THE NEW FRONTIER & THE GREAT SOCIETY

1. THE NEW FRONTIER & THE GREAT SOCIETY U.S. HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY CHAPTER 15

2. New era of television politics takes place as the 1st presidential debate occurs on September 26, 1960. Political candidates used television to advertise their candidacy & television will replace printed word as the language of politics • Democrats nominated John F. Kennedy - Senator from Massachusetts, Catholic, wealthy • Republicans nominated Richard Nixon – Current V.P., Quaker, struggled financially • Kennedy won by a narrow margin both in the popular vote & in the electoral vote. • In his inaugural address, Kennedy spoke of “a new generation” & asked citizens to take a more active role in making the nation better – “ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country” • SEE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CHART PG. 363 ELECTION OF 1960

4. White House: Kennedy would place in his administration the best & the brightest: McGeorge Bundy (Harvard Dean) – National Security Adviser; Robert McNamara (President of Ford) – Secretary of Defense; Dean Rusk (President of Rockefeller Foundation) – Secretary of State; Robert Kennedy – Attorney General. KENNEDY’S CABINET

5. Kennedy’s legislative agenda becomes known as the New Frontier – education, health insurance for elderly, Department of Urban Affairs. His initiatives did not find a huge amount of support in Congress even though the Democrats controlled both houses • Successes included: defense spending, space exploration, raise the minimum wage, Area Redevelopment Act, Housing Act. Many of these initiatives aided the economy by providing jobs & controlling jobs BUT it meant engaging in deficit spending • Setbacks: tax cuts, health insurance, federal aid to education SUCCESSES & SETBACKS

6. Presidential Commission on the Status of Women stated that gender discrimination existed & women were not equally paid. The commission proposed the Equal Pay Act which Kennedy signed in 1963. • President’s Panel on Mental Retardation called for funding of research into developmental disabilities & educational & vocational programs for people with developmental disabilities. • Congress enacted the Mental Retardation Facilities & Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963 which provided grants to build research centers & grants to states to construct mental health centers. • Eunice Kennedy Shriver, JFK’s sister, started a camp for people disabilities at her home & it offered them a chance to be physically competitive. This effort later grew into the Special Olympics program. WOMEN & THE DISABLED

8. Kennedy wanted a more flexible response to containing communism by building up of troops, conventional & nuclear weapons, & expansion of Special Forces. • Kennedy will continue to develop more effective relations with Latin American countries by assisting governments already in power to stay in power & to prevent any communist movements from flourishing. American corporations will continue to have a presence in poor Latin American countries where the people resented their presence as it was seen as a form of imperialism • Alliance for Progress was a series of cooperative aid projects in conjunction with Latin American governments. Over $20 billion was pledged to assist countries develop better schools, housing, health care, & fairer land distribution. • Peace program sent Americans to provide humanitarian services to developing nations. JFK & THE COLD WAR

10. 1961: Yury Gagarin, a Soviet astronaut, will be the first person to orbit the Earth • Kennedy went before Congress & stated that this nation needed to dedicate itself to having a man land on the moon before the decade is out. • 1962: John Glenn, American, will be the first to orbit the Earth. 1968: the Apollo capsule, launched using the Saturn V rocket, will orbit the Earth with 3 men in side. • July 16, 1969: Saturn V rocket lifted off from Florida carrying Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, & Michael Collins. • July 20, 1969– Armstrong & Aldrin boarded the lunar module, Eagle, & landed on moon. • Armstrong will set foot on the moon declaring “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” COLD WAR IN SPACE

11. Yury Gagarin John Glenn Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Michael Collins

12. Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba in 1959 & immediately establishes ties with the Soviet Union, instituted drastic land reforms & seized foreign-owned businesses most of which were American. • Eisenhower had authorized the CIA to secretly train & arm a group of Cuban exiles known as La Brigada to invade the island. Kennedy did approve the plan but with some changes. • April 17, 1961: 1400 armed Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs, south coast of Cuba to begin the invasion. Their boats ran aground on coral reefs & Kennedy canceled their air support to keep U.S. involvement a secret. Two days later Castro’s forces killed or captured almost all of La Brigada BAY OF PIGS INVASION

16. June 1961: Kennedy meets with Khrushchev in Vienna, Austria where Khrushchev demanded the withdrawal of forces from West Berlin as the city was lying completely within the Soviet zone. Kennedy refused. RISE OF THE BERLIN WALL

17. August 13, 1961: Khrushchev shocked the world by erecting the Berlin Wallthat started as barbed wire & concrete posts. This event escalated the tensions between U.S. & Soviet Union. The wall slowed the flow of East German refugees & became a symbol of Communist oppression RISE OF THE BERLIN WALL

19. Summer 1962: discover that Soviet technicians & equipment had arrived on Cuba & military construction was in progress. • October 22, 1962: Kennedy announces that long-range nuclear missiles had been place in Cuba by the Soviet Union • Kennedy orders a naval quarantine to stop the delivery of more missiles & demands that the existing sites be dismantled. • Secret negotiations would take place between the Soviet Union & the U.S. Agreement reached: Soviet Union would remove the missiles if the U.S. promises not to invade Cuba & U.S. agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey. • Khrushchev will fall from power in the Soviet Union after this incident in 1964. • Both the U.S. & the Soviet Union will proceed with huge military buildup • SEE MAP PG. 370 CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

22. Onlookers gather on George Smathers Beach in Key West, Florida, to see the U.S. Army's Hawk anti-aircraft missiles positioned there during the Cuban missile crisis

