Life During the 1950s and 1960s
Baby Boom After World War II, soldiers returned home to marry and start families Between 1946-1964 so many babies were born, we now call this era the baby boom 79 million babies
Levittowns As families grew they needed affordable housing Levitt and Sons was a company that built affordable, similar-looking housing in suburbs outside of cities “Levittowns” became the nickname for affordable housing developments built during the 1950s
Role of Women Women had stepped up to take the place of men in factories during WWII Many were forced out of these jobs after the war ended and men returned home Women were expected to be caretakers in the home Many women who had worked during the war began to question their roles in society
Kennedy and the Cold War
Election of 1960 Voters were restless Republican- Richard M. Nixon Economy in a recession Afraid of falling behind the Soviet Union Republican- Richard M. Nixon Vice President under popular Eisenhower Older and experienced Democrat- John F. Kennedy Young, Roman-Catholic, handsome, wealthy, charismatic
First Televised Presidential Debate 70 million viewers Nixon assumed Kennedy would come off as inexperienced Kennedy had been coached by TV producers, wore makeup Played an important role in John F. Kennedy’s win “That night, image replaced the printed word as the natural language of politics” - Russell Baker, Journalist
Civil Rights MLK Jr. and 33 others arrested for sitting at an all-white lunch counter Eisenhower refused to intervene Nixon made no comment Kennedy phoned his wife, Coretta Scott King, to express sympathy and had his brother, Bobby Kennedy, convince the judge to let MLK Jr. go This helped him gain the support of the African-American community
Election of 1960
Cuba Becomes Communist Revolution in Cuba Eisenhower administration Fidel Castro Promised democracy Declared himself a communist Welcomed aid from Soviet Union Repressed those who did not agree 10% of Cubans went into exile to the U.S.
The Bay of Pigs March 1960- Eisenhower had C.I.A. train Cuban exiles to invade Cuba Kennedy took office and immediately had to decide whether to go through with the mission or not April 1961- around 1,500 Cuban exiles supported by the U.S. military landed on the southern coast of Cuba called “the Bay of Pigs” Goal: overthrow Castro’s government
The Bay of Pigs (a.k.a. The Bay of Embarrassment) U.S. airstrike was reported as successful even though it was a failure 1,500 exiles vs. 25,000 Cuban soldiers armed with Soviet weapons Cuban exiles killed or captured JFK paid $53 million ransom Very publicly embarrassing for the U.S. “We look like fools to our friends, rascals to our enemies, and incompetents to the rest”
The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962- flow of weapons from Soviet Union to Cuba increased dramatically Threat of spread of nuclear weapons to Cuba JFK warns that the U.S. would not tolerate nuclear weapons in Cuba In October 1962 American planes revealed that Soviet missiles were in Cuba
The Cuban Missile Crisis Six days of possible nuclear war Soviet ships headed for Cuba U.S. Navy prepared to quarantine Cuba and keep the ships from coming within 500 miles of Cuba
The Cuban Missile Crisis Resolved Soviet ships stopped short then eventually turned around Soviet Union offered to remove the missiles in Cuba U.S. promised not to invade Cuba and removed missiles from Turkey Both leaders were criticized
President Kennedy was assassinated in Texas a year later by Lee Harvey Oswald
Vice President Lyndon B Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) is sworn in as President of the United States as Jackie Kennedy looks on
LBJ’s “Great Society” Johnson's Great Society programs involved the following: War on Poverty - improve living conditions and enable people to end the cycle of poverty Education - new and better-equipped classrooms, minority scholarships, and low-interest student loans Medicare- guaranteed health care to every American over age 65 Medicaid - provided health care assistance to the poor Environment- measures for clean air and drinking water