The Cold War: Kennedy & Johnson
Election of 1960
• John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon
• First televised debate
• Kennedy won election primarily because he was more presentable on television
John F. Kennedy
• Flexible Response: preparing a variety of military responses to international crisis rather than focusing on nuclear weapons
Fidel Castro
• Revolutionary who established a communist government in Cuba
Bay of Pigs
• Kennedy and the U.S. government back an overthrow attempt on Castro
• Cuban exiles fail to overthrow Castro and increases tensions between U.S. and Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
• October, 1962, the U.S., Cuba, and the Soviet Union were at the brink of nuclear war over the installment of nuclear missiles in Cuba
• The Soviet Union backed down and removed the missiles
Berlin Wall
• 1961, the East German government built a wall separating East Berlin and West Berlin
• “The Wall” was meant to keep East German citizens from fleeing to the West
• It became the symbol of Cold War tension
The New Frontier
• Kennedy’s legislative program for domestic help
• Provide medical care for elderly• Rebuild urban areas• Aid in education• Bolster national defense• Increase international aid• Expand the space program
International Aid
• Peace Corps: Provide volunteer assistance to developing nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
• Alliance for Progress: Foreign aid program designed to keep communism out of Latin American countries
Kennedy Assassination
• November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald
Warren Commission
• Investigation led by Chief Justice Earl Warren on the Kennedy assassination
• Concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Great Society
• Johnson’s domestic program to reduce poverty, racial injustice, and promote a better quality of life in the U.S.
• Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Healthcare
• Medicaid: Provides health insurance for people on welfare
• Medicare: Provides hospital insurance and low cost medical insurance for Americans 65 and older