1960s Turbulent Times Ahead

1960 Presidential Election

The Candidates.
 Background
Richard Nixon John Kennedy
Born 1913 in Yorba
Linda, California
Whittier College and
Duke Law School
Lt. Commander in US
Navy during WW II.
Elected to House in 1946,
Senate 1950.
Vice-President under Ike
for 8 years
Born in Brookline,
Massachusetts in 1917
Harvard
Lt. in US Navy; Pt109
Commander
Elected to House in
1946, Senate 1952
Published Profiles in
Courage 1957 wins
Pulitzer Prize
Catholic
 Televised Debates
First televised debates in
history.
70 million viewers tuned
in, more on radio.
The first debate, the
telegenic Kennedy won
the image battle over
Nixon who, recovering
from the flu, appeared
pale and refused make-up.
 JFK and MLK
When Reverend
Martin Luther King
was arrested in
Atlanta, Kennedy
called to offer his
sympathy.
This garnered
Kennedy substantial
African-American
support in the 1960
election.
Election results.
Kennedys Inaugural Address
President John F.
Kennedy delivers his
inaugural address at
Capitol Hill in Jan. 20,
1961.
Kennedy said, "We shall
pay any price, bear any
burden, meet any
hardship, support any
friend, oppose any foe, to
assure the survival and
success of liberty."
 Kennedys New Frontier
This was an extension
of FDRs New Deal
and Trumans Fair
Deal.
Urban renewal
National Health Care
Increased Funding for
Education
Space Exploration
The Killing of a President
November 22, 1963
 The Arrival in Dallas

JFK, LBJ, and families

arrive in Dallas for a
political rally
The familieshttps://
separate for
an escorted drive in
downtown Dallas
Shots fired: JFK shot in
the head and the throat
Eyewitnesses argue about
the number and locations
of shots
The Plot Thickens
The Birth of a Conspiracy
Lee Harvey Oswald had
connections with Russia and
supported the revolution in
Cuba
Arrested 80 minutes after the
assassination
Evidence found at the Book
Repository, where he shot
Kennedy
Oswald shot by Jack Ruby, 2
days later
The Warren Commission
Chief Justice Earl Warren
starts federal
investigation
Goal:
Prevent speculation
about conspiracy
Submits report, but
remains inconclusive
Fuels conspiracy
LBJ immediately
becomes president
 Part V:
LBJ and the Great Society
Taking the presidency after JFKs
assassination, LBJ was immediately
confronted with an explosion of violence over
Civil Rights, the need to engage more troops
into Vietnam, and a need to improve
conditions throughout American society.
 Election of 1964

Lyndon B. Johnson Barry Goldwater

President of the United States Senator from AZ

1964 Johnson Wins

Carried 61% of the Popular Vote (44 states + DC)
and 486/538 Electoral Votes
 Johnsons Ability to Get Laws
Passed
Johnson was a much more skilled politician than
JFK.

He took many plans that JFK could not get

through Congress and got them made into law.

It was because of public support over the death of

Kennedy and LBJs skills.

Also, a feeling amongst many people that the

country had the means to fix social inequality.
 The Great Society
LBJs political experience helped
push many bills through
Congress
Firmly committed to social action
Declared a War on Poverty
Started Economic Opportunity Act
to coordinate economic recovery
Neighborhood Youth Corp:
Helped youth graduate and get jobs
Job Corps: Provide job training and
placement for inner-cities
VISTA (Volunteer Service to
America): Domestic Peace Corps
Creating a More Equitable
Society
Medicare (1965):
Comprehensive
health coverage for
the elderly
Medicaid (1965):
Comprehensive
medical insurance for
low-income families
Education and Environment
Project Head Start
(1965): Fund
preschool programs for
low-income families
The Water Quality Act
and The Clean Air Act
(1965): Increase
regulations on
industrial pollution
 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF
1964
Kennedy was assassinated before he
could see much of his work in the area of
civil rights enacted. Johnson however
promised to continued Kennedys work.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited
discrimination because of race,
religion, national origin, and gender in
public accommodations.
 FREEDOM RIDERS
In 1961, CORE members began a historic bus
trip across the South to test the Supreme
Court decisions banning segregation on bus
routes and in bus terminals.
At the Alabama state line, white racists got on
Bus One carrying chains, brass knuckles and
pistols. They brutally beat African American
riders and white activists who tried to intervene.
 FREEDOM RIDERS
In Anniston, Alabama,
about 200 angry whites
attacked Bus Two. When
one of the tires blew, they
smashed in a window and
tossed in a fire bomb.
Freedom riders spilled
out just before the bomb
exploded.
The bus companies
refused to carry them any
farther.
Is this Civil War?
University of Mississippi 1962-Oxford,
Miss.
James Meredith: September 1962, Air
Force
vet, James Meredith won a federal
court case to enroll in the all-white
University of Mississippi
When Meredith came on campus he was
met by MI governor, Ross Barnett,
who refused to let him register
Courts order University of Alabama to admit 2 black students

