HIST 2112 1ST Edition Lecture 25 Outline of Last Lecture I Palestine II Iran III 1979 Iraq IV War on Terror V Presidency Institution Responses to Predecessors Outline of Current Lecture VI Correction on K1C2 VII 1961 1963 John F Kennedy VIII 1963 1969 Lyndon B Johnson IX 1969 1974 Richard M Nixon X 1974 1977 Gerald R Ford XI 1977 1981 Jimmy Carter XII 1981 1989 Ronald Reagan Current Lecture Continuation of Presidents Correction on K1C2 Republican formula for victory Stood for Korean Communism Corruption 1961 1963 John F Kennedy Great Debates between Kennedy and Nixon JFK was in Congress and Senate and a war her Nixon was known for his stance against communism First televised debate These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Advantageous for the attractive Kennedy People who listened to the radio thought Nixon had won however those who watched the debate felt Kennedy had won Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country 1961 Bay of Pigs An invasion of Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro that failed Bad start for Kennedy 1961 Berlin Crisis Berlin Wall is built between East and West Berlin divided by Soviet Union Kennedy doubles draft call and appeared to be standing up against Russia Ich bin ein Berliner which meant I am one with the people of Berlin which Kennedy stated in his speech in Berlin in 1963 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Cubans were building missile bases for Soviet missiles US creates a blockade of Cuba Constant heart of discourse for people within missile range Russian vessels stopped and turned around when heading towards the blockade Kennedy signed a non invasion plan with Soviet Union This U S Soviet confrontation was the cold war s closest brush with nuclear war Slow on civil rights and enforcing court orders for integration Little progress on Education or Medical care 1963 1969 Lyndon B Johnson Assumes presidency upon assassination of JFK Declared a War on Poverty Great society program to end social injustice Anti poverty programs Served without a Vice President Implemented Medicare and Headstart an education program for disadvantaged kids Signed Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 Vietnam Debacle Taken under by our involvement in Vietnam Chooses not to run again 1969 1974 Richard M Nixon Wanted to make the president the most powerful CREEP committee to re elect the president Had anonymous donors Elaborate schemes to undermine democratic party Nixon changed U S foreign policy He declared that the America was no longer the world s policemen and he would seek some partnerships with Communist countries With his historic visit to China he ended twenty years of diplomatically isolating China and he began taking steps towards cultural exchanges and trade In 1972 Nixon travelled to Moscow and signed agreements with the Soviet Union on arms control and trade Nixon was reelected but the Watergate scandal erupted shortly after his victory When his knowledge of the break in and subsequent cover up was revealed Nixon resigned the presidency under threat of impeachment During the Nixon administration the economy experienced inflation and a recession at the same time which is syndrome that defies the orthodox laws of economics Economists named this phenomenon stagflation 1974 1977 Gerald R Ford Ford takes office after Nixon resigns issued Nixon a pardon for any crimes related to the Watergate scandal The American public s reaction was largely negative and Ford never regained the public s confidence He resisted congressional pressure to both reduce taxes and increase federal spending which sent the American economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression Ford retained Kissinger as his secretary of state and continued Nixon s foreign policy goals which included the signing of another arms control agreement with the Soviet Union He was heavily criticized following the collapse of South Vietnam 1977 1981 Jimmy Carter An outsider to Washington capitalized on the post Watergate cynicism and won the 1976 presidential election He created departments of Energy and Education and signed into law several environmental initiatives However his efforts to support the Panama Canal Treaties and his unwillingness to make deals with legislators caused other bills to be either gutted or stalled in Congress Despite his efforts to improve the economy the recession continued and inflation increased Camp David Accords 1978 Peace agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat brokered by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 His administration was plagued with a series of crises Fighting in the Middle East produced a fuel shortage in the United States The Soviets invaded Afghanistan and Carter responded with the suspension of an arms control treaty with the Soviets the halting of grain shipments to the Soviet Union and a call for a boycott of the Olympic Games in Moscow In Iran revolutionaries toppled the shah s government and seized the American embassy taking hostage those inside Carter struggled to get the hostages released and was unable to do so until after he lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to further peace and democratic elections around the world 1981 1989 Ronald Reagan Former actor and governor of California was elected president In office he reduced social spending cut taxes and increased defense spending He was criticized for cutting important programs such as housing and school lunches and increasing the federal deficit By 1983 prosperity had returned to America and Reagan s economic reforms appeared to be working but in October of 1987 the stock market crashed some blamed the federal debt which had tripled in size since Reagan had taken office In the early 1980s HIV AIDS cases were beginning to be reported in America but the Reagan administration chose to do little about the growing epidemic Reagan believed that most of the world s problems came from the Soviet Union which he called the evil empire In response he conducted a major arms build up Then in 1987 he signed an arms control treaty with the Soviet Union He authorized covert CIA operations in Central America In 1986 the Iran Contra scandal came to light which revealed arms sales were being conducted with Iran in a partial exchange for the release of hostages in