The New Frontier and the Great Society

Chapter 171961-1968

1960 ElectionThe arrival of this age was indicated in 1960 by the comparative youth of the presidential candidates chosen by the two major parties. The Democratic nominee, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, was 43; the Republican, Vice President Richard M. Nixon, was 47. They both were ardent cold warriors and political moderates. Kennedy’s relative inexperience and his religion (he was the first Roman Catholic presidential nominee since Al Smith) placed him at an initial disadvantage. But the favorable impression he created during a series of televised debates with Nixon and the support he received from blacks after he helped the imprisoned black leader Martin Luther King, Jr., enabled him to defeat Nixon in the most closely contested election of the century of only 119,000 votes.

During the campaign Kennedy had stated America was “on the edge of a New Frontier”; in his inaugural speech he spoke of “a new generation of Americans”; and posed the challenge, “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” During his presidency he seemed to be taking government in a new direction, away from the easygoing Eisenhower style. His administration was headed by strong, dedicated personalities. The Kennedy staff was also predominantly young. Its energy and commitment revitalized the nation, but its competence was soon called into question.

The Space Race

1957 Sputnik – first satellite

The Russian Federal Space Agency (Russian: Федеральное космическое агентство России Federal'noye kosmicheskoye agentstvo Rossii), commonly called Roscosmos (Роскосмос Roskosmos) and abbreviated as FKA (ФКА) and RKA (РКА), is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research.

First man in space- Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin

Score:

USA – 0

Soviets - 2

National Aeronautics and Space

AdministrationNASA was created largely in response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik in 1957. It was organized around the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which had been created by Congress in 1915. NASA’s organization was well underway by the early years of President John F. Kennedy’s administration, when Kennedy proposed that the United States put a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960’s. To that end the Apollo program was designed, and in 1969 the U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, became the first man on the Moon. Later unmanned programs—such as Viking, Mariner, Voyager, and Galileo—explored other bodies of the solar system.

NASA was also responsible for the development and launching of a number of satellites with Earth applications, such as Landsat, a series of satellites designed to collect information on natural resources and other Earth features; communications satellites; and weather satellites. It also planned and developed other programs that could not be conducted with conventional spacecraft.

Apollo program

USA spent the 60’s trying to catch up to the Soviets.

“Going Where No One Has Gone Before”

Launched 16 Jul 1969, Apollo 11 made the first manned lunar landing on 20 July. As LTC Michael Collins orbited the Moon in the mother ship Columbia, Neil Armstrong and COL Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., touched down on the basaltic regolith of Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) in the Lunar Module Eagle at 4:17:42pm EDT, with the historic report: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Armstrong was the first out: he stepped on the surface at 10:56pm that day. Dropping the last meter from the ladder, he said: “That’s one small step for {a} man, one giant leap for mankind” (NASA later reported that the word “a” had been lost in transmission).

On the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin erected the American flag and set up scientific instruments, including a laser beam reflector, a seismometer that later transmitted evidence of a moonquake, and a sheet of aluminum foil to trap solar wind particles. The astronauts took soil and rock photographs and collected 53.61 lbs. of rock and dirt samples. Armstrong, the first out and the last back into the Lunar Module, spent 2 hours and 13 minutes outside. After Armstrong and Aldrin returned to Columbia in the ascent stage of the Eagle, Collins fired the Apollo main engine and at 12:56am EDT on 22 July lifted the vessel out of lunar orbit for the return to Earth. The ascent stage of the Eagle was left in lunar orbit. The crew landed in the Pacific Ocean on 24 July 1969.

Armstrong lands on moon!

What is the purpose of a space program?

Soviet vs. U.S. Space Program Venn

DiagramSoviet Space Program U.S. Space Program

Soviet vs. U.S. Space Program Quiz

1. What prompted the USA to launch the space program—NASA?

2. Who was the first man in space?

3. What was President Kennedy’s goal?

4. What NASA program was designed to go to the moon?

5. What two astronauts were the first two men on the moon and what was the date?

Fidel Castro-revolutionary/communist leader who took over diplomatic power in Cuba.