Segregation now,
Gov Wallace wanted to block it
and make dramatic political segregation tomorrow,
press...presidential aspirations segregation forever

The last thing JFK wants is

another Oxford case.
In 100 degree heat U.S. Marshal
Katzenbach asked Wallace to
step aside. Wallace delivered a 7
minute diatribe against
Kennedys military dictatorship
August 1963
March on Washington
Emancipation in 1863

August 28, 1963 250,000 people,

including 75,000 whites converge on the
nations capital -listened to speeches
about the passage of the Civil Rights Bill

MLKs I have a Dream speech is given

here. Appeal for racial harmony
 SELMA
King decided to plan a 50-mile protest march
from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to gain
support for the Voting Rights Act.
On March 7,1965 about 600 protestors set
out for Montgomery.
Americans watched on television as police
swung whips and clubs, and clouds of tear
gas swirled around fallen marchers.
SELMA
 VOTING RIGHTS ACT
OF 1965
After Selma, Johnson presented Congress
with a new voting rights act.
Voting Rights Act of 1965eliminated
the literacy tests that had disqualified
many voters. It also stated that federal
examiners could enroll voters who had
been denied suffrage due to race.
 Malcolm X
Outside the
mainstream civil
rights movement,
more political leaders
emerged.
The most well known
during the Civil
Rights Era was
Malcolm X
He grew up in the ghettos of
Born Malcolm Little Detroit, Boston, & NY. At 20
he would later He was arrested for burglary
change his name. & while serving a 7 year
sentence
He joined the Nation of Islam.
Islam
 Black Nationalism
The Nation of Islam,
Islam a
group often called Black
Muslims, who viewed
white society as
oppressive & preached
black separation and self
help
Founded by Elijah
Muhammad
The key to self-knowledge
Spent 12 years as a minister for the
was knowing ones enemy
nation & won followers w/his fiery
& the enemy for the nation speeches. He spread the idea of
of Islam was white society black nationalism: a belief in the
separate identity and racial unity of
African American community.
 A Change of Heart
Not soon after the
split he makes a
pilgrimage to Mecca,
the holy city of Islam
This pilgrimage
changed his views
about separatism and
hatred of white
people
This change would
lead to his He wanted to unify the movement
assasination but his But in February of 1965 his plans
Were cut short by a hail of gunfire
message of black
At a rally in NY, 3 members of the
nationalism would live Nation of Islam were charged
on.
 1968 Olympics

Black Power
Leader Stokely
Carmicheal was on of
those influenced by
Malcolm X
After being beaten &
jailed the group became
more militant
Carry guns for self-
defense, to make the Black Power: called on
African Americans to unite,
group exclusively for to recognize their heritage,
blacks to build on a sense of
Communityto define their
We shall overrun Own goals, to lead their own
Organizations & support those
Organizations
1960s Counterculture
 The Counterculture
In the 60s, group of mostly young, white Ams born
just after the war began challenging estd
mainstream values
Eventually known as the counter-culture, this
movement stressed pursuit of personal freedom
& alternative lifestyles, rebellion against
conformity & materialism.
Worked to stop racism, war, & poverty
6 ideas typified this movement
Communal living
Experimental Drug Use

Scandalous Fashions

Political Activism

New Music Styles

Sexual liberation/revolution