CW - The 1960s Lesson

The 1960s

Photograph of JFK in the motorcade minutes before the assassination.

Murder in Dallas

The assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963 was a tragic event with a twofold political impact.

  1. The assassination showed Americans just how strong their government was because, although the president could be killed, the U.S. government would live on.
  2. The assassination gave the new president, Lyndon Johnson, the political capital to force his domestic legislative package through Congress. This included the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which launched Johnson's "War on Poverty," and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed segregation in American schools and other public places.

26 LEE HARVEY OSWALD shot and killed John F. Kennedy in 1963, but his motive cannot be determined, nor for that matter can his responsibility for the murder be settled beyond question, since he himself was killed by one Jack Ruby before he could be brought to trial.

Great Society

During a 1964 speech, President Johnson summed up his vision for America in the phrase the Great Society. His programs to make the United States a great society would give all Americans a better standard of living and greater opportunities regardless of their background. The Medicare program is an important legacy of the Great Society as are policies and programs that sought to improve elementary and secondary education, protect the environment, and reform immigration policies. The Great Society dramatically increased the number of government programs and amount of domestic spending.

 

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