Bay of Pigs Invasion–April 17th, 1961 1500 Cuban exiles whose objective to overthrow the Cuban government, failed miserably as they faced 25,000 Cuban troops that were backed up by Soviet tanks.

Bay of Pigs The CIA trained and funded

an invasion of communist Cuba. The invasion failed because President Kennedy failed to commit needed U.S. support, and Castro had some powerful friends! Due to this lack of commitment on Kennedy’s part, the Soviets saw Kennedy as weak and proceeded with the implementation of Russian missiles on Cuba—90 miles from the tip of Florida.

Soviet response.

Don’t worry comrade Castro. We got your back!

Cuban Missile Crisis-October 14th-October 28th, 1962 where the U.S. and Soviet Union/Cuba came very close to a nuclear war.

A U2 spy plane found these missile silos in Cuba, 1962. These planes are controlled by the CIA and fly at 80,000 feet to escape Russian missile shootdowns. This altitude is the edge of our atmosphere. Normal intercontinental airliners fly between 30-34,000 feet.

Cuban Missile CrisisThe Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in October 1962, after U.S. intelligence reconnaissance flights verified reports that the USSR was constructing launching sites for medium-range and intermediate-range nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba. The USSR apparently hoped to achieve a more favorable balance of power, to protect the Cuban Communist government of Fidel Castro (which the United States had attempted to overthrow in the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961), to gain greater diplomatic leverage vis-à-vis the United States, to damage U.S. credibility, and to achieve greater influence in Latin America. The failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion was seen as a weakness of the Kennedy administration which gave the USSR boldness to act thinking that the U.S. would relent again.

President John F. Kennedy rejected military advice for a full-scale surprise attack on Cuba and instead delivered a public ultimatum to the USSR on 22 Oct. He declared a “quarantine,” or naval blockade, of Cuba and demanded withdrawal of all offensive missiles. After nearly two weeks of unprecedented tension, the Soviet government of Nikita Khrushchev yielded. Kennedy, in return, agreed to refrain from attempting an overthrow of Castro’s government. Despite this concession, all sides regarded the outcome as a substantial victory for the United States, and Kennedy won a reputation as a formidable international statesman. The USSR began a long-term effort to strengthen its military capability, but in the immediate future both nations sought to relax hostilities.

World War III Averted

In April 1961, Kennedy authorized a plan that had been initiated under Eisenhower for a covert invasion of Cuba to overthrow the newly installed, Soviet-supported Communist regime of Fidel Castro. The invasion was repulsed at the Bay of Pigs, embarrassing the administration and worsening relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. These deteriorated further at a private meeting between Kennedy and Khrushchev in June 1961 when the Soviet leader was perceived as attempting to bully his young American counterpart. Relations hit bottom in October 1962 when the Soviets secretly began to install long-range offensive missiles in Cuba, which threatened to tip the balance of nuclear power. Kennedy forced the removal of the missiles, gaining back the status he had lost at the Bay of Pigs and in his meeting with Khrushchev. Kennedy then began to work toward improving international relations, and in July 1963 he concluded a treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union banning atomic tests in the atmosphere and underwater. His program of aid to Latin America, the Alliance for Progress, raised inter-American relations to their highest level since the days of Franklin Roosevelt.

People built more bomb shelters.

End to a crisis! The Soviets

removed the missiles in Cuba.

In exchange, USA pledged to not invade Cuba again. And to remove missiles in Turkey (right).

Afterward A direct phone

line was set up between their offices to bypass other channels—commonly called the “Hotline or Red Phone”.

Cuban Missile Crisis/Bay of Pigs

Timeline SequenceBay of Pigs Intelligence Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis/Bay of Pigs Quiz

1. What event was the prelude to showing President Kennedy’s weakness to the Cuban Missile Crisis?

2. What type of reconnaissance plane by the CIA found the Russian missiles in Cuba?

3. What military strategy did President Kennedy use against the Russians?

4. What was the results of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

5. What was installed in both leaders offices to stave off any further crises?

The New Frontier Closes

Kennedy’s domestic policies were designed to stimulate international trade, reduce unemployment, provide medical care for the aged, reduce federal income taxes, and protect the civil rights of blacks. The latter issue, which had aroused national concern in 1962 when federal troops were employed to assure the admission of a Negro at the University of Mississippi, caused further concern in 1963, when similar action was taken at the University of Alabama and mass demonstrations were held in support of desegregation. Although the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, the administration’s proposals usually encountered strong opposition from Southern Democrats called “Dixiecrats”. With Congress’ support, Kennedy was able to increase military spending substantially. This led to greater readiness but also to a significant rise in the number of long-range U.S. missiles, which prompted a similar Soviet response.

