1. THE NEW FRONTIER Key Figures

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
SS.912.A.6.5 Explain the impact of World War II on domestic government policy
SS.912.A.6.13 Analyze significant foreign policy events during the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations
SS.912.A.6.14 Analyze causes, course, and consequences of the Vietnam War
SS.912.A.7.1 Identify causes for Post-World War II prosperity and its effects on American society
SS.912.A.7.4 Evaluate the success of 1960s era presidents' foreign and domestic policies.
SS.912.A.7.10 Analyze the significance of Vietnam and Watergate on the government and people of the United States
SS.912.A.7.13 Analyze the attempts to extend New Deal legislation through the Great Society and the successes and failures of these programs to promote social and economic stability.

3. Post WWII Prosperity Dwight D. Eisenhower:
34th President of the United States
Signed into law the Interstate Highway act
Held the first summit to try and ease nuclear tensions; promoted “Atoms for Peace,” which was a plan to use nuclear science for peaceful purposes
Established NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Agency), an independent, government agency in charge of the U.S. space program

4. The Space Race John F. Kennedy: 35th President of the United States
Committed the nation to the goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade
Created the Peace Corp by executive order
Successfully negotiated a nuclear test ban treaty
Von Braun and Kennedy

5. The Space Race Werner von Braun:
One of the most important German weapons specialists to work on rocketry and jet propulsion in the U.S. after WWII
Became technical director of the U.S. Army Ordnance Guided Missile Project
Chiefly responsible for rocketry for the nation's space program

6. The Space Race Alan Shepard: First American in Space John Glenn:
First American to orbit the Earth
Became a US Senator
Went to space a second time on the US Space Shuttle Discovery
Alan Shepard
John Glenn

7. The Space Race Neil Armstrong: First man on the moon
Quoted: “The Eagle has landed;” and “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”
Buzz Aldrin:
Second man on the moon
Neil Armstrong
Buzz Aldrin

8. The Space Race Sergei Korolev: Founder of the Soviet space program
Turned rocket weapons into an instrument of space exploration
Yuri Gagarin:
Soviet cosmonaut who was the first person to travel in space
Sergei Korolev
Yuri Gagarin

9. The Great Society Lyndon B. Johnson:
36th President of the United States
Passed bills that supported urban renewal, education, the arts, environmental beautification and conservation, and the development of depressed regions in the country
Also passed Medicare and Medicaid acts and the Voting Rights Act

10. The Great Society Barry Goldwater:
1964 Republican contender against LBJ for presidency
Platform included lessening federal involvement, therefore opposing Civil Rights Act of 1964
Lost by largest margin in history

11. The Cuban Missile Crisis
John F. Kennedy:
35th President of the United States
Authorized a covert mission to overthrow Fidel Castro known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion
Blockaded the island of Cuba to prevent the installation of Soviet missiles
Sent military advisors to Vietnam under auspices of MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam)
Assassinated in 1963

12. The Cuban Missile Crisis
Fidel Castro:
Orchestrated the Cuban Revolution
His military and economic relations with the Soviet Union led to strained relations with the United States that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis

13. The Cuban Missile Crisis
Nikita Khrushchev:
Premier of the Soviet Union
Built the Berlin Wall
Placed nuclear missiles in Cuba
Agreed to remove missiles if US promised not to attack Cuba

14. The Cuban Missile Crisis
Gary Powers:
An American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace causing the 1960 U-2 incident
Led to strained relations between the US and Soviet Union

15. The Cuban Missile Crisis
ExComm (Executive Committee of the National Security Council):
Group of twelve men that advised the president on what action to take regarding the installation of missiles in Cuba
Some Kennedy to invade Cuba; others advised to “quarantine” the island
Included Robert F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Dean Rusk, Lyndon B. Johnson and John McCone

16. The Vietnam War Lyndon B. Johnson: 36th President of the United States
Promised to honor John F. Kennedy’s limited U.S. commitments in Vietnam
Escalated the war after the Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Authorized Operation Rolling Thunder to bomb North Vietnam into submission

17. The Vietnam War Richard M. Nixon: 37th President of the United States
Orchestrated the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam
Engaged in a policy of Vietnamization
Secretly expanded the scope of the war by authorizing illegal military actions in Cambodia and Laos
Resigned after the Watergate scandal

18. The Vietnam War Ho Chi Minh:
Led Vietnamese Communist party in struggle for liberation from French and U.S. dominance
Fought to unify north and south Vietnam

19. The Vietnam War Ngo Dinh Diem: Leader of South Vietnam
Supported by United States, but not by Vietnamese Buddhist
Assassinated in 1963

20. The Vietnam War Students for a Democratic Society (SDS):
American student organization that flourished in the mid-to-late 1960s and was known for its activism against the Vietnam War
Tactics included the occupation of university and college administration buildings on campuses across the country