1960 Election

1
1960 Election

• JFK defeated VP Richard Nixon by a razor-thin
  margin.
• Nixon conceded defeat but remained convinced the
  election had been stolen from him.
• First televised presidential debates

2
JFK Domestic PolicyThe New Frontier

• Attempt to build upon New Deal
• housing assistance, aid to education, etc. were
  proposed
• tax cut, minimum wage increase passed
• economist John Kenneth Galbraith urged spending
  on social welfare programs to improve economy

3
JFK Foreign PolicyThe Cold War in the 1960s

• JFK took an aggressively anti-communist stance.
  (WWII experience made him ardently against
  appeasement.)
• Moved from massive retaliation to flexible
  response
• 3 major confrontations
• Bay of Pigs invasion
• Berlin Crisis
• Cuban Missile Crisis

4
JFK Foreign PolicyBay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba

• CIA-trained Cuban exiles invaded Cuba with US
  support in April 1961
• miserable failure
• JFK called off US air support
• Castro, USSR not pleased

5
JFK Foreign PolicyBerlin Crisis (1961)

• E. Germany/USSR again assumed threatening posture
  toward West Berlin
• standoff broken by Communist construction of
  Berlin Wall (dividing East and West Berlin)

6
JFKs Greatest ChallengeCuban Missile Crisis
(1962)

• American U2 spy plane photos showed Soviet
  missile sites under construction in Cuba
• JFK considered air strikes but decided to
  quarantine (blockade) Cuba instead
• confrontations between US and Soviet ships off
  coast of Cuba could have triggered WWIII
• Khrushchev backed down and removed missile sites
  in exchange for US agreement not to invade Cuba
  and a secret agreement to remove US missiles from
  Turkey

7
November 22, 1963Dallas, Texas
8
Lyndon Baines Johnson

• Born and raised in the hill country of central
  Texas
• accomplished US Senator (Senate Majority Leader)
  -- knew how to deal with Congress
• reluctantly accepted VP position under JFK
• brilliant politician, forceful personality

9
LBJs Great Society

• Picked up where New Deal left off -- most
  successful extension of the New Deal philosophy
• War on Poverty (OEO, HUD, etc.)
• NEA, NEH
• environmental initiatives
• federal college loan/grant programs

10
Michael Harringtons The Other America (1962)

• Harrington was introduced to the issue of poverty
  in Dorothy Days Catholic Worker Movement in the
  early 1950s and became a socialist.
• The Other America brought significant attention
  to the problem of poverty in the United States
  and helped to trigger the war on poverty of the
  1960s.

11
LBJs Great SocietyMedicare Act of 1965

• Medicare
• federal govt.-provided health insurance for those
  over age 65
• dramatically reduced poverty among the elderly
• Medicaid
• federal govt.-provided health insurance for the
  poor

12
VietnamHistorical Background

• The Vietnamese people had a long history of being
  dominated by others
• French colony before WWII
• occupied by Japan during WWII
• Vietnamese nationalists under Ho Chi Minh helped
  US troops expel Japan during WWII.
• Ho and the Vietnamese assumed that Vietnam would
  be granted independence at the end of WWII.
• Instead, Truman allowed the French to retake
  their colony of French Indochina.

13
Ho Chi Minh
Though considered just another Soviet-supported
communist by the US government, Ho Chi Minh was a
national hero to millions of Vietnamese and a
symbol of Vietnamese independence.
14
Vietnamese Nationalist Movement (1950s)

• Vietnamese nationalists, led by Ho, fought a war
  for independence against the French.
• Frances defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 forced a
  French withdrawal.
• The Geneva Conference of 1956 divided Vietnam
  along the 17th parallel.
• North Vietnam Nationalist, socialistic
  government under Ho Chi Minh
• South Veitnam US-supported capitalist
  government under Ngo Dinh Diem

15
Vietnam War

• Nationalist, increasingly communist guerrillas
  within South Vietnam (Viet Cong) rebelled against
  the US-supported Diem government.
• US military assistance to the Diem government
  gradually grew throughout the late 1950s and
  early 1960s.
• The Diem government became so unpopular that the
  US supported the assassination of Diem in 1963.
• The situation did not improve, however.

16
Tonkin Gulf IncidentAugust 1964

• The destroyer USS Maddox reported being fired
  upon by N. Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf
  of Tonkin (off the Vietnamese coast) on a dark
  night.
• There is serious question as to whether the
  Maddox was ever actually fired upon.
• President Johnson asked Congress to allow an
  escalation of the US military effort in Vietnam.

