1. The Age of Camelot 1960 Election: John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon
First televised debate in US History
JFK wins
Appoints brother- Robert Kennedy to Attorney General of the US
“New Frontier”
Aid to education
Programs to end poverty
Tax cuts
Raise minimum wage
Fund medical for elderly
Make cities more livable
Many programs were not approved by Congress and failed

2. The Age of Camelot Economic trouble in the US
Boost spending on Defense
US increases stockpile of missiles and high tech weapons (nuclear submarines)
Major Tax Cuts – Led to growth and investments.
Recession ends in 1961

3. The Age of Camelot Kennedy largely failed on Civil Rights Legislation
After becoming president, he didn’t push Civil Rights in Congress
Worried about splitting the Democratic Party
Proposed no new Civil Rights laws in
After Freedom Riders outrage, he proposed new legislation but southern congressmen blocked it

4. The Age of Camelot Space Exploration NASA created in 1958
Soviets send first man into space- 1961
Kennedy wants to send a man to the moon
John Glenn- first US astronaut to orbit the Earth
1969- First man lands on the moon

5. The Age of Camelot Foreign Affairs
1959- Fidel Castro becomes dictator of Cuba
Establishes close ties to the Soviet Union
USSR sends aid, weapons, financial aid
Many Cubans fled the communist takeover
Bay of Pigs
CIA plans an uprising against Castro
Ends in total disaster- many people killed
Berlin Wall built to stop refugees fleeing East Berlin- 1961
US and allies are outraged

6. The Age of Camelot Cuban Missile Crisis
1962- US spy planes spot Soviet Union building missiles in Cuba
A nuclear weapon could easily strike the US
Kennedy announces plan to blockade Cuba
US demands all weapons be removed
Soviet ships continue toward Cuba
Eventually, Soviet ships turn around
Soviets agree to remove missiles from Cuba and US agreed to remove missiles from Turkey

7. The Age of Camelot November 22, 1963
Lee Harvey Oswald assassinates JFK in Dallas, TX
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president on Air Force One before it leaves Dallas with JFK’s body
Oswald is murdered leaving court by Jack Ruby
Conspiracy still surrounds JFK’s death