On 22 Nov 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX, most probably by lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, though conspiracy theories abounded. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office immediately.

Kennedy Assassination

Cutting through Conspiracies

November 22, 1963 JFK was in

Dallas trying to get support for next year’s election.

Dallas had an unfriendly reputation towards politicians.

Lee Harvey Oswald Shown here in Oak

Cliff, Texas.

He defected to the Soviet Union in 1959, got bored, got married, and had a child. He did live in the USSR with his wife and child until Jun 1962 when he applied for repatriation.

School Book Depository

Lee Harvey Oswald got a job in this building. He would eventually shoot JFK from the sixth floor.

6th floor

Sixth Floor of the School Book Depository

Sniper’s perch

This is Lee Harvey Oswald’s view from the 6th floor of the School Book Depository

Zapruder’s 8mm film was the most famous evidence

He was filming from here.

3rd shot

1st shot

Sniper perch

This plaque sits next to where he was fatally shot.

Kennedy was rushed to Parkland

Oswald fled the scene He checked into

his boarding house on 1026 Beckley.

Officer J. Tippit stops on the street to talk to Oswald.

Oswald shoots him 4 times to death

Lee Harvey Oswald walked 8 blocks to Texas Theater on

Jefferson Blvd.

Oswald being led from the Texas Theatre after his arrest inside

Arrested

The Cops beat him up after Oswald resisted arrest at the theater.

Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) was sworn in at Love

Field

Lee Harvey Oswald was being escorted to another

jail.

Oswald transferred to another jail.

Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner, shoots Oswald on live TV.

Lee Harvey Oswald will never go on record why he did what he did. He is now dead.

Lee Harvey Oswald killed by night club owner and mob affiliate Jack Ruby.

“You killed the President, you rat!”

Case Closed?The Warren Commission

Oswald fired 3 shots (missed the first one)

The assassination was filmed (Zapruder)

The government investigated the murder for years and concluded that Oswald acted alone.

Virtually no witness at that time gave indication that more than 3 shots were fired at Kennedy.

However. . . .

80% of people today believe JFK was killedby someone else!!!!

Composite Conspiracy Story

JFK was killed by a conspiracy of high government officials with LBJ working with the CIA, the mafia, and anti-Castro Americans who all want revenge for Kennedy’s lack of support in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. At the same time (in contradiction), Castro killed JFK with Russia’s help. Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald so he wouldn’t talk. Ruby died with a deep, dark secret!

To make matters worse. . .

Oliver Stone made a movie called JFK in 1992.

The movie is full of errors, lies and bad science.

Stone’s JFK helped advance these falsehoods about the

assassination: Oswald could not have shot JFK from the sixth

floor in less than 6 seconds.

Kennedy was shot from the front by gunmen on the grassy knoll.

Jack Ruby killed Oswald on orders from the mafia to keep Oswald quiet about everything.

Could Oswald have made those shots?

Yes! Oswald was a sharpshooter trained by the US Marines.

He scored a 212 out of 250 on a 200 yard shooting range.

JFK’s car was only 50 yards away from the sniper’s nest and moved 10mph

Jack Ruby

Conspiracists believe Jack Ruby was a mobster who killed Oswald to silence him.

Ruby died in jail a couple of years later, supposedly with some deep dark secret.

However. . . Jack Ruby knew

gangsters but was not one. (He knew lots of cops too!)

He was a night club owner.

Those that knew him said he couldn’t keep a secret for 2 minutes!

Ruby Ruby’s

assassination was not planned.

Ruby left his dog and his girlfriend in the car when he left to shoot Oswald.

No conspiracy here from Jack Ruby!

