Chapter 38: The Stormy Sixties (1960-1968)

Kennedy's "New Frontier" Spirit

• Youngest President: JFK was the youngest to take office.
• Young Cabinet: Included Robert Kennedy as Attorney General.
• New Frontier Plans: Aimed to tackle unemployment, inflation, and maintain high wages.
• Peace Corps: Proposed to send youthful volunteers to underdeveloped countries.

New Frontier at Home

• Opposition: Southern Democrats and Republicans disliked it.
• Economic Stimulation: Curbed inflation, negotiated with steel industry to prevent price increases, cut taxes.
• Apollo Program: Proposed to land an American on the moon.

Rumblings in Europe

• Berlin Wall: Constructed in 1961 by the Soviets to stop migration from East to West Germany.
• European Economic Community (EEC): Promoted prosperity in Western Europe.
• Trade Expansion Act (1962): Allowed tariff cuts to boost trade with Common Market countries.
• France's Veto: De Gaulle blocked Britain's Common Market entry.

Foreign Flare-ups and "Flexible Response"

• Laos Independence: Avoided U.S. troop involvement, peace in 1962.
• Flexible Response: Strategy to deploy military options worldwide.

Stepping into the Vietnam Quagmire

• Military Advisors: Increased in South Vietnam in 1961.
• Coup in Vietnam: U.S. supported coup against Diem in 1963.

Cuban Confrontations

• Alliance for Progress: Aimed to reduce disparity in Latin America.
• Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961): Failed U.S.-backed Cuban exile attempt.
• Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): Soviets installed missiles in Cuba, leading to a U.S. naval quarantine; resolved on October 28.

The Struggle for Civil Rights

• Freedom Riders (1960): Protested segregation in bus facilities.
• Voter Education Project: Registered disenfranchised blacks.
• Birmingham Campaign (1963): Led by MLK, faced police brutality.
• March on Washington (August 1963): MLK led demonstrators for civil rights legislation.

The Killing of Kennedy

• Assassination (November 22, 1963): JFK killed by Lee Harvey Oswald; LBJ became president.
• LBJ's Presidency: Passed Civil Rights Act of 1964, addressing discrimination.

The LBJ Brand on the Presidency

• Civil Rights Act (1964): Banned racial discrimination in public spaces.
• Great Society: Aimed to reduce poverty and racial discrimination.

Johnson Battles Goldwater in 1964

• Tonkin Gulf Resolution: Allowed unrestricted military force in Southeast Asia.
• Election Victory: Johnson won overwhelmingly in 1964.

The Great Society Congress

• Legislation: Passed bills supporting education, healthcare, immigration reform.
• Medicare and Medicaid (1965): Provided healthcare to elderly and poor.

Battling for Black Rights

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: Strengthened federal power for desegregation.
• Voting Rights Act of 1965: Prohibited disenfranchisement tactics.

Black Power

• Watts Riot: Marked the rise of militant confrontation.
• Malcolm X: Advocated black separatism; killed in 1965.
• Black Panthers: Emerged emphasizing black pride.

Combating Communism

• Dominican Republic (1965): Troops sent to restore order.
• Vietnam Conflict: Regular bombing raids; escalation led to high troop deployment and costs.

Vietnam Vexations

• Six-Day War (1967): Israel attacked Egypt.
• Antiwar Movement: Protests grew as the Vietnam War became unpopular.

Vietnam Topples Johnson

• Tet Offensive (1968): Prompted public demand to end the Vietnam War.
• Election Decision: Johnson announced he would not seek re-election.

The Presidential Sweepstakes of 1968

• Robert Kennedy Assassination: Killed in June 1968.
• Election Outcome: Nixon won presidency.

The Obituary of Lyndon Johnson

• Civil Rights Achievements: Significant contributions overshadowed by Vietnam War.

The Cultural Upheaval of the 1960s

• Countercultural Movements: Free Speech Movement, sexual revolution, and protests.
• SDS and Weathermen: Emergence of underground terrorist group.
• Three P's: Population bulge, protest, and prosperity led to societal changes.