CW - 1960s (Lesson)
1960s
The Early 1960s: The Kennedy Presidency
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (D-MA) was elected to the presidency in November of 1960 and he and his wife Jacqueline ushered in what came to be known as “Camelot.” The handsome, charismatic president was the youngest man ever elected to the office til that time. He had already served in the U.S. Navy, served in the House of Representatives, and advanced to the Senate in 1953.
He married Jacqueline Bouvier in September 1953 and wrote his Pulitzer Prize-winning, Profiles in Courage, while recuperating from back surgery in 1955.
Narrowly winning the 1960 election, Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic president. In his inaugural address, he made the iconic statement, “Ask not what your country can do for you---ask what you can do for your country.”
Kennedy’s first order of business was to get the economy going again---and his programs set the economy on the path to recovery and expansion more than at any time since World War II.
He took strong actions related to civil and equal rights and measures to address poverty before his death.
Soon after his inauguration in January 1961, Kennedy allowed a group of already-armed and trained Cuban exiles to invade their home country to try to overthrow the Fidel Castro regime. The operation known as the Bay of Pigs failed miserably (April 1961).
In 1959 revolutionary Fidel Castro assumed power in Cuba and removed dictator Fulgencio Batista. The United States did not trust Castro and was even more suspicious of his relationship with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
Before his inauguration, Kennedy was informed of a plan by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from the previous administration (Eisenhower) to train Cuban exiles to invade their homeland to oust Castro and set up a non-Communist government that would be pro-United States. (The theory was that elements of the Cuban military and the Cuban people would support the invasion.)
After a series of bungled moves, Castro deployed 20,000 troops to put down the invasion. About 100 exiles were killed and over 1,200 surrendered and were imprisoned.
The prisoners were incarcerated in Cuba for 20 months and were finally released as a part of a deal with the United States.
The president’s brother and United States Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy, personally sought baby food and medicine from private corporations and Fidel Castro was willing to exchange the prisoners for $53M in medicine and baby food.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union restarted its assault on West Berlin and President Kennedy strengthened the military garrison near West Berlin and increased the American effort to reach outer space.
Moscow reduced the pressure in Berlin as a reaction to Kennedy’s show of strength.
Instead, the Soviets sought to install nuclear missiles in Cuba, 90 miles off the coast of the United States, and exponentially increased Americans’ fears of a nuclear attack---it was well-known that the Soviet missiles could easily strike the United States’ mainland from just 90 miles away---reaching well into the interior and up the Atlantic Seaboard.
When air reconnaissance missions discovered the missiles in Cuba in October 1962 President Kennedy ordered a blockade of all weapons being shipped to Cuba. The world held its collective breath for a matter of days on the brink of nuclear war. The Soviets backed down and agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba in exchange for a pledge from the United States to refrain from invading Cuba.
In a separate deal that was unknown by the general public for 25 years, the United States also agreed to move American missiles from Turkey which was in striking distance of the USSR.
The Soviets set about increasing their military arsenal. The Cuban Missile Crisis was over, but the arms race was still on!
Assassination!
John F. Kennedy served as president from January 1961 until he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas and his motive is not certain since he himself was killed by Jack Ruby following the assassination of the president. There have been many different theories about the motive(s) and the people involved in the assassination. There is debate to this day about the circumstances, actors, and motives.
The assassination was a tragic event with a two-fold political impact.
- The assassination showed Americans just how strong their government was because, although the president could be killed, the U.S. government would continue to function.
- 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.
The Aftermath of the Assassination
President Kennedy was riding in motorcade with First Lady Jackie Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally and in Dallas, Texas when Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated him at 12:30 p.m. Central Time on Friday, November 22, 1963.
Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird Johnson were riding in a car behind President Kennedy’s car along with Texas Senator Ralph Yarbrough. As soon as the shots were fired, Secret Service member Rufus Youngblood threw Johnson down and sat on him to protect him. It was feared that Johnson had been hit too.
After the cars were taken to Parkland Hospital, Johnson was surrounded by Secret Service agents; they wanted him to return to Washington because of a fear that he too could be a target for assassination. Johnson declined in order to wait to learn of Kennedy’s condition.
At 1:20 p.m. LBJ was told that the president was dead.
At that time, Johnson was taken in an unmarked car to Dallas Love Field and preparations were made for the party to return to Washington. Mrs. Kennedy wouldn’t leave without her husband’s body.
It was decided that Johnson would take the oath of office on board Air Force One before flying to Washington. Twenty-seven people crowded into the stateroom aboard Air Force One and the new president was inaugurated while Kennedy’s body was being loaded on the airplane and the pilots were starting the engines for a hasty takeoff to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
President Johnson’s First Weeks in Office
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 the amount of domestic spending.
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