1. The Civil Rights Movement

2. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK): A Brief Presidency

3. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK): A Brief Presidency
In the election of 1960, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected the youngest President in history (43). He defeated Richard Nixon, Eisenhower's Vice President and former member of HUAC.
Kennedy brought hope, idealism and optimism that the young President could set a new direction for America. This optimistic note was expressed in his first Inaugural Address:
“ Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.”

4. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK): A Brief Presidency
Upon taking office Kennedy was shocked to learn that 20% of Americans lived in poverty.
He called on Congress to take action but they were not receptive to his ideas.
Over the course of his presidency Kennedy became convinced of the need for extensive civil rights legislation. He did not live to see his goal achieved.
In Dallas, on November 22, 1963, JFK was assassinated while riding in an open limousine. His death shocked the nation.
Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) was sworn into office as the thirty sixth President of the United States.

5. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK): JFK Takes a Step Forward on Civil Rights
During Kennedy’s term the civil rights movement expanded to the segregated cities of the south with protest marches for equality.
National television carried vivid pictures of police setting snarling dogs on unarmed demonstrators and washing small children across streets with the powerful impact of fire hoses.
President Kennedy sent 3000 troops to restore peace. On June 11th, 1963, in Jackson Mississippi, after Medgar Evers the field secretary for the NAACP was murdered. The murder and the events in Alabama forced President Kennedy to make a decision.
Appearing on national television, Kennedy spoke of the “moral issue” facing the nation:
“The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated. If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot… enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place?”

6. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK): JFK Takes a Step Forward on Civil Rights

7. Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ): The Great Society
Johnson was born and grew up in a poor family in rural Texas.
As a young man he taught at a school for Mexican Americans. He was empathetic with their plight and and felt something need to help the poor in his country.
Johnson had served as Senate Majority Leader for many years and knew the workings of Congress.
This allowed him to use his ability to pass sweeping legislation to help the poor which he called his Great Society Programs.

8. Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ): The Great Society
Johnson’s Great Society Programs included:
Johnson worked to push through major civil rights legislation that Kennedy had begun.
He then began work on his own Great Society programs which had the goal of waging a “war on poverty” in America.
Johnson passed Head Start, a program to provide preschool education for needy children.
He passed a Food Stamp program which became a backbone of the welfare system to help poor families. Welfare also included direct cash payments to the poor with no work.

9. Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ): The Great Society
Johnson’s Great Society Programs included:
Like FDR, who Johnson admired greatly, he took on the problems of the nation’s elderly left unattended by the Social Security program.
Johnson’s most far reaching Great Society program was Medicare.
Medicare helped citizens over 65 years of age or older to pay their medical bills.
A companion law Medicaid, provided money to assist poor people of all ages pay medical expenses.