AMH 2020 0001 page 1 April 14 2015 Eisenhower is last president elected in 1800s Huge generation shift in 1900s Democrats elect John Kennedy His father was super wealthy and basically bought the election o Presidential elections were cheap until Kennedy ran o Shake hands get bumper stickers Gets TV and radio Ads o Other candidates can t keep up and can t compete with him Faces an unusual man Richard Nixon o We now believe he had some serious mental problems o Huge chip on his shoulder o Is the glass half full or empty He thought glass was completely empty and that someone was trying to steal the glass from him o Saw everything in a negative light o Bitter the rest of his life because he went to Duke law school instead of Harvard o Everything in his life becomes a conspiracy Sees people as out to get him Had a notebook full of his enemies names Actor Paul Numen on his enemy list o Gets the Republican nomination Richard Nixon and John Kennedy evenly matched Economy isn t doing great in 1960 and Nixon has to deal with that AMH 2020 0001 page 2 Most people think Eisenhower didn t like Nixon o Nixon was Eisenhower s V P Eisenhower was asked what contribution Nixon had made over 8 years o Said give me a week and I might be able to think of something Nixon thought he was a man s man o Dirty jokes butch and always swearing o Those things do him in First debate with Kennedy Nixon refuses makeup for TV o Kennedy has all kinds of make up on and looks great o Nixon looks horrible on the TV o Nixon not wearing makeup probably cost him the election Nixon claimed that his loss was due to votes in Illinois giving Kennedy advantage John Kennedy becomes President at 43 years old Represent a new dynamic o Young handsome and talks about taking America forward o Doesn t take us anywhere Calls himself a liberal but the fact is that he has to deal with southerners who don t let anything through o No Civil rights legislation or his progressive agenda passed through congress o Begins an escalation into Vietnam Vietnam is his legacy 1963 November he goes to Dallas Texas and is shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald Lyndon Johnson AMH 2020 0001 page 3 Takes over for John Kennedy after his assassination One of the great liars of all times Wanted to be loved o Wanted everyone to like him and look up to him o Wanted civilians to think he thought they were great He came out of the senate o Lied to people to get their support on different bills to get passed Now he tries to lie to everyone Becomes known as the Credibility Gap Johnson insults both of his daughters at the same time while trying to praise them o Not worried about future for daughter because one was pretty and the other was smart so they would get by on which ever talent they had so one was ugly and Fabulously wealthy but said that he was living on a budget so he got his daughter the the other was dumb cheapest car general motors made o Sucked up the publicity and got his daughter the green corvette that she wanted Wanted to be seen as an average American and that he cared about the general public Instead of saying that Johnson was a liar they say there was a Credibility Gap Franklin Roosevelt was his idol Announced the Great society o Ambitious program o 100s of pieces of legislation Included call to eliminate poverty AMH 2020 0001 page 4 Sesame Street was a Great Soceity program o So was Pre K shows on PBS Pell Grants food stamps Medicare Medicaid social security expansion federal guaranteed loans etc o Great society programs are everywhere o Wanted to be remembered for domestic advances in our society However he is remembered almost entirely for Vietnam and for lying and deceiving American people Vietnam French control Vietnam World s largest Rubber producer best rubber produced in Vietnam French make fortune off of Vietnamese rubber trees and people Ho Chi Minh o Wants to talk to Woodrow Wilson about conditions in Vietnam o Is blown off by Wilson because Minh was just a waiter WW2 dramatic for Vietnam o Japanese conquer Vietnam o In Europe Germany overruns France in 30 days o In Vietnam French run in the face of approaching Japanese army o With Vietnam cut off America loses primary rubber supply Can t happen because we need it for Jeep and other things Scientists go to work on synthetic rubber After war Vietnam is less economically important to French o Ho Chi Minh sends a letter to President Truman about how much he admires the AMH 2020 0001 page 5 Americans and is a fan of George Washington Wants to have gov in Vietnam that is friendly to US Truman doesn t respond Ho Chi Minh organizes army to drive out French Marginally Communist America Supports the French To outside world it looks like a joke 1954 French are defeated decisively by Vietnamese French have a choice to keep fighting or get out Charles De Gaul makes decision to get out o On the way out De Gaul says to Eisenhower we re leaving if you want to fight communists go ahead Eisenhower was told at West Point not to start land war in Asia o Doesn t want to get involved but doesn t want the communists to take over o Work with French to split Vietnam in half North Communist South democracy o Then let everything calm down and have an election Whoever wins gets to govern the whole country America assumes everyone will vote for democracy AMH 2020 0001 page 6 o As election draws closer America realizes that Vietnam will unite as communist o America calls off the Democratic election and North Vietnam returns to fighting to take over South Vietnam Eisenhower saw fall of China so he doesn t want to lose Vietnam to Communism Props up South Vietnamese government for a couple years until he can retire and he can push the problem on someone else South Vietnam is dictatorship with no will to fight o Plays almost no roll in fighting for itself o Most American money sent to S Vietnamese is stolen by their leaders Sends in 2 000 advisors to try to teach S Vietnmaese to fight for themselves When Kennedy takes office he begins increasing that number almost immediately o We drop 200 lbs of bombs per every man woman and child in Vietnam Doesn t work because houses are very cheaply made and easy to rebuild Dropping bombs in forest Role of TV in the War You are seeing the war in your living room Watching the war unfold uncensored o Seeing every violent act and acts of terror uncensored Buddhists are trying to obtain more rights and roles in government o Catholics try to deny them o Buddhist monk walks up to