17
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)

• Congress passed a resolution giving President
  Johnson the authority to take all necessary
  measures to any armed attack against the forces
  of the US in Vietnam and to prevent further
  aggression.
• Congress basically gave LBJ a blank check in
  increase US involvement in the Vietnam War.

18
Escalation

• Operation Rolling Thunder (1965)
• US troop levels increased to over 500,000 by
  1968.
• Gen. William Westmoreland and Defense Secretary
  Robert McNamara presided over the escalation and
  continually assured LBJ and the American public
  that victory was imminent.

19
Tet OffensiveJanuary 1968

• Tet Vietnamese New Year
• massive North Vietnamese/Viet Cong offensive
  against all major cities and US military
  installations in South Vietnam
• eventual military victory for US
• BUT . . . It was a public relations disaster.
• Americans no longer believed victory was close at
  hand, and public opinion turned against the war.
  (influence of TV played a role)

20
Public Opinion and Vietnam

• A vocal anti-war movement emerged in 1966 and
  1967.
• Protests ignited controversies on college
  campuses and on the street.
• Events like the Tet Offensive and My Lai Massacre
  of 1968-69 helped to turn even non-protesters
  against the war.

21
Student Movement

• Associated with, but not limited to, anti-war
  movement and civil rights movement
• Major student protests at UC Berkeley and
  Columbia U
• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
• Tom Haydens Port Huron Statement (1962)
  expressed the fear and discontent of the younger
  generation.

22
Counterculture

• Rejection of traditional American norms
• sexual revolution
• the pill
• Folk, rock n roll, protest music
• Bob Dylan
• Woodstock, 1969
• Drug culture
• Marijuana
• LSD (Ken Keseys psychadelic bus and Timothy
  Learys acid tests)

23
1968 Election

• A beleaguered LBJ announced in March that he
  would not seek another term.
• Robert F. Kennedy became the frontrunner for the
  Democratic nomination.
• Alabama Governor George Wallace ran as a
  segregationist independent.

24
1968 Election

• The nation was shocked (again) by the
  assassination of Robert Kennedy in June.
• VP Hubert Humphrey was nominated by the Democrats
  at a turbulent convention in Chicago.
• Richard Nixon prevailed in a tight 3-way race.

25
Reform Movements of 1960s-70s

• Civil Rights Movement
• Student Movement
• Womens Movement
• Environmental Movement
• Native American Movement

26
Womens Movement

• Betty Friedans The Feminine Mystique (1963) and
  the problem with no name
• NOW and Feminism
• Gloria Steinem and Ms. Magazine
• Equal Rights Amendment (1972)
• Title IX

27
Environmental Movement

• Rachel Carsons Silent Spring, 1962
• Earth Day, 1970
• Clean Air Act, Environmental Protection Agency
  (EPA), Clean Water Act (Johnson and Nixon)
• Love Canal (1978) and toxic waste cleanup
• Three Mile Island (1979) and anti-nuclear power
  movement

28
The Warren Court A liberal US Supreme Court
expands constitutional rights and federal power

• Civil Rights cases ended segregation (1950s)
• Rights of the Accused dramatically expanded
  (1960s)
• Gideon v. Wainright (right to counsel)
• Miranda v. Arizona (right against
  self-incrimination)
• Right to Privacy developed (1960s-70s)
• Griswold v. Connecticut (1967)
• Roe v. Wade (1973)

29
Nixon and Vietnam

• LBJ began a slow withdrawal of US troops from
  Vietnam in 1968, which Nixon continued.
• Nixon also increased US bombing of North Vietnam
  and, controversially, expanded US military
  operations into neighboring Cambodia.
• Treat of Paris (1973) officially ended US
  involvement in the Vietnam War
• The South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to
  the North Vietnamese in April 1975.

30
Nixon Foreign Policy (aside from Vietnam)

• Détente -- warming of relations with the Soviet
  Union (at least a little)
• SALT Treaty
• first nuclear arms limitations treaty
• China
• 1972 visit paved the road for diplomatic
  recognition of the communist China
• Nixon/Kissinger recognized that communism was not
  monolithic

31
Nixon Domestic Policy

• More conservative, but still did not seek to
  eliminate that welfare state
• New Federalism
• Block Grants -- more discretion left to states in
  how to spend federal money
• significant environmental regulations

32
Watergate Scandal

• CREEP used campaign funds to pay for dirty
  tricks designed to help secure Nixons 1972
  re-election.
• CREEP-financed burglars (G. Gordon Liddy, E.
  Howard Hunt) broke into Democratic National
  Committee HQ at the Watergate complex in DC on
  June 16, 1972. They were caught.
• Nixon authorized payment of hush money to
  silence those involved.

