Unit 11, Part II:Kennedy, LBJ, and Vietnam

Kennedy & Foreign Policy

Flexible Response Moving away from Dulles’ idea of

brinkmanship and nuclear weapons

McNamara (Secretary of Defense) Increase spending on

conventional (non-nuclear) arms and mobile military forces

Kennedy & Foreign Policy

Bay of Pigs Invasion March 1960—Ike gives CIA permission to train Cuban exiles Kennedy approved it upon taking office April 17, 1961

15,000 Cuban exiles landed on Bay of Pigs Met by 25,000 Cuban troops backed by Soviet tanks and

jets Kennedy embarrassed but accepted the blame

Kennedy & Foreign PolicyBerlin Wall Kennedy and Khrushchev meet in Vienna, June 1961 Kennedy refused to pull troops out of Berlin like Soviets

wanted August 13, 1961

Construction of the Berlin Wall began Kennedy: “I am a Berliner” Since 1st Berlin Crisis, 20% of East Berliners had fled to

West Berlin

Kennedy & Foreign Policy Cuban Missile Crisis October 15, 1962

US recon planes discovered Soviets underground sites in Cuba to launch missiles that could reach the US in minutes

Kennedy & Foreign Policy

What should Kennedy do?...Let’s consult our advisors (October 19, 1962)Take notes on each advisor’s opinion and reasons why they think their way is the best

Members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM)

Secretary of Defense: Robert McNamara Secretary of State: Dean Rusk

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Gen. Maxwell Taylor CIA Director: John McCone

Secretary of the Treasury: C. Douglass Dillon Attorney General: Robert F. Kennedy

National Security Advisor: MacGeorge Bundy CIA Special Intelligence Estimate

Robert McNamara

Dean Rusk

C. Douglass Dillon

John McCone

RFK

MacGeorge Bundy

Gen. Maxwell Taylor

EXCOMM

Kennedy & Foreign Policy

A decision must be made. Time is of the essence…

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/interactives/cubanmissilecrisis/

JFK Assassination

November 22, 1963 Kennedy was in Dallas visiting; riding with

Governor of Texas Shot twice Alleged Assassin: Lee Harvey Oswald▪ Killed two days later by Jack Ruby

Various conspiracy theories: organized crime, CIA, Castro

Zapruder film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU83R7rpXQY

LBJ and The Great Society

Lyndon B. Johnson—Background

Texas native Graduate of a teacher’s college Experienced lawmaker and more

political experience than JFK Spent over 30 years in Congress before

becoming Vice President

Sworn into office 2 hours after JFK’s assassination

The Great Society

Medicare Health insurance for elderly over 65

Medicaid Healthcare for the poor and disabled

Elementary and Secondary Education Act Aid for schools—specifically those in

poor school districts National Foundation for Arts and

Humanities Federal money for creative/scholarly

projects

The Great Society

Immigration Laws Abolish discrimination quotas based on national

origin from the 20s Two new departments created

DOT: Department of Transportation HUD: Department of Housing and Urban

Development Increased Funding for…

Higher education Crime prevention Public Housing

The War on Poverty

Michael Harrington The Other America (1962) 40 million Americans living in poverty Johnson: “unconditional war on poverty” Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO)▪ Head Start programs▪ Job Corp: vocational/literacy programs

Election of 1964

Johnson wins in a landslide Vice President—Minnesota Senator

Hubert Humphrey Republicans: Barry Goldwater**Johnson in a good place to push through reforms Truman initially tried**

Contemporary Writers & Activists

Unsafe at Any Speed (1965) Ralph Nader Programs to create a safer automobile

industry Silent Spring (1962)

Rachel Carson Clean air and water laws

Ladybird Johnson Beautify America Campaign Interstate highways

The Warren Court & The Counter Culture

Earl Warren

Chief Justice of Supreme Court 1953-1969 Supreme Court changed a lot during the

term of Warren

Criminal Justice

Mapp v. Ohio (1961) “illegally seized evidence cannot be used in

court against the accused”

