3. President Kennedy 1961 -1963 Nuclear war AND Poverty concerns
Bay of Pigs invasion Cuba April 1961 – huge failure
Berlin Wall goes up summer 1961 – Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev challenges him
US launches Apollo space program 1961 – to the moon (1969 first landing)

5. Cuban Missile Crisis October 1962

6. Origins of the War on Poverty
Some Statistics:
% Americans live below the poverty level
1962 almost 50% African Americans live in Northern cities
1962 Harrington’s The Other American
President Johnson declares an “unconditional war on poverty in America.” 1964

7. War on poverty called “Great Society”
Key laws (1964 – 65):
Head Start, VISTA (domestic Peace Corps)
Medicare (senior health care) and
Medicaid (health insurance for the poor