Chapter 28 Reform and Rebellion in the Turbulent Sixties, The American People, 6 th ed.

I.John F. Kennedy: The Camelot Years

The Election of 1960  Kennedy ran against Vice President Nixon  Although clearly more qualified than Kennedy, Nixon was outshone by Kennedy during the famous television debates  Kennedy overcame large odds to become America’s first Catholic president  Kennedy represented youth, vigor, idealism and important change; his presidency had been termed Camelot due to America’s almost royal regard for him, especially after his assassination

Civil Rights  Kennedy’s successes in the area of advancing civil rights were modest in scope, yet he did make groundbreaking efforts considering the times  Events in the South compelled Kennedy to propose strong civil rights legislation before Congress only to be stalled in committee

II. Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society

LBJ  As sitting Vice President, Johnson assumed the presidency after Kennedy’s 1963 assassination in Dallas  An ambitious and effective politician, Johnson was successful in the areas of social reform  His sweeping plan of social welfare, “The Great Society”, was adopted primarily due to Johnson’s mastery of the legislative process

Civil Rights  “No memorial or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill.” --LBJ --LBJ

The Great Society Under Attack  Although working as planned for a few years, many of the Great Society’s goals were too ambitious or prepared in haste with massive sums of money seemingly disappearing with little results  The American involvement with the Vietnam War dealt the Great Society a crippling blow

III. War in Vietnam and Turmoil at Home

Escalation in Vietnam  Kennedy’s commitment to the theory of containment led him to escalate the war in Vietnam with thousands of additional troops  Kennedy’s reluctance to withdraw in the face of a losing war plagued LBJ as well and he continued the program of expansion to over half a million troops by 1968

Student Activism  As Americans began to protest their lengthy involvement in the Vietnam War, college students emerged as the strongest voice  Some 300,000 people marched in protest in New York City, 1967; 100,000 tried to close the Pentagon  In 1968, 221 major demonstrations were staged at more than 100 institutions of higher learning

Assassination  Aside from the death of John Kennedy in 1963, an assassin took the lives of Kennedy’s brother (and U.S. Attorney General) Robert Kennedy in 1968  The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King lost his life to an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968  These deaths fed the sense of disillusionment expressed by the counterculture of the late sixties and early seventies