Lincoln Jefferson Franklin Roosevelt all great inaugural speeches I JFK and the New Frontier A The New Frontier 1 At his inauguration John F Kennedy spoke in idealistic terms and avoided any mention of specific programs but promised to march against the common enemies of man tyranny poverty disease and war itself a He asked all Americans to participate exhorting them to ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country JFK b Despite his call for public involvement Kennedy believed that experts would solve most national problems with little need of public support The Best and the B Kennedy s staff and cabinet were dubbed the best and the Brightest brightest On paper the Kennedy s are absolutely brilliant Defense Robert McNamera but they led us into war inflation and chaos Attorney General Robert a Recruiting from business and universities Kennedy appointed men Kennedy Virginia Law and women who were called the best and the brightest they Lyndon Johnson San included Rhodes scholars and Harvard professors Marcos b JFK and his staff wanted to be activists leading the nation along State Dean Rusknew paths of liberalism but Congress was likely to be an obstacle Harvard so Kennedy decided to focus on legislation within the vital center C Civil Rights and the Kennedy s 1 Civil rights advocates were far from satisfied with Kennedy s actions in this area even though he did appoint several blacks to high office and district courts a Critics noted that several of JFK s judicial appointments went to recognized segregationists and he did not ban segregation in federal housing until 1962 2 Even as Kennedy assumed office a new wave of black activism was striking at segregation in the South in the form of sit ins and boycotts a The sit ins remained largely a student movement supported by the more established civil rights groups especially the Congress of Racial Equality CORE and King s Southern Christian Leadership Conference SCLC b The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee SNCC was formed in April 1961 to coordinate the dramatically increasing number of sit ins and boycotts c Sharing the headlines with those sitting in were the freedom riders who chose to force integration on southern bus lines and stations d As some predicted violence forced the federal government to respond and state and local protection was obtained for the riders through Alabama 1 e II Finally in September 1961 the Interstate Commerce Commission declared that it would uphold the Supreme Court s decision prohibiting segregation and as a result most state and local authorities grudgingly accepted desegregation 3 In 1962 James Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi with the protection of federal forces and became its first African American graduate a University of Alabama stands against the supreme court decision arguing that U of A is a state run institution and does not need to follow supreme court rules Later integrated in 1963 4 Martin Luther King Jr and the SCLC focused their attention on overturning segregation in Birmingham Alabama a Letter from a Birmingham Jail called for immediate and continuous peaceful civil disobedience since freedom was never given voluntarily by the oppressor b Events in Birmingham helped Kennedy conclude that the time had come to fulfill his campaign promise to make civil rights a priority and he spoke to the nation in June 1963 about making civil rights an immediate moral issue c King s August 28 March on Washington exceeded all expectations in its attempt to pressure Congress to act on civil rights legislation and King enthralled his audience and the nation with his I Have a Dream speech d In the South however violence and bigotry continued Flexible Response A Confronting the Soviets 1 Flexible response included economic and military strategies 2 Despite the Bay of Pigs disaster Kennedy vowed to continue the relentless struggle against Castro and Communism including the use of covert and special operations 3 The building of the Berlin Wall challenged Western ideals of freedom but not its presence in West Berlin 4 The Cuban Missile Crisis was a far more serious threat to U S security 5 The Limited Test Ban Treaty forbade signatory nations to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere in space and under the seas B Vietnam 1 South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem was losing control of his nation and the Viet Cong the South Vietnamese Communist rebels controlled a large portion of both land and people and had brought Diem s troops to a standstill a While military advisers argued that the use of American troops was necessary to turn the tide Kennedy was more cautious b Protesting Diem s rule on June 10 1963 a Buddhist monk set himself on fire and other self immolations followed c Diem and his inner circle had become liabilities to the U S and the Kennedy administration secretly informed several Vietnamese 2 III generals that it would approve a change in government the army killed Diem C Death in Dallas 1 In late 1963 with his civil rights bill and tax cut in limbo in Congress a growing military commitment in Vietnam and a sluggish economy Kennedy began to prepare for the 1964 presidential race a Watching his popularity drop to under 60 percent JFK decided to visit Texas in November to try to heal divisions within the Texas Democratic party b There he was assassinated on November 22 1963 c Kennedy s assassination traumatized the nation and many people in their anguish soon canonized the fallen president 2 Lyndon B Johnson was sworn in as president as he flew back to Washington on the plane carrying Kennedy s body Beyond the New Frontier A Conservative Response 1 According to some conservatives Johnson s programs were destroying the traditional American values of localism self help and individualism B The 1964 Election 1 Johnson s Great Society Johnson was offering more of a new deal like FDR offered a tempting political target to the Republicans and Barry Goldwater the Republican presidential nominee in 1964 C Shaping the Great Society 1 Having trounced Goldwater in the 1964 presidential campaign Johnson pushed forward legislation to enact his Great Society a The Great Society yielded over sixty programs most seeking to provide better economic and social opportunities by removing social and economic barriers thrown up by health education region and race 2 Reflecting Johnson s own desires and responding to African American and liberal desires early in the