JFK’s Presidency Topic 8.4/9.1

1960 Election Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon September 26, First of four TV debates May have been the deciding factor Most of the TV viewers thought Kennedy won on the other hand most radio listeners gave the victory to Nixon

1960 Election cont. Kennedy Wins the 1960 Election by one of the narrowest margins in American history. As a result, Kennedy has a weak mandate. Mandate-public endorsement of his proposals

Domestic Policies JFK wants: Tax cuts –1963-proposed a large tax cut over three years –Believed that extra money in peoples wallets would stimulate the economy Medical care for the elderly Federal education funding -Become stuck in congress “New Frontier” Improve the economy Assist the poor Speed up the space program

JFK wants: Housing Funding –Housing Act of 1961 –Provided 4.9 billion for urban renewal Equal Pay Act (1963) –All employees doing the same work in the same workplace must be given equal pay ALL PASS!

Space Program  In response to Sputnik, we will attempt to put the first man in space.  The Russians beat us at this too.  And dog…  1961-Soviet Union  Yuri Gagarin circled Earth on board a Soviet spacecraft

Space Program  May JFK felt the United States “should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon.”  Funding for NASA increased  Finally on July 20, 1969  Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon  Kennedy did not live to see the fulfillment of his goal

Foreign policy Kennedy’s first foreign crisis arose in Cuba –Island about 90 miles off the Florida coast (Key West) 1959 Fidel Castro came to power Castro government seized –large privately owned plantations –Property owned by foreign corporations including U.S. businesses United States broke diplomatic relations with Cuba Refused to accept Castro as the country’s legitimate leader Castro developed ties to the Soviet Union

Bay of Pigs After becoming President JFK learns of CIA plan to overthrow Castro w/Cuban refugees –Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was training a group of Cubans to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro JFK Goes ahead with plan

Bay of Pigs cont. Invasion took place on April 17, 1961 Invasion is a DISASTER!! Airstrike failed to destroy Cuba’s air force 1,500 U.S. backed invaders no match for Cuban troops Kennedy’s advisors push him to use American planes to provide air cover JFK refused He chose to accept defeat Makes JFK and U.S. look BAD!

Berlin Crisis Nikita Khrushchev was now in power –Stalin died in 1953 Wants division of Berlin to be permanent. –Wanted to cut off the large flow of East Germans escaping into West Germany JFK/Khrushchev talks fail JFK wanted to show that US would not be intimidated JFK bulks up the military BIG TIME –Doubled the number of men –Called up reserve forces for active duty

Berlin Crisis cont. August 1961 USSR responds by building the Wall almost overnight. –Berlin Wall –Stopping the flow of East Germans to the West Crisis ends with the wall

While addressing a crowd near the Berlin Wall To show his commitment to the city he concluded his speech with “Ich bin ein Berliner!” “I am a Berliner!”

Cuban Missile Crisis Soviet Union pledged to support Castro’s government October 16, 1962 photos taken from a U.S. spy plane sees the Soviets building missile bases on Cuban soil

Kennedy’s Options JFK can 1 negotiate –Peaceful but would give them more time to finish building the missile bases 2 invade –Invasion had failed before and risked all out nuclear war 3 blockade –prevent soviet ships from making further deliveries 4 bomb the sites –Could quickly knock out missiles –Would they counterstrike? JFK chooses to “quarantine” Cuba

Story goes public, people are scared.

Cuban Missile Crisis cont. October 24 th naval quarantine went into effect –Didn’t call it a blockade because a blockade is an act of war October 25 th one Soviet ship is allowed through (stopped and searched by the navy) A dozen more Soviet cargo ships on the way Soviets call back their ships

Cuban Missile Crisis cont. Khrushchev sends 2 notes to JFK, JFK responds to both, one publicly, one privately October 26 First letter Khrushchev pledged to remove the missiles Wanted Kennedy to promise –End the quarantine –The US would stay out of Cuba Kennedy publicly accepted the terms of the first letter Second letter demanded that the United States remove missiles from Turkey –Through secret negotiations –Eventually met the demand

Results of the Cuban Missile Crisis Kennedy and Khrushchev established a Hotline –Allow the Soviet and American leaders to communicate quickly Soviet Union, United States, and Great Britain signed the Limited test ban Treaty –Banned nuclear testing above ground Kennedy and the Democrats look much tougher on Communism

Peace Corps Established by JFK in 1961 to put educators, health workers and technicians in third world countries.

Kennedy Assassination Kennedy was in Dallas to bolster support among Texas Democrats. Newspapers published the parade route in advance, and many people lined the route

Kennedy Assassination Just after noon on November 22, 1963 Kennedy was shot He was pronounced dead at 1:00pm Lee Harvey Oswald –Former marine and supporter of Fidel Castro –Apprehended within an hour of the president’s death Two days after Kennedy’s death Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby

Kennedy Assassination  Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in at 2:35 P.M. on November 22, 1963  with his wife Lady Bird (Claudia Alta) and Jackie Kennedy

Kennedy Assassination On November 29 President Johnson appointed The President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy Also known as the Warren Commission –Chairman Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren Months of investigation Decided that Oswald had acted alone in shooting the President

The conspiracy theories about his death exist to this day. It could have been…

The CIA and Anti- Castro Cuban Exiles did it…(For the Bay of Pigs fiasco…) The Organized Crime and the CIA conspiracy Cuban Conspiracy LBJ conspiracy Hoover conspiracy Roscoe White