Established the Equal Opportunity CommisionSlide22

The Election of 1964

1964: Johnson launched “war on poverty”

Programs include Head Start, Job Corps, Community Action Programs

Encourage self-help

Reduce poverty by about ten million

Influenced by Michael Harrington’s Book

The Other America

Johnson wins election against

Barry Goldwater

by a landslideSlide23

The Triumph of Reform

1965: Johnson’s

Great Society domestic program

advances beyond New Deal

Established Medicare program for the elderly

Also in 1965,

Johnson sent American soldiers to the Dominican Republic in order to prevent a Communist takeover there.

Medicaid for poor

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Voting Rights Act gives dramatic increase in African American voting registration in the South - bans literacy testsSlide24

*Johnson Escalates The Vietnam War

Johnson was a continuation of Kennedy’s foreign policy

A major critic of Johnson’s foreign policies was William Fulbright.

Inherited policy of containment - shared cold war assumptions and convictions

Determined not to “lose” South Vietnam to the Communists in North Vietnam

Eventually, Johnson’s obsession with Vietnam causes his downfallSlide25

The Vietnam Dilemma

After assassination of Diem, South Vietnam on the verge of collapse

Johnson continues economic aid and military advisers - also authorizes covert actions

1964: Gulf of Tonkins Resolution gives Johnson authority to defend South Vietnam

Johnson sought the Gulf of Tonkins Resolution to demonstrate to the North Vietnamese, and his political opponents, his determination to take a tough stance in Vietnam.

Johnson proves to enemies that he will take tough stance in Vietnam

In long run - costly victory because Congress felt mislead

JFK shared similar issues when dealing with Congress

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Escalation

Communist leader, Ho Chi Minh, organized Viet Minh in North to free Vietnam from France/America

Communist organize army in South Vietnam called Vietcong

As a solution to situation in South Vietnam in 1965,

Johnson’s key advisers urged American air strikes against North Vietnam.

1968: 500,000 American troops in Vietnam

Johnson worries about consequences of either withdrawing or invasion of North

War ends up in bloody stalemateSlide27
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Vietnam War

American tactics in the Vietnam War were ill-suited for the type of war being fought.

Bombing Campaign: Rolling Thunder

American bombing generally failed to accomplish anything.

Chemical Weapons: Agent Orange and Napalm

Land Campaign: Search and Destroy, Strategic Hamlet policy, and Body Count

The main premise of General William Westmoreland’s strategy in Vietnam was

to wage a war of attrition against the Communists

.Slide29

Stalemate

American military strategists counted heavily on massive American firepower

especially air strikes which were largely ineffective

Air strikes to destroy supply lines not successful

Few industrial sites in Vietnam to bomb

Afraid to bomb certain supply ports because China and/or Russia might enter war

Americans back home gradually turn against the warSlide30
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Years of Turmoil

Tet Offensive - Vietcong launch surprise attack on cities in the South

Tet Offensive - turning point for U.S. - major political victory for Northern Communists

Shocks Americans back home

Johnson blamed and opens peace talks

Johnson does not seek another term

The American experience in the Tet Offensive led Johnson to begin an effort to open peace negotiations with the communists. Slide32

The Student Revolt

1964: Student protest movement launched at The University of California Berkeley

The biggest student protest organization was the

Students for a Democratic Society

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Later a former Harvard psychology professor who encouraged young people to experiment with drugs was Timothy Leary.

Challenged older generation’s materialism

Main issue of protest - Vietnam War

Widespread cultural uprisingSlide33

Protesting the Vietnam War

1967: 100,000 protesters besiege the Pentagon

1968: students seize 5 buildings at Columbia University for eight days

Demonstrations suppressed by a combination of negotiation and forceSlide34

The Cultural Revolution

Rejection of older values through:

Sexual expression

Clothing

Drugs

Music

Some extremism provokes outrage

Serious challenge to hypocrisy of American SocietySlide35

The Return of Richard Nixon

1968: Presidential election - A year of turmoil

Turning point in the Vietnam War

Massive protests in the streets

Richard Nixon wins election by narrow margin

Has plan to end Vietnam warSlide36

The Democrats Divide

1968 Democratic convention in Chicago besieged by anti-war protestors

Democrats wounded in public opinion

Failure to win war but won’t withdrawSlide37

The End of an Era

Election of 1968 ended 30-year era of liberal reform, activist foreign policy

Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey

Americans sought less intrusive government

Vietnam war ended policy of containment