Was Kennedy shot from the front?

2nd assassin?

Zapruder

Back and to the left? Many assume

based on JFK’s bodily motion and blood spray that he was shot from the front.

No witnesses reported gunshots that day!

2nd assassin?

Zapruder

wall

All witnesses that day described shots from where

Oswald was

Witness described people but no shots behind fence

Oswald

Picket fence

View from behind fence (x marks the spot)

3rd shot

Picket fence shooter theory

There were plenty of witnesses in that area. None reported hearing shots. A few attention seekers claimed they did years later.

The witness behind the fence died in a single car crash 2 years later, festering conspirators' ideas.

Many witnesses have been accused of being a part of the conspiracy, including Zapruder (born in Russia).

Autopsy Kennedy was hit in the back of the neck, not

the front.

He was hit in the back of the head, not the front.

A shooter could not have hit JFK from the fence without hitting Jackie or her area.

Magic Bullet? Oliver Stone argued that a single bullet could

not have hit JFK and Governor Connally the way reported.

Magic Bullet?

Using the bullet wounds, Stone used this diagram to convince people that one bullet could not hit JFK and the governor the way reported.

Notice both

heads are

level with

each other.

JFK sat elevated above Connally

wrong

Single Bullet Theory Once their seats are properly aligned, the

single bullet theory appears to be valid!

Umbrella Man?

Some say there was a mysterious man fanning an umbrella right as Kennedy was shot. Oliver Stone said he was signaling to shoot JFK.

here

Umbrella Man Not much mystery

here. The man was questioned and identified.

He was trying to heckle JFK with his umbrella in a way that he himself did not quite understand.

here

Badge Man? Was there a

mysterious man wearing a badge near the fence?

Again, no shots were fired from this area.

JFK’s entry wounds were in the back of his neck and head.

Motives? Everybody

seemed to have a reason to kill JFK if one thinks about it hard enough.

Lyndon B. Johnson Supposedly, JFK

wanted to withdraw from Vietnam.

LBJ had him killed so he could continue the war (supposedly).

LBJ Kennedy gave no

clear evidence of exiting Vietnam.

LBJ showed no desire for escalating this “bitch of a war.” (LBJ’s words).

The Mob?

The mob supposedly wanted to murder Kennedy.

Sam Giancana connections

Supposedly upset about JFK’s lack of support for killing Fidel Castro.

Mob continued The mob was

upset about Robert Kennedy’s pursuit of organized crime.

RFK was the Attorney General (top cop)

The mafia did not kill JFK

The FBI had the Chicago mafia’s phone tapped and their offices tapped for years before 1963. No evidence was heard.

The mafia had no real interest in JFK. Maybe his brother Robert, but not the President.

Did Mob control Oswald and Ruby?

Oswald was a lone actor, just as he acted alone in an attempted murder of a General Walker.

Ruby knew mobsters, but he was not trusted by them.

Did Castro Kill JFK?

Motive: The CIA tried several times to kill Fidel Castro. Operation Mongoose considered poisoned cigars, poisoned diving suits, mafia rub out.

Did Castro kill JFK?

Castro did not have the means to do so.

Castro wanted the US to leave Cuba alone. An assassination would have led to an invasion. (Castro said this.)

Oswald was refused entry into Cuba.

Did the Russians kill JFK?

Motive: The USA was a serious rival in the Cold War. Killing JFK would provide instability in the military and government.

Russians killed JFK? Why would the

Russians risk nuclear war? Having LBJ as President would not have benefited the Soviets.

November 22, 1963

LBJ took the Presidency

JFK was shot in Dallas

Warren Commission-Commission put together to investigate the death of JFK and ruled that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in his assassination of JFK.

JFK Assassination Concept Map

What are the Warren Commission findings?

JFK Assassination

What are its conspiracies?Lee Harvey Oswald’s background and circumstance

JFK Assassination Quiz1. Why was President Kennedy in Dallas?

