Camelot

THE FIRST TELEVISED DEBATE BETWEEN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WAS AIRED. JFK CAME OFF AS A CALM POISED LEADER. RICHARD NIXON WAS VERY NERVOUS AND THE POLITICS OF AMERICA ENTERED A NEW REALM.

KENNEDY SET THE TONE OF HIS ADMINISTRATION WITH HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS:  “…and so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do fro you; ask what you can do for your country…”

THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION WAS TO BE KNOWN AS “CAMELOT”. 

THE NEW FRONTIER

                ECONOMY

1.      THE ECONOMY: HE CHALLENGED THE STEEL INDUSTRY WITH PRICE FIXING AND THIS CAUSED THE STOCK MARKET TO FALL RAPIDLY THE WORST SINCE 1929

2.      CALLED FOR A TAX CUT FOR $13.5 BILLION OVER 3 YEAR TIME BUT CONGRESS NEVER PASSED IT

POVERTY AND INEQUALITY

1.       20% OF AMERICANS WERE LIVING BELOW THE POVERTY LINE.

2.       WANTED FEDERAL AID FOR EDUCATION AND MEDICAL CARE FOR THE AGED, BOTH FAILED. PASSED THE HOUSING ACT THAT PROVIDED $4.9 BILLION FOR URBAN RENEWAL.

3.       PASSED THE 24^TH AMENDMENT OUTLAWING POLL TAX.

SPACE PROGRAM

1.       BEHIND THE RUSSIANS IN OUR QUEST FOR SPACE, KENNEDY CHALLENGED THE NATION TO “…should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon…”

2.       ONE YEAR LATER JOHN GLENN ORBITED THE EARTH THREE TIMES THUS SETTING NASA ON THE PATH TO REACHING THE PREVIOUS STATED GOAL

STARTING ON REELECTION CAMPAIGN, THROUGH THE SOUTH, “CAMELOT” CAME TO AN END

WORKING ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL KENNEDY MAKES A TRIP TO THE SOUTH GOING INTO DALLAS.

ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963 RIDING WITH JOHN CONNOLLY AND HIS WIFE JFK WAS SHOT AND KILLED. MANY TODAY STILL DON’T KNOW WHO WAS THE SHOOTER, HOWEVER LEE HARVEY OSWALD WAS CHARGED WITH THE CRIME. JACK RUBY LATER SHOT OSWALD. THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING THE SHOOTINGS LED THE GOVERNMENT TO CREATE THE WARREN COMMISSION. LBJ WAS THEN GIVEN THE OATH OF OFFICE AND BECAME THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SECTION 2

THE GREAT SOCIETY

“…ALL I HAVE I WOULD HAVE GIVEN GLADLY NOT OT BE STANDING HERE TODAY…”

JOHNSON WAS KENNEDY’S RUNNING MATE AFTER HE LOST THE BID FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. AS VP, JOHNSON WAS UP SET WITH THE LACK OF POWER HE HAD.

JOHNSON HAD GOALS FOR THE UNITED STATES AND HE BEGAN CALLING THEM HIS GREAT SOCIETY.

? WAR ON POVERTY.  THE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 1964, GAVE $950 MILLION TO FUND 10 SEPARATE PROGRAMS. VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE TO AMERICA (VISTA) HELPED IN POOR NEIGHBORHOODS BY PROVIDING DIRECTION FOR HOUSING, EDUCATION, AND HEALTH IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS.

? AID TO EDUCATION. GAVE AID TO STATES BASED ON THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN FROM LOW INCOME FAMILIES IT WAS CALLED THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT HE SIGNED THE ACT INTO LAW IN THE SMALL ONE ROOM SCHOOL HE ATTENDED AS A YOUNG BOY

? MEDICARE AND MEDICAID.

? MEDICARE PROVIDED HOSPITAL AND LOW COST MEDICAL INSURANCE FOR MOST AMERICANS AGE 65 AND OLDER.

