Chapter 20: The New Frontier & The Great Society
Section 1: Kennedy & The Cold War
-The Kennedy Administration faced some of the most dangerous Soviet confrontation in American history.
-1960- Ike’s second term drew close to ending.
-The economy was in a recession.
-The USSR launched Sputnik in 1957 & its development of long-range missiles had sparked fears that the American military was falling behind that of the soviet.
-1960 election-JFK (D)- Massachusetts Senator vs. VP Rep. Richard M. Nixon
-TV debate & civil rights helped put JFK over the top.
-2nd youngest president (43) and the first Roman Catholic President.
-When MLK was arrested for sitting at a segregated lunch counter & charged with months of hard labor (officially for a minor traffic violation) the Eisenhower administration refused to intervene & Nixon took no public position.
-JFK called MLK’s wife Coretta Scott King, to express his sympathy while Robert Kennedy persuaded the judge who sentenced King to release him on bail, pending an appeal.
The Camelot Years
-JFK’s inauguration set the tone for a new era at the White House: one of grace, elegance, and wit.
-JFK invited over 100 writers, artists, & scientists, including opera singer Marian Anderson, who had once been banned from singing at Constitutional Hall b/c she was African American.
-“And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.
-The White House reminded many of a modern day Camelot, the mythical court of King Arthur.
-Coincidentally, the musical Camelot had opened on Broadway in 1960.
-JFK surrounded himself with a team of advisers that one journalist called “The best and the brightest.”
-They included his brother Robert, the attorney general and Robert McNamera, a national secretary adviser.
A New Military Policy
-JFK thought that Ike’s administration had not done enough about the Soviet threat & blasted the republicans for allowing communism to develop in Cuba, at America’s doorstep.
-Flexible Response- strengthening & modernizing the military’s ability to fight a nuclear war.
-JFK increased defense spending-created an elite branch of the Army called the Special Forces & tripled the overall nuclear capabilities of the US.
Crises Over Cuba
-JFK’s 1st day of foreign policy became his first test.
-About 2 weeks before JFK took office, Ike had cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba b/c of revolutionary leader named *Fidel Castro.
-Castro declared himself a communist & welcomed aid from the Soviets.
-From 1956-59- Castro led a guerrilla movement to topple dictator Fulgencia Batista with the promise of democracy.
-The US was suspicious, but nevertheless recognized the new govt.
-Castro seized 3 American & British oil refineries which caused relations worsen.
-About 10% of Cuba’s population went into exile, mostly to the US, mainly to Miami, FL.
-A counterrevolutionary movement took shape.
Bay of Pigs
-March 1960- hoping it would trigger a mass uprising, Ike gave the CIA permission to secretly train Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba.
-JFK learned the plan only 9 days after his election- with doubts he approved.
-April 17, 1961- 1,300-1,500 Cuban exiles, supported by the US military, landed on the Bay of Pigs. Nothing went as planned.
-25,000 Cuban troops backed up by Soviet tanks & jet aircraft’s were waiting for them.
-This disaster left JFK embarrassed & he publicly accepted the blame.
-JFK negotiated with Castro for the release of surviving commandos & paid a ransom of $53 million in food & medical supplies.
Cuban Missile Crisis
-Soviet ally- Nikita Khrushchev promised to defend Cuba with Soviet arms.
-Summer 1962- the flow of Soviet weapons, including nuclear missiles, to Cuba increased greatly.
-JFK sent a warning that America would not tolerate offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba.
-Photos taken in October by American planes revealed Soviet missile bases in Cuba, with some that contained missiles ready to launch. They could reach the US in minutes.
-JFK informed the nation of the existence of the Soviet missile sites & his plan to remove them.
-He made it clear that ant missile attack from Cuba would trigger an all-out attack on the Soviet Union.
-For the next 6 days, the world faced the terrifying possibility of nuclear war.
-In the Atlantic Ocean, Soviet ships carry more missiles headed toward Cuba, while the US navy prepared to quarantine Cuba & prevent the ships from coming with in 500 miles of it.
-In Florida, 100,000 troops waited- the largest invasion force ever assembled in the US.
-Soviet ships stopped suddenly to avoid a confrontation at sea.
-Then Khrushchev offered to remove the missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba.
-Secretly, the US also agreed to remove missiles from Turkey.
-It was learned in the 1990’s that the CIA hand underestimated the number of Soviet troops & nuclear weapons on the island.
-Castro closed Cuba’s door to the exiles in November 1962 by banning all flights to and from Miami.
Crisis Over Berlin
-In 1961, Nikita Khrushchev ordered the Berlin wall built to stop the flow of refugees from East to West Berlin.
-Most were seeking freedom from communist rule.
-JFK’s determination & America’s superior nuclear striking power prevented Khrushchev from closing the air & land routes b/t East and West Germany.
-The wall became an ugly symbol of communist oppression.
*Hot Line was established b/t the White House & the Kremlin. It was a dedicated phone line that enabled the leaders of the 2 countries to communicate, at once, should a crisis arise.
*Limited Test Ban Treaty- they barred nuclear testing in the atmosphere.
Section 2: The New Frontier
-While JFK had trouble getting his ideas for a New Frontier passed several goals were achieved.
*New Frontier- legislative program which included proposals to provide medical care for the elderly, to rebuild blighted urban areas, to aid education, to bolster the national defense, to increase international aid, & to expand the space program.
-JFK lacked *mandate- the authority to act that an elected official receives from the voters who elected him.
-By 1960, America was in a recession & JFK pushed for the use of deficit spending, which had been the basis for FDR’s New Deal.