2. To what country did Lee Harvey Oswald defect?

3. Give one of the Warren Commission’s findings.

4. Give one of the conspiracy theory parties to the JFK assassination and their reason.

5. What does the autopsy say about the two shots that hit President Kennedy?

The Great SocietyThe Great Society was a political slogan used by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson (served 1963-69) to identify his legislative program of national reform. In his first State of the Union message (4 Jan 1965) after election in his own right, the president proclaimed his vision of a “Great Society” and declared a “war on poverty.” He called for an enormous program of social welfare legislation including federal support for education, medical care for the aged through an expanded Social Security Program, and federal legal protection for citizens deprived of the franchise by certain state registration laws. After a landslide victory for the Democratic Party (JFK assassination) in the elections of November 1964, a sympathetic Congress passed almost all the president’s bills.

With this clear mandate, Johnson submitted the most sweeping legislative program to Congress since the New Deal. He outlined his plan for achieving a “Great Society” in his 1965 state-of-the-Union address, and over the next two years he persuaded Congress to approve most of his proposals. The Appalachian Regional Development Act provided aid for that economically depressed area. The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 established a Cabinet-level department to coordinate federal housing programs. Johnson’s Medicare bill fulfilled President Truman’s dream of providing health care for the aged. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 provided federal funding for public and private education below the college level. The Higher Education Act of 1965 provided scholarships for more than 140,000 needy students and authorized a National Teachers Corps. The Immigration Act of 1965 abolished the discriminatory national-origins quota

The Great Society (cont’d)

system. The minimum wage was raised and its coverage extended in 1966. In 1967, Social Security pensions were raised and coverage extended. The Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Area Redevelopment Act of 1966 provided aid to cities rebuilding blighted areas. Other measures dealt with mass transit, truth in packaging and lending, beautification, conservation, water and air quality, safety, and support for the arts.

Results of the Great Society

In the fifties, although blacks were still struggling for equal opportunities and were on the low end of the economic ladder, the black family was for the most part strong and stable. Two parent families were the rule, not the exception. They attended church together, had strong moral values, and did not comprise a majority of the prison population. Compare that to the present state of the black community after 40 years of Liberal Socialism. Our prisons are disproportionably black, unwed mothers and single parent families are the rule, black youths without a strong male role model other than rap stars and basketball players, roam the streets and are drawn into a culture of drugs and crime.

Results of the Great Society

The following statistics are provided by Star Parker's Coalition of Urban Renewal, (CURE).

*60 percent of black children grow up in fatherless homes.*800,000 black men are in jail or prison.*70 percent of black babies are born to unwed mothers.*Over 300,000 black babies are aborted annually.*50 percent of new AIDS cases are in the black community.*Almost half of young black men in America's cities are neither working nor in school. What we have here is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

Results of the Great Society

What was the message of the social programs that came out of LBJ's Great Society? One of the most devastating to the family was that if an unwed woman became pregnant, moved out of the home of her parents, did not name or know who the father was, then Big Daddy in Washington would provide for all her essential needs. Ergo she no longer needed a husband or the support of her family. In fact, the more children she had out of wedlock, the more money she would receive from the government. This program was the death knell for many families, especially in the black community. Unfortunately many black men saw this as the best of all possible worlds. They could father as many children as they wanted, from multiple women, without ever having to accept the responsibility of fatherhood. Many women rejected marriage in favor of a boyfriend who could slip in the back door and not jeopardize her government check. In this dysfunctional culture why would education be important? Why seek an education only to have to compete for a good job in the market place when they could just hang around the neighborhood and have all of life's amenities? In fact studying and getting good grades, for many blacks, became a social stigma. They were called "Uncle Toms" and accused of trying to act "white". Many blacks who had the potential to succeed gave in to this pressure and opted for failure. After all they had the perfect excuse. Did not the NAACP and race hustlers like Jesse Jackson tell them that it was not their fault? That they were just innocent "victims" of white racism?

Great Society Concept Map

What are some goals?

Great Society

What are its results?

Definition

Great Society Quiz

1. Give one of the goals of President Johnson’s Great Society.

2. What was the fulfillment of President Truman’s dream of providing health care for the aged?

3. Was the Great Society legislation difficult to pass in congress?

4. Give a 1950s status quo statistic for the black American family.

5. Give one of the results of the Great Society for the black American family.