The Cold War: Kennedy & Johnson

Election of 1960

• John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon

• First televised debate

• Kennedy won election primarily because he was more presentable on television

John F. Kennedy

• Flexible Response: preparing a variety of military responses to international crisis rather than focusing on nuclear weapons

Fidel Castro

• Revolutionary who established a communist government in Cuba

Bay of Pigs

• Kennedy and the U.S. government back an overthrow attempt on Castro

• Cuban exiles fail to overthrow Castro and increases tensions between U.S. and Cuba

Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

• October, 1962, the U.S., Cuba, and the Soviet Union were at the brink of nuclear war over the installment of nuclear missiles in Cuba

• The Soviet Union backed down and removed the missiles

Berlin Wall

• 1961, the East German government built a wall separating East Berlin and West Berlin

• “The Wall” was meant to keep East German citizens from fleeing to the West

• It became the symbol of Cold War tension

The New Frontier

• Kennedy’s legislative program for domestic help

• Provide medical care for elderly• Rebuild urban areas• Aid in education• Bolster national defense• Increase international aid• Expand the space program

International Aid

• Peace Corps: Provide volunteer assistance to developing nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

• Alliance for Progress: Foreign aid program designed to keep communism out of Latin American countries

Kennedy Assassination

• November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald

Warren Commission

• Investigation led by Chief Justice Earl Warren on the Kennedy assassination

• Concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone

Lyndon Baines Johnson

Great Society

• Johnson’s domestic program to reduce poverty, racial injustice, and promote a better quality of life in the U.S.

• Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Healthcare

• Medicaid: Provides health insurance for people on welfare

• Medicare: Provides hospital insurance and low cost medical insurance for Americans 65 and older