24. Earl Warren becomes Supreme Court Chief Justice in 1953 & the decisions that are made by the U.S. Supreme Court during his time dramatically changed & reshaped American politics & society • Supreme Court made decisions regarding reapportionment: • Baker V. Carr 1962– ruled that federal courts had jurisdiction to hear lawsuits seeking to force states to redraw electoral districts • Reynolds v. Sims 1964–ruled that states must reapportion electoral districts along the principle of “one person, one vote”. This allowed for citizens’ votes to have equal weight, rather than giving arbitrary power to rural voters • SEE ANALYZING SUPREME COURT CASES PG. 365 “ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE”

25. Supreme Court began applying the 14th Amendment to extend the Bill of Rights at the state level. 14th amendment states “no state shall….deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law” which means that the law may not treat individuals unfairly, arbitrarily, or unreasonably. • Mapp v. Ohio 1961– ruled that state courts could n ot consider evidence obtained in violation of the U.S. Constitution • Gideon v. Wainwright 1963– ruled that a defendant ina state court had the right to a lawyer regardless of his or her ability to apy • Escobedo v. Illinois 1964– ruled that suspects must be allowed access to a lawyer and informed of their right to remain silent before being questioned • Miranda v. Arizona 1966– ruled that authorities were required to inform suspects of their right to remain silent; that anything they say can & will be used against them in court; and that they have a right to a lawyer (“Miranda rights” today) EXPANDING DUE PROCESS

26. Supreme Court reaffirmed the principle of separation of church and state: • Engel V. Vitale 1962– states could not compose official prayers & require those prayers to be recited in public schools • Abington School District v. Schempp 1963– ruled against state-mandated Bible readings in public schools • Griswold V. Connecticut 1965– ruled that prohibiting the sale & use of birth control devices violated citizens’ constitutional right to privacy PRAYERS & PRIVACY

27. November 22, 1963: Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, TX by Lee Harvey Oswald • Two days later Lee Harvey Oswald is assassinated by Jack Ruby. Many speculated that this was done to protect others involved in the crim. JFK’S ASSASSINATION

29. Led by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. A reinvestigation in 1979 concluded that Oswald was part of a conspiracy & that two persons may have fired at the president. Other explanations ranged from it being a plot from anti-Castro Cubans, a Communist-sponsored attack, & a conspiracy by the CIA. In the end, Americans realized that our government is sturdy & capable of surviving on through any crisis. • Today, there are still many questions that are still unanswered & many theories of conspiracy still abound WARREN COMMISSION

30. Lyndon B. Johnson takes the oath of office onboard Air Force One with Jackie Kennedy at his side. Johnson will attempt to pass many of Kennedy’s legislative agenda that was left unfinished • Johnson was a Texan at heart who spoke directly, convincingly, & rough at times. He had served in U.S. Congress for 26 years prior to become president & earned a reputation of getting things done. This was accomplished by building a consensus through favors, twisting arms, bargaining, flattering, or even threatening L.B. JOHNSON

31. Johnson understood what poverty was as he had known hard times growing up in TX • Kennedy had plans for antipoverty programs & a civil rights bill. Johnson knew that these would be extremely popular & would continue supporting these initiatives. • State of the Union Address 1964: Johnson declares “a war on poverty in America” & by the summer of 1964 Congress will pass the Economic Opportunity Act. • Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) will run 10 new programs aimed at young, inner-city Americans in an effort to put an end to poverty. Some programs included the Job Corps, VISTA – Volunteers in Service to America, Upward Bound, & a Work Experience Programs • SEE CHART PG. 373 • SEE ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES ON PG. 375 WAR ON POVERTY

32. Johnson gained public approval but faced an election in 1964 • Republicans nominated Senator Barry Goldwater, AZ, known for his strong conservatism to run. • Johnson will win in a landslide, 61% of popular vote, & all but six states in the electoral vote ELECTION OF 1964

33. Johnson worked with Congress to create “The Great Society”. Goals were not to confine government but to form society. The ambitious vision encompassed more than 60 programs: • Medicare – health insurance for all senior citizens • Medicaid – health care for welfare recipients living below the poverty line • Elementary & Secondary Education Act 1965 – granted millions of dollars to public & private schools • Project Head Start – disadvantaged preschoolers to assist in education • Civil Rights Act of 1964 – barred discrimination of many kinds • Voting Rights Act of 1965 – protected voters from discriminatory practices THE GREAT SOCIETY

34. Department of Housing & Urban Development formed in 1965 would be a new cabinet agency • “Model Cities” – authorized federal subsidies to many cities to improve transportation, health care, housing, & policing • Immigration Act of 1965 – ended the system established in the 1920s that gave preference to northern European immigrants & opened the door wider to immigrants from all parts of Europe, Asia, & Africa • Water Quality Act of 1965 – required states to clean up rivers. This was the result of a book, The Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, where she discussed the effects of pesticides on the environment • Wholesome Meat Act 1967 would set safety standards for food. There would also be a truth-in-packaging law that set standards for labels on consumer goods. This was sponsored by Ralph Nader, a young lawyer at the time • SEE CHART ON PG. 374 THE GREAT SOCIETY

35. Impact of Great Society was limited. Many programs did not work as well & others grew to the point to where they were unmanageable & difficult to evaluate. Costs of maintaining both the programs & the Vietnam War would cause the end of many of the programs • Programs that survived: Medicare & Medicaid, Department of Transportation, Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), & Project Head Start LEGACY OF THE GREAT SOCIETY