? PROVIDED LOW COST HEALTH INSURANCE FOR POOR AMERICANS OF ANY AGE WHO COULD NOT AFFORD THEIR OWN PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE.

IMMIGRATION REFORM

     REMOVED THE QUOTAS FOR IMMIGRANTS AND EXEMPTED FAMILY MEMBERS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS.

ANOTHER CHANGE TOWARD THE GREAT SOCIETY WAS THE CONTINUED WORK OF THE WARREN COURT.

? OUTLAWED SEGREGATION IN (BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATION) HAD A NEW OUTLOOK ON PORNOGRAPHY OR OBSCENITY

? EVIDENCE SEIZED ILLEGALLY COULD NOT BE USED IN COURT

? MIRANDA RULE ACCUSED PERSONS MUST BE TOLD THAT THEY CAN REMAIN SILENT DURING QUESTIONING

? SETTING THE BOUNDARIES OF THE AREAS REPRESENTED BY THE POPULATION OF EACH STATE.

FOREIGN POLICY

     SUPPORTING AMERICA’S FIGHT AGAINST THOSE AGAINST DEMOCRACY, KENNEDY MADE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT

 “…LET EVERY NATION KNOW, WHETHER IT WISHES US WELL OR ILL, THAT WE SHALL PAY ANY PRICE, BEAR ANY BURDEN, MEET ANY HARDSHIP, SUPPORT ANY FRIEND, OPPOSE ANY FOE TO ASSURE THE SURVIVAL AND THE SUCCESS OF LIBERTY…”

LATIN AMERICA AND CUBA

     IN CUBA CASTRO HAD OVERTHROWN BASTISTA AND WAS RUNNING A COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT. THE BAY OF PIGS WAS THE U.S. BACKED ATTEMPT TO AID CUBAN REBELS IN OUSTING CASTRO IN 1961. IT WAS A DISASTER.  

EUROPE

     IN GERMANY, VERBAL CONFLICTS WERE GROWING. THE SOVIET UNION LEADER TOOK HIS SHOE OFF AND BANGED THE TABLE. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SOVIET UNION AND THE UNITED STATES LED TO THE BUILDING OF THE BERLIN WALL SHUTTING OFF BERLIN FROM THE REST OF EUROPE AND ONLY WITH THE INFLUENCES OF THE SOVIET UNION.

CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS  The Fourteen Days of the Cuban Missile Crisis

THE RUSSIANS WERE BUILDING MISSILE LAUNCH SITES IN CUBA, AND KENNEDY FORCED THE SOVIET UNION TO REMOVE THE MISSILES AND THE LAUNCH SITES. U.S. HAD CAPABILITIES TO ATTACK THE SOVIET UNION LONG RANGE AND THE SOVIET ONLY HAD SHORT RANGE MISSILES THAT IS WHY CUBA WAS THE SITE FOR THE RUSSIAN MISSILES.

AFTER THIS MANY AMERICANS STARTED CONSTRUCTING HOME BOMB SHELTERS WHILE THE GOVERNMENT STARTED FUNDING THE BUILDING OF PUBLIC SHELTERS ACROSS THE NATION.

TO HELP FIGHT THE SPREAD OF COMMUNISM IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE, THE ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESS HELPED THE SPREAD OF DEMOCRACY BY HELPING THE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WITH HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, LAND OWNERSHIP, MEDICAL AND EDUCATION QUESTIONS.

THE PEACE CORP A PROGRAM WHICH SENT VOLUNTEERS ABROAD AS EDUCATORS, HEALTH WORKERS, AND TECHNICIANS TO HELP DEVELOPING NATIONS AROUND THE WORLD.

TWO AREAS WHICH THREATEN TO SPREAD COMMUNISM WERE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND VIETNAM. IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC THE U.S. SENT IN TROOPS TO KEEP THE GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED BY THE UNITED STATES. INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM INCREASED DURING JOHNSON’S TERM AS PRESIDENT