1. Chapter 23

2. JFK Shot 11/23/1963, Kennedy & his wife traveled to TX with VP Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) for a series of political appearances As the presidential motorcade rode slowly through the crowded streets of Dallas, gunfire rang out Someone had shot the president twice, once in the throat & once in the head Horrified gov’t officials sped JFK to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead moments later

3. Let the Conspiracies Begin Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of killing JFK, appeared to be a confused & embittered Marxist who had spent time in the USSR He himself was shot to death while in police custody 2 days after the assassination The bizarre situation led some to speculate that the 2nd gunman, local nightclub owner Jack Ruby, killed Oswald to protect others involved in the crime.

4. Warren Commission 1964, a national commission headed by Chief Justice Warren concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin The report of Warren Commission left some questions unanswered, and theories about a conspiracy to kill the president have persisted, though none has gained wide acceptance

5. LBJ takes over Immediately after JFK was pronounced dead, officials whisked LBJ to the airport At 2:38 PM on 11/22, he stood in the cabin of Air Force One, LBJ took the oath of office LBJ knew that he had to assure a stunned public that he could hold the nation together A day after the assassination, LBJ appeared before Congress & urged the nation to move on, “The ideas which [Kennedy] so nobly represented must and will be translated into effective action,” he stated. “John Kennedy’s death commands what his life conveyed- that America must move forward.”

6. Election of 1964 LBJ’s Republican opponent in the 1964 presidential election was Sen. Barry Goldwater (AZ) known for his outspoken conservatism Few Americans were ready to embrace Goldwater’s message, which was too aggressive for a nation nervous about nuclear war On Election Day, LBJ won in a landslide, winning all but 5 S'rn states & AZ Major goals of civil rights movements were achieved with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which barred discrimination of many kinds, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ensured African American’s right to vote

7. Great Society Great Society was LBJ’s vision of the more perfect & equitable society the U.S. could & should become LBJ’s goals were consistent w/ the times for several reasons The civil rights movement had brought the grievance of Afr. Amer. to the forefront, reminding many that greater equality of opportunity had yet to be realized Economics also supported LBJ’s goal  The economy was strong, and many believed it would remain so indefinitely From 1965-1968, more than 60 programs were passed, among the most significant programs were Medicare & Medicaid Medicare had especially strong support since it was directed at the entire elderly population  1965, around ½ of those over the age of 65 had no health insurance

8. Legacy of the Great Society The Great Society programs touched nearly every aspect of American life & improved thousands if not millions of lives In the years since LBJ left office, however, debate had continued over whether or not the Great Society was truly a success The impact of the Great Society was limited  In his rush to get as much done as he could, LBJ did not calculate exactly how his programs might work  As a result, some of them didn’t work as well as people had hoped the programs grew so quickly they were often unmanageable and difficult to evaluate. A lack of funds also hurt the effectiveness of Great Society programs. LBJ attempted to fund both his grand domestic agenda & the increasingly costly war in Vietnam; the Great Society eventually suffered

9. PREPARE FOR QUIZ TAKE OUT A SHEET OF PAPER NUMBER 1-5

10. QUIZ 1. In what city was JFK assassinated? 2. Who was accused of assassinating JFK? 3. What claimed that the JFK assassination was done by a single shooter? 4. Who took over as president after JFK was assassinated? 5. From 1965-1968, how many programs were passed from the Great Society?