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) “state courts must provide law representation

for poor defendants”

Miranda v. Arizona (1966) Police must inform arrested person of their right

to remain silent and their right to an attorney being present during police questioning

Reapportionment

Baker v. Carr (1962) “one man, one vote” It is unconstitutional for states to

draw representational lines in such a way that rural areas have more representation in state government that large, urban areas

Freedom of Expression & PrivacyYates v. United States (1957) 1st Amendment protects radical and revolutionary

speech, even by communists, unless there is a “clear and present danger” to the country

Engel v. Vitale (1962) States laws requiring Bible readings and prayers in

schools, violate the 1st Amendment’s provision of separation of church and state

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) A state could not prohibit the use of contraceptives

by adults

Student Movement & New Left 1962, Students for Democratic

Society (SDS) Meet in Port Huron, Michigan University decisions should be made

through participatory democracy

Activists became known as New Left

Many students across the nation began protesting various aspects of society War, gender rights, civil

rights/equality Berkeley—Free Speech Movement

Counter Culture

Rebellious style of dress, music, drug use, communal living—”hippies”

Voice through folk music—Bob Dylan Other inspiration—Rolling Stone, Jim Morrison

Beatlemania

1969, Woodstock Music festival in NY Movement slowed afterwards

Haight-Ashbury San Francisco Hippie capital of the world

Women’s Movement

National Organization for Women (1966) Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique

1972—Equal Rights Amendment passed by Congress But did not receive approval from the 38

required states (35 only)

The Vietnam War

Key Players

Lyndon B. Johnson US Commander in Chief

Ho Chi Minh Leader of North Vietnamese

Viet Cong South Vietnamese Communist guerillas

General William Westmoreland Commander of US forces in Vietnam

Early Stages

Kennedy bought into Ike’s idea of the domino theory When fighting increased between North

and South, Kennedy provided additional military aid to South Vietnam—military advisors

By 1963, 16,000+ US troops in Vietnam

Early Stages

South Vietnam’s government Ngo Dinh Diem was horrible Diem was assassinated two weeks

before Kennedy Kennedy administration was aware of

assassination plan

1964, South Vietnamese had 7 different governments

Early Stages

After having been president for a short time, Johnson used the Tonkin Gulf Incident as reason to convince Congress WAR needed to be declared Tonkin Gulf Incident▪ North Vietnam gunboats fired on US warships in

Gulf of Tonkin

Congress said the president could “use all necessary measures”

Escalating War

After Viet Cong attack at US base… Johnson ordered Operation Rolling

Thunder▪ Prolonged air attack from Thailand using B-52

bombers against North Vietnam targets April 1965

Johnson used ground troops for the first time to fight the Vietcong

By the end of 1965, there were over 184,000 US troops in South Vietnam

Escalating War

By the end of 1967 US had over 485,000 troops in Vietnam

General Westmoreland assured the American public that he could see the “light at the end of the tunnel”

Role of Television Allows Americans to see travesties of war Brings fight right in front of Americans National news coverage

Controversy at Home

Why? Misinformation coming from the war

leaders in Vietnam Johnson unwilling to speak directly to

American public Lack of understanding by the

Washington administrators of the enemy they were fighting

Controversy at Home

“Hawks” War supporters Believed the war was a good war against communism To stop the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia, the war

must be fought

“Doves” Against the war Conflict is a Civil War within the boundaries of a foreign

country No business interfering Opposition due to cost in terms of money and lives Huge opposition from college students

The Tet Offensive

During the Lunar New Year (Tet), January 1968 The Viet Cong launched all-out attack on

nearly every major US military base in South Vietnam

Although America counterattacked and recovered, this was a set-back for the Johnson administration

Television: seeing footage, casualty accounts

Withdrawal of LBJ

LBJ responds to Tet by requesting 200,000 more troops to win the war Advisors said not to escalating the war further

March 31, 1968 LBJ went on TV and said he was going to▪ Limit bombing and begin peace talks▪ Not run for president in 1968

May 1968, peace talks begin in Paris…but unsuccessful