1960s Politics John F Kennedy Born in Massachusetts his father was an ambassador for Great Britain JFK graduated from Harvard and entered the Navy After WWII he was elected to Congress In 1952 he became the senator of MA Kennedy was the first president to be born in the 20th century and was often criticized for his young age He also saw a lot of criticism because he was Catholic In his presidential election he ran against Richard Nixon The election of 1960 was the first time that there were televised presidential debates and they were highly watched There were over 66 million viewers more than any other presidential election even today JFK was very disliked by Southern politicians which was why he chose a Vice President from Texas They viewed him as na ve spoiled and inexperienced and made it very difficult for him to pass legislation through Congress Domestic Policies The New Frontier Cold War o Project Apollo gets the US involved in the space race with the Russians o Pushes for better health care and insurance o Easier access to money for college students o Housing Act granted 5 billion for urban renewal o Raises minimum wage o Creates the Peace Corps o Strengthens economic ties to Cuba but also becomes concerned with communism there Cuba was under the rule of dictator Batista but we support him because he wasn t communist In January 1959 Fidel Castro supported by Khrushchev and Cuba becomes a communist nation Castro strengthens ties with the Soviets Before JFK took office Eisenhower had a plan to overthrow Castro When JFK enters office he is briefed and agrees to go through with the plan o Cuba in 1961 the US sends 1 500 CIA trained exiles into the Bay of Pigs They had no air support and within three days they were all either killed or captured Kennedy had no choice but to bring out our planes and ships which Castro had started attacking o Berlin Wall Khrushchev was still bothered that people could easily move throughout Berlin but he refused to negotiate with Kennedy He was afraid people would leave East Berlin and see that the capitalist way of life was better and move to West Berlin On August 13 1961 construction was started on a wall that closed all crossing points in the city If you tried to climb over the wall you were immediately killed The wall became of symbol of the Cold War and the division between communism and capitalism o Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 the CIA noticed an increase in Soviet ships heading to Cuba We were afraid this would start another war so JFK gathered his advisors known as Excon to discuss national security They told him he could either invade Cuba or attach the Russian ships through a series of air strikes Kennedy didn t like either of these options and decided that the Navy would stop and search all Russia ships headed to Cuba However we didn t have the authority to do this and the Russians wouldn t allow it In Russia Khrushchev is being pressured to use military presence against the US He offers to withdraw the missiles if the US agrees to never again invade Cuba and if we move all of our missiles from Turkey Excon tells Kennedy not to take the deal but he secretly agrees Two days later Khrushchev announced the withdrawal of all Russian ships from Cuba Both countries agree to a nuclear test ban which ultimately keeps us from a nuclear war with Russia After this JFK is viewed as stronger and more capable and able to handle the soviets in a diplomatic manner Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald Lyndon B Johnson After JFK was assassinated Johnson took the oath of office on Air Force One He is radically different from Kennedy coming from a poor deeply southern family Unlike JFK Johnson had a very long career in politics before taking office He was elected to the House of Representatives became senator of Texas and served as the majority leader of the senate He was a supporter of FDR and the New Deal and saw himself as the next FDR During JFK s presidency Johnson was mostly kept in the dark Domestic Policies The Great Society By 1960 our GNP had risen by 200 but 20 of Americans were still at or below the poverty line Johnson wanted to eradicate poverty in three ways o Civil Rights LBJ told southerners that if they didn t agree to the Civil Rights Act race relations in America would only get worse The Civil Rights Act bars segregation in public facilities and forbids employers to discriminate on the basis of race religion sex or national origin In 1965 he passed the Voting Rights Act which outlawed literacy tests poll taxes and authorized the federal supervision of elections where black voters had been restricted in the past o War on Poverty between 1964 and 1966 Johnson pushed through a lot of legislation aimed at helping the poor Headstart a school readiness program for low income children under the age of five Job Corps a training program for inner city youth Volunteers in Service to America VISTA a domestic branch of the Peace Corps Medicare 1965 provides health insurance to the elderly Medicaid 1966 provides health insurance for low income families o Education Johnson believed that educating the public was the key to ending poverty Upward Bound helps prepare low income high school students for college Higher Education Act 1967 gives federal financial aid to college students