President Kennedy
Chapter 39: Catherine Cain
Election of Kennedy
Election of 1960
Republicans- Richard Nixon
VP: Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr
Democrats- John F. Kennedy- WON
VP: Lyndon B. Johnson
JFK= catholic = conflicts w/ Protestant, Bible Belt south & republicans --> gained support from industrial center workers, Catholics & African Americans
JFK= tv role --> displayed his personal appeal (very young)
Nixon- experienced VP - thought he was a good bet for republicans
Kennedy won by
303 electoral votes to 219
Popular vote: only had 118,574 votes over Nixon's
New Frontier- Kennedy’s challenging acceptance speech called upon American people for sacrifices to achieve potential greatness
“I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute." - JFK
Peace Corps-- army of idealistic & youthful volunteers to bring American skills to LDCs
chose to stimulate the economy by cutting taxes & putting more money -----> directly into private hands
proposed a multibillion-$$ plan to land an American on moon
increased minimum wage from $1.00 to $1.25
Presidential Trade Expansion Act – cut tariffs for free trade w/ European Common Market
The Cold War
Flexible Response
JFK- felt caught in between strategy of “massive retaliation” → either caused nuclear incineration or humiliation
JFK- pushed for strategy of ‘flexible response’ - endorsed by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara
developing an array of military options could be matched to the necessities of crisis @ hand
→ increased $$ spending on conventional military forces & bolstered Special Forces (Green Berets-- elite antiguerilla trained to survive on little & kill w/ scientific means)
Kennedy & Vietnam
“military advisers”
aka US troops
corrupt right- wing Diem Gov in Saigon-- ruled shakily since partition of Vietnam 1954
Anti- Diem agitators threatened to topple pro gov from power
1961- JFK ordered sharp ^ of military advisers in South Vietnam
why?
foster political stability (no communists)
but- made very DEEP political commitments & by time of death sent over 15 thousand troops
Cuba
Bay of Pigs –
April 17, 1961-- 1,200 exiles @ Cuba's Bay of Pigs
JFK- against direct intervention of the overthrow of Fidel Castro in Cuba
didn’t provide air support for exiles → invasion therefore failed as exiles forced to surrender
blunder---> Castro further into USSR embrace
Cuban Missile Crisis –
October 1962- discovered USSR secretly installing nuclear missiles in Cuba (via US spy planes)
JFK-- rejected air force proposals 4 bombing strike against missile sites
October 22, 1962-- naval "quarantine" of Cuba & demanded immediate removal of weapons
week-- US waited while USSR ships approached patrol line by U.S. Navy @ Cuba
October 28-- Khrushchev agreed compromise pull missiles out of Cuba & US agreed to end quarantine & not invade island(also quietly remove US missiles from turkey)
late 1963-- Nuclear Test ban treaty w/ USSR
pact prohibiting trial nuclear explosions in atmosphere (thawing of Cold war??)
June 1963-- JFK P speech @ American University, Washington, D.C.
encouraging US to abandon negative views of USSR- tried to lay foundations for a realistic policy of peaceful coexistence w/ USSR
Berlin crisis
Khrushchev @ Vienna- June 1961- threatened US that they would make treaty w/ East Germany & cut off Western Access to Berlin
Construction of Berlin Wall
1961-- USSR began to construct it
designed to plug population drain from East Germany to West Germany
“Wall of Shame”- lasted 3 decades- ugly to free world
Kennedy & Civil Rights
African American voters helped provide JFK w/ his narrow victory→ they expected federal civil rights legislation
1960-- groups of Freedom Riders in South went out to end segregation
May 1961- white mob torched a Freedom Ride near Anniston, Alabama
white south officials unwilling to stop violence → federal troops sent to protect freedom riders
= officially linking JFK to Civil Rights Movement
Voter Education Project-- SNCC & other civil rights group inaugurated- to register South’s historically disenfranchised blacks
Spring 1963-- MLK jr launched campaign against discrimination in Birmingham, Alabama
they were attacked by police w/ dogs & high pressure hoses
June 11, 1963--JFK → speech to nation: dedicated himself to finding solution to the racial problems.. → proposing the introduction a new civil rights bill (1964)
August 1963,-A. Philip Randolph led peaceful "March on Washington" - build support for the Civil Rights Bill of 1964
Kennedy's Assassination
November 22, 1963- JFK shot & killed in Dallas, Texas (riding in open limousine)
gunman- Lee Harvey Oswald
Oswald was shot & killed by self appointed avenger- Jack Ruby
VP- Lyndon B. Johnson sworn into office- keeping most of Kennedy’s cabinet