KENNEDY PRESIDENCY JANUARY NOVEMBER APRIL 2016

ESSENTIAL QUESTION How did the “Age of Camelot” bring about a changing role for U.S. Presidents?

ELECTION OF 1960 Eisenhower Presidency: peace and prosperity Concerns: Sputnik I: USSR-US rivalry intense U2 Incident: Cold War could become hot Montgomery bus boycott and Little Rock: Brown didn’t end racial discrimination

ELECTION OF 1960 DEMOCRAT JOHN F. KENNEDY REPUBLICAN RICHARD M. NIXON Similarities: Born in 1900s Served in Navy in WWII Senators Foreign affairs Support Cold War fight against communism Differences: Kennedy: East Coast-raised, wealthy Father was ambassador to UK Harvard educated Catholic Nixon: California-raised, poor School and work to support family Experience as VP to Ike

ELECTION OF 1960 Televised debates: Power and influence of television Chicago Debate (1 st of 4) Nixon looks pale and exhausted No make-up Kennedy looks healthy and confident Tanned Relaxed manner, easy charm, quick sense of humor

ELECTION OF 1960 Power of television: Debates more about how candidates looked than what they said: Radio listeners: Nixon wins TV audiences: Kennedy clear victor

TELEVISED DEBATES

ELECTION OF 1960 Kennedy responds quickly to unexpected events Martin Luther King, Jr. imprisoned in Atlanta JFK calls Coretta Scott King Worked to help release MLK on bail

ELECTION OF 1960 Kennedy and Religion: Roman Catholic Never been elected before Electability of a Catholic? Bible Belt South National interests over Pope’s wishes?

ELECTION OF 1960 Tightest Presidential election since 1888 Largest voter turnout in U.S. history

KENNEDY AND THE COLD WAR U.S. needs to move forward with vigor and determination U.S. losing ground on Communism: Cuba communist regime: Fidel Castro “Missile gap” Missile force inferior to USSR 1 st goal: build up nation’s armed forces

INAUGURAL ADDRESS “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Excerpts from his speech: kennedy/videos/inaugural-address-john-f-kennedy

“FLEXIBLE RESPONSE” Ike: “Massive retaliation” Prepare for nuclear war U.S. needs to prepare for nuclear war AND conventional war Increase military funding “Flexible response” U.S. prepared to fight any type of conflict

KENNEDY AND THE “THIRD WORLD” Developing nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America Didn’t align with US or USSR Programs to economically and politically strengthen the “Third World” Democracy with prosperity = no spread of communism

KENNEDY AND THE “THIRD WORLD”

Peace Corps American volunteers assist developing countries Technical, educational, health services

KENNEDY AND THE “THIRD WORLD” Alliance for Progress Resurrect Good Neighbor policy toward Latin America 1950s: resentment of U.S.– too much influence Promotes economic assistance **not successful**

COMMUNISM IN CUBA 1959: Fidel Castro overthrows regime of Fulgencio Batista U.S. wanted good relations with Castro Communist policies Fleeing population from Cuba to US (90 miles) Relations break down in 1961

COMMUNISM IN CUBA Ike plans invasion of Cuba to overthrow Castro Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trains exiles in Guatemala Ike leaves office, unexecuted plan

COMMUNISM IN CUBA Kennedy implements plan April 17, 1961: Bay of Pigs invasion Badly mismanaged: complete failure 300 or 1400 invaders killed or captured Strengthened Castro in Cuba (propaganda coup) Cuban Americans turn against Kennedy

THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS October 1962 Containing communism becomes threatened USSR and US relations crumble World pushed to the brink of nuclear war

THE BERLIN CRISIS 1958: Nikita Khrushchev wants West Berlin as part of East Germany East Berliners flow into West Berlin On to West Germany HUGE disparities Calls for US to recognize division of Germany; end military presence in West Berlin

THE BERLIN CRISIS Kennedy increases military spending Khrushchev builds a wall… Berlin Wall Visible symbol of two Germanys Kennedy sends 1,500 US troops to West Berlin

KENNEDY’S DOMESTIC POLICY The “New Frontier” Improve economy, education, healthcare, civil rights; jump-start space program Goals: Economy: reduce poverty; Equal Pay Act; increase prosperity (deficit spending) Civil Rights: Changing approach

KENNEDY AND THE SPACE PROGRAM 1958: Creation of NASA 1961: Russians put first human in orbit Yuri Gagarin “Space Race” May 1961: US sends Alan Shepard into sub-orbit John Glenn- first American to orbit Earth President Kennedy commits the U.S. to landing a man on the moon by 1970.

KENNEDY AND THE SPACE PROGRAM Who wins the Space Race? Russia initially was winning– beat the US to space US using monkeys Better rockets Sergei Korolev > US’ German scientists US wins by landing on the moon Computers

KENNEDY AND THE SPACE PROGRAM

NOVEMBER 22, 1963 President: politician  national leader Dallas, Texas Public motorcade through town

NOVEMBER 22, 1963 Shot from the 6 th floor of the Texas School Book Depository Lee Harvey Oswald Warren Commission: official investigation of assassination “lone killer”

AMERICA IN SHOCK Lyndon B. Johnson new President Sworn into Presidency in Air Force One