The New Frontier & The Great society - PowerPoint Presentation

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The New Frontier & The Great societyPart 1

John F. Kennedy

&

Lyndon B. JohnsonSlide2

Lyndon B. Johnson being sworn in as president of the United States after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Jacqueline Kennedy (right) witnesses the oath (November 22, 1963).

The

New Frontier and the Great

Society:Main Ideas

President John F. Kennedy’s efforts to confront the Soviet Union and address social ills were cut short by his assassination. President Lyndon B. Johnson spearheaded civil rights legislation, declared a “war on poverty”, and escalated U.S. involvement in Vietnam

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Kennedy and the Cold War

The Kennedy administration faces some of the most dangerous Soviet confrontations in American history.Slide4

The Election of 1960

Watch

the opening statements of the first Presidential Debate of 1960.

Questions:

Whom do you feel performed better in this debate, Nixon or Kennedy?Disregarding their appearance on television, whom do you think you would have voted for if you had been able to vote in the 1960 election, and why?

What interesting observations can you make on the conduct of the candidates throughout their opening statements?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbrcRKqLSRw

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The Televised Debate Affects Votes

Americans

feared that the U.S. falling behind Soviets militarilyJohn F. Kennedy allayed

public worries about electing a CatholicThe nation’s first televised presidential debate: Kennedy vs. NixonNixon was a highly experienced politician, a foreign policy expert, and famously tough on communismKennedy was far less experienced but very well-spoken. Additionally, he had been coached by TV producers, wore stage makeup, and seemed to many eyes to come across better than Nixon. However, of those who listened to it on the radio, most seemed to

feel that Nixon performed better…Kennedy and Civil RightsJFK addressed civil rights and racial inequality directly in debates. Moreover, he took a public stand on the arrest/legal persecution of Martin Luther King Jr., winning him the African American voteSlide6
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The Kennedy Mystique

Kennedy was popular but won the

presidency

in a very close electionC

ritics argued that his smooth style lacked substanceThe Kennedy White House was known as “Camelot” for its glamour, culture, and witJackie Kennedy was admired for her elegance and style; there were articles and photographs published constantly featuring

the Kennedy family

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The “Camelot” Years

The Best and the Brightest

JFK’s advisers

were called

“the best and the brightest”

His brother

Robert Kennedy

was named

attorney general

McGeorge

Bundy (Dean of Harvard) – Nat’l Security

Advisor)

Dean Rusk (President of Rockefeller Foundation) - Sec. of State

Robert McNamara (President of Ford): Sec. of DefenseSlide8

A New Military Policy

•

JFK

believed that the nation had to

redefine its nuclear strategy• “Flexible response”

—fight conventional wars, keep nuclear arms balanced with the Soviets, but try not to stockpile them in excess (leads to further escalation)• JFK increased defense spending in three areas: - strengthened conventional

forces again (army, navy, etc.)

-

created Army

Special Forces (Green Berets)

-

tripled

nuclear capabilities

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Crises over Cuba

The Cuban Dilemma

Revolutionary leader

Fidel Castro

declared a communist Cuba in 1959 - seized U.S. properties; Eisenhower

cut off diplomatic relations 10% of Cuban population (anti-communists) went into exile; mostly to the U.S.

The Bay of

Pigs Invasion: April 1961

Cuban

exiles, recruited by the CIA, planned an

invasion to topple Castro

Plans

went terribly wrong from both a tactical and strategic perspective; Cuban exile

forces

were killed and

taken prisoner

JFK

paid a

ransom in

food and medicine for their return; the mission was a public embarrassment for the

United States, and the presidencySlide10

Crisis over Berlin

By

1961, 3.4 million (20%) East Germans had fled the Soviet Union (mostly

to West

Berlin); leading to an economic and “brain” drainKhrushchev wanted to close access roads to West Berlin; JFK refusedSoviets isolated West Berlin from East Germany with the Berlin Wall

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Crises

over Cuba

The Cuban Missile

Crisis – Oct 1962

Nikita Khrushchev sent weapons to Cuba, including nuclear missiles JFK warned the Soviets that a missile attack would trigger war on U.S.S.R.Soviets avoided confrontation at sea; reaching an

agreement with the U.S.

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Kennedy and Khrushchev Take the Heat

Khrushchev’s prestige

was severely

damaged in

the U.S.S.R. for conciliatory actions toward Kennedy

JFK criticized for brinkmanship,

but also

for not ousting Castro

Castro banned any travel between Cuba and U.S. and the U.S. maintained an ongoing trade embargo with Cuba.Slide12

Searching for a way to ease tensions

Both Kennedy and Khrushchev were aware of the dangers of communicating through media outlets only

Language barrierMedia hypeDesigned the “hot line” between the U.S. and Russia with full-time, highly skilled translators on call constantly on both sidesIt went live in early 1963. The first sentence transmitted by the U.S. was:

“The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog’s back.”Contains every letter in the alphabetSlide13