-The Department of Defense recurred a nearly 20% budget increase, minimum wage increased, the unemployment insurance was extended, & it provided assistance to cities with high unemployment.
*Peace crops- a program of volunteer assistance to the developing nations of Asia, Africa, & Latin America.
-Alliance for Progress- offered economic & technical assistance to Latin American countries.
-During the 1960’s- the US invested almost 12 billion, in part to deter those countries from picking up Fidel Castro’s revolutionary ideas.
-12 April 1961- Russian cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the 1st human in space.
-JFK wanted to surpass space & land on the moon.
-20 July 1969- Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon.
-1962 – Michael Harrington’s book, The Other America, brought the problem of poverty in America to national attention.
-At the same time the civil rights battle was warming up.
-In 1963, JFK began to focus more closely on the issues at home.
Tragedy in Dallas
-22 Nov. 1963- as JFK was in TX, he was shot in the head.
-During the next 4 days, TV became ”The window of the world”.
-VP Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office on the flight back to Washington, DC.
-24 yr. old Lee Harvey Oswald, a Marine, was charged.
-November 24- as millions watched the live coverage of Oswald being transferred between jails, Jack Ruby shot and killed him.
-Because of the bizarre chain of events, some people wondered if Oswald was part of a conspiracy.
-In 1963 *The Warren Commission- investigated and concluded that Oswald was acting on his own.
-In a later reinvestigation, in 1979, it was concluded that he was part of a conspiracy.
-Investigators also said that there might have been a second shooter.
-LBJ would soon drive through Congress the most ambitious domestic legislative package since the New Deal.
Section 3: The Great Society
-The demand for reform helped create a new awareness of social problems, especially on matters of Civil Rights and the effects of poverty.
*Lyndon B. Johnson- styled himself after his idol, FDR. LBJ was a “New Dealer” who caught the eye of FDR. FDR soon took him under his wing.
-1937- LBJ was elected to the Senate and became Senate majority leader in 1955.
-He was great at persuading people on his issues.
*Civil Rights Act of 1957- a voting rights measure that was the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
-JFK took notice of LBJ and was soon asked to be his running mate.
-LBJ’s presence on the ticket helped Kennedy win key states in the south.
-July 1964- LBJ pushed through the *Civil Rights Act of 1964- it prohibited discrimination & gave the federal govt new powers to enforce it.
-LBJ went on with his own agenda to alleviate poverty.
-Aug 1964- Congress enacted the *Economic Opportunity Act (EOA)- approving nearly 1 billion for youth programs, antipoverty measures, small business loans, & job training.
The 1964 Election
-Rep Barry Goldwater of AZ believed that the federal govt had no business trying to right social & economic wrongs such as poverty discrimination, & lack of opportunity.
-He had also suggested that he might use nuclear weapons on Cuba & North Vietnam.
-Result: LBJ won by a landslide.
Building the Great Society
*Great Society- LBJ’s program to reduce poverty & racial injustice & to promote a better quality of life in the US.
-Like his idol FDR, LBJ wanted to change America.
-By the time LBJ left the White House in 1969, Congress had passed 206 of his measures.
-LBJ considered education, “The key which can unlock the door to the Great Society.”
-He granted over 1 billion dollars in federal aid to education.
*Medicare- provided hospital insurance & low-cost medical insurance for almost every American age 65 and older.
*Medicaid- extended health insurance to welfare recipients.
*Immigration Act of 1965- opened the door for many non-EU immigrants to settle in the US by ending quotas based on nationality.
*Remember- the Immigration Act of 1924 & the National Origins Act of 1929 had est. quotas that discriminated strongly against people from outside Western Europe.
-Water Quality Act of 1965- required states to clean up rivers.
-Truth-in-Packaging Law- set the standards for labeling consumer foods.
-Wholesome Meat Act of 1967- set new safety standards for meat.
-The wave of liberal reform that characterized the Great Society also swept through the Supreme Court of the 1960’s.
*1954 Brown v. Board- ruled school segregation unconstitutional, the court, under chief justice Earl Warren took an activist stance on the leading issues of the day became known as the *The Warren Court.
-There were several court decisions in the 1960’s that affected American society.
-The court also banned prayer in pubic schools, declared state required loyalty oaths unconstitutional, limited the power of communities to censor books & films, & said that free speech included the wearing of black armbands to school by antiwar students. This brought about many changes in state and federal govt.
*Reapportionment- the way in which states redraw election districts based on changing the number of people in them.
*Baker v. Carr (1962)- was the first of several decisions that est. the principle of “one person, one vote.”
-The court asserted that the federal courts had the right to tell states to reapportion their districts.
-Reynolds v. Sims- extended this right.
-Right of the accused were also expanded.
*Mapp v. Ohio (1961)- search warrant.
*Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)- right to a lawyer.
* Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)- right to have a lawyer during police questioning.
*Miranda v. Arizona (1966)- suspects must be read their right.
Impact of the Great Society
-No President in the post WWII era extended the power & reach of the federal govt more than LBJ.
-The “war on poverty” did help.
-The increase of Communist Forces in Vietnam soon began to overshadow the goals of the Great Society.
-Many of LBJ’s proposals, though well intended, were hastily conceived & proved difficult to accomplish.
-LBJ’s massive tax cut spurred the economy, but funding the Great Society contributed to a growing budget deficit--a problem that continued for decades.
-The fear of communism was deeply rooted in the minds of American from the Cold War era.
-Four years after initiating the Great Society, Johnson, a peace candidate in 1964 would be labeled a “hawk”- a supporter of one of the most divisive wars in recent US history.
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