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Chapter 28 Reform and Rebellion in the Turbulent Sixties, 1960-1969

Chapter 28 Reform and Rebellion in the Turbulent Sixties, 1960-1969. The American People , 6 th ed. John F. Kennedy: The Camelot Years. The Election of 1960. Kennedy ran against Vice President Nixon

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Chapter 28 Reform and Rebellion in the Turbulent Sixties, 1960-1969

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  1. Chapter 28Reform and Rebellion in the Turbulent Sixties, 1960-1969 The American People, 6th ed.

  2. John F. Kennedy: The Camelot Years

  3. The Election of 1960 • Kennedy ran against Vice President Nixon • Although clearly more qualified than Kennedy, Nixon was outshone by Kennedy during the famous television debates • Kennedy overcame large odds to become America’s first Catholic president • Kennedy represented youth, vigor, idealism and important change; his presidency had been termed Camelot due to America’s almost royal regard for him, especially after his assassination

  4. Civil Rights • Kennedy’s successes in the area of advancing civil rights were modest in scope, yet he did make groundbreaking efforts considering the times • Events in the South compelled Kennedy to propose strong civil rights legislation before Congress only to be stalled in committee

  5. II. Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society

  6. LBJ • As sitting Vice President, Johnson assumed the presidency after Kennedy’s 1963 assassination in Dallas • An ambitious and effective politician, Johnson was successful in the areas of social reform • His sweeping plan of social welfare, “The Great Society”, was adopted primarily due to Johnson’s mastery of the legislative process

  7. Civil Rights • “No memorial or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill.” --LBJ

  8. The Great Society Under Attack • Although working as planned for a few years, many of the Great Society’s goals were too ambitious or prepared in haste with massive sums of money seemingly disappearing with little results • The American involvement with the Vietnam War dealt the Great Society a crippling blow

  9. III. War in Vietnam and Turmoil at Home

  10. Escalation in Vietnam • Kennedy’s commitment to the theory of containment led him to escalate the war in Vietnam with thousands of additional troops • Kennedy’s reluctance to withdraw in the face of a losing war plagued LBJ as well and he continued the program of expansion to over half a million troops by 1968

  11. Student Activism • As Americans began to protest their lengthy involvement in the Vietnam War, college students emerged as the strongest voice • Some 300,000 people marched in protest in New York City, 1967; 100,000 tried to close the Pentagon • In 1968, 221 major demonstrations were staged at more than 100 institutions of higher learning

  12. Assassination • Aside from the death of John Kennedy in 1963, an assassin took the lives of Kennedy’s brother (and U.S. Attorney General) Robert Kennedy in 1968 • The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King lost his life to an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968 • These deaths fed the sense of disillusionment expressed by the counterculture of the late sixties and early seventies

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