Unit 6 the 1960’s Kennedy, Johnson & Vietnam

Before: the 50s Baby Boom: Soaring birthrate from 1946-1964 Dr. Jonas Salk: Developed the Polio Vaccine The Beat Movement: Writers who made fun of the conformity and materialism and mainstream American society Urban Renewal: Plan to tear down Decaying neighborhoods and build low-cost housing TV: The main new medium for news and culture Teen/Youth Culture: Rock & Roll, Elvis, James Dean, Greasers, Sock Hops

Election of 1960 JFK (Democrat) vs. Richard Nixon (Republican) TV’s Role: Televised debates show Kennedy as calmer and more youthful making people “like” him better Outcome: JFK Wins

John F. Kennedy New Frontier- JFK’s domestic program Goal: To end poverty and jump start space program Peace Corps: A volunteer program of volunteer assistance to the developing nations of Latin America, Asia, and Africa Limited test ban treaty: banned nuclear testing in the atmosphere (a response to the Cuban Missile Crisis)

Dallas November 1963 JFK is assassinated in November 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald Oswald is later shot in police custody by Jack Ruby Vice President Johnson is sworn in as president Warren Commission: Investigated and concluded that Oswald acted alone

Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) The Great Society: Domestic Program of Lyndon Johnson “War on Poverty” Goal: To end poverty and end racial discrimination August 1964: Economic Opportunity Act Job Corps, Head Starts, Medicaid, Medicare, Food Stamps 1964 Election: Johnson Defeats Barry Goldwater 486 electoral votes to 52

Johnson & Civil Rights Civil Rights Act of 1964: Outlawed Discrimination in housing, jobs, and public accommodations 24th amendment: Abolished the poll tax Voting Rights Act of 1965: ended the practice of requiring voters to pass literacy tests and permitted the federal government to monitor voter registration Department of Housing and Urban Development: Developed low rent public housing Immigration act of 1965: ended national origins quotas established in 1924

The Vietnam War

World WAR II- IndoChina Japan conquers French Indochina Ho Chi Minh leads the Vietminh in fighting Japanese forces 1945: Japan is defeated, Vietnam wants independence but control is returned to the French Vietminh fight the French for independence

Independence & Separation 1954- Vietminh defeat French forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu Geneva Accords: Vietnam split at the 17th Parallel North Vietnam- Communist under Ho Chi Minh South Vietnam-Anti Communist under Ngo Dinh Diem North invades the South with help from southern supporters Vietcong- National Liberation Front, South Vietnamese communist guerrilla fighters

Domino Theory- One nation falls to communism the neighboring ones will as well Under Eisenhower America sends aid and military advisors to aid South Vietnam Kennedy increases support for South Vietnam Gulf of Tonkin A US ship is allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese forces Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 1964 US authorized to bomb North Vietnam, ground troops sent in

Jungle Warfare US forces go on search and destroy missions Vietcong use guerrilla tactics, taking their dead to avoid body counts Napalm and Agent Orange used to destroy jungle and deprive enemy of cover Ho Chi Mink Trail- Supply trail from North Vietnam using bicycles and horses in jungle routes in neighboring Laos & Cambodia

Anti War Movement The war is very unpopular due to… The Draft TV footage showing the carnage of the war Colleges are the center of Anti-War Movement S.A.D: Students for a Democratic Society Kent State 1970 National Guard fires into protestors, 4 killed

By 1968, U.S. forces had reached over a half million January 1968: Tet Offensive Massive offensive, defeated by the US but shows the war is unwinnable Nixon elected in 1968 Vietnamization: Burden of fighting shift to S. Vietnam July 1969: Gradual Withdraw of troops

Secret Expansion Nixon expands the war into Cambodia to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail 1971 Pentagon Papers reveal the US is not winning the war Operation Linebacker 1973 Unrestricted bombing of Hanoi to force a peace settlement

Pairs Peace Accords 1973 Major Provisions: Cease Fire, U.S. withdraw of troops, return all “prisoners of war”, reunification by peaceful means Cost of the War (1964-1975): $140 Billion 300,000 wounded 46,000-57,000 killed

Fall of Saigon- The END 1974 North Vietnam breaks cease fire and invades President Ford does not intervene Saigon and South Vietnam fall in April 1975 Many South Vietnamese evacuate to avoid communist reprisals