33
Watergate Scandal

• FBI traced money to CREEP.
• Nixon ordered CIA to call off FBI investigation
  (thus authorizing a cover-up obstruction of
  justice)
• How did Nixon do in the 1972 election?

34
Nixons Re-election (1972)
35
Watergate Scandal

• A US Senate Committee investigated the scandal.
• They learned that Nixon taped conversations in
  the Oval Office and subpoenaed the tapes.
• White House Counsel John Dean testified that
  Nixon knew about the cover-up and other illegal
  activities.
• Nixon was eventually forced to turn over relevant
  tapes by the USSC in US v. Nixon, 1974

36
Impact of Vietnam and Watergate on the American
Psyche

• VIETNAM WATERGATE CYNICISM and
• MISTRUST of
• GOVERNMENT

Who benefits?
37
Nixons Resignation

• The tapes proved Nixon had authorized a cover-up.
• Impeachment proceedings against him were
  initiated.
• On August 9, 1974, Nixon became the first (and
  only) president to resign from office.

38
Gerald Ford

• Popular Michigan Congressman who became VP just
  months before becoming president.
• Pardoned Nixon (so he couldnt by prosecuted)
• Fords short presidency was marred by a failing
  economy stagflation

39
Jimmy Carter

• Washington outsider former governor of Georgia
  and peanut farmer (w/ a degree in nuclear physics
  from the US Naval Academy)

40
Carter Domestic Policy

• ENERGY CRISIS
• A series of Arab oil embargoes during the 70s
  left the US suffering from oil and gas shortages.
• Cater urged conservation measures, calling the
  oil crisis the moral equivalent of war (MEOW)

41
Carter Domestic Policy

• Continued economic stagnation, accompanied by
  rising inflation, plagued the country in the late
  1970s.
• In his famous Malaise Speech, Carter asserted
  that the beleaguered country suffered from a
  crisis of confidence, which some Americans
  interpreted as Carter blaming Americas people
  for its problems.

42
Carter Foreign Policy Iranian Hostage Crisis

• Islamic fundamentalists overthrew the unpopular,
  American-supported Shah of Iran in November 1978.
• Iranian students seized the US embassy in
  Teheran, killed one American, and took 52
  American hostages.
• Carter was unable to get the hostages freed.
• A military rescue mission failed disastrously.
• Carter appeared weak and ineffective as another
  blow was dealt to American confidence.
• The hostage were held for 444 days and released
  at the hour that Ronald Reagan became president
  in Jan. 1981

43
Carter Foreign Policy Camp David Accords (1979)

• Perhaps the highlight of Carters presidency was
  his mediation of this unlikely peace treaty
  between mortal enemies Egypt and Israel.
• It was the first (and only) peace treaty between
  Israel and an Arab/Muslim nation.

Egypts Anwar Sadat and Israels Manachem Begin
shake hands with Carters help.
44
Carter Foreign Policy Soviet Invasion of
Afghanistan

• The USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to prop up a
  Soviet-supported communist government.
• Carter initiated a US boycott of the 1980 Summer
  Olympics in Moscow to protest the invasion.
• The US eventually helped arm the Afghan rebels,
  who were able to defeat the Soviets after years
  of war.

45
Ronald Reagan and the Conservative Revolution of
the 1980s

1. Free Market Economics less government
   regulation
2. Less support for welfare state
3. Increased public moralism less separation of
   church and state
4. Aggressive anti-communism -- increased defense
   spending

46
Ronald Reagan

• Actor
• Former California governor
• Oldest president in history
• Survived 1981 assassination attempt
• Charismatic beloved fatherly figure
• feel good style helped restore American
  confidence
• Teflon President scandals, negativity didnt
  stick to him

Reagan plays cowboy for the cameras at his CA
ranch.
47
March 30, 1981
48
Reaganomics

• Reliance on free market capitalism rather than
  government regulation
• Economist Milton Friedman and the Chicago
  school of economics
• deregulation
• Tax cuts (particularly for the wealthy)
• Supply-side economics (trickle down)
• Decreased social welfare spending
• Increased defense spending

49
Increasing National Debt

• Tax cuts massive defense spending deficit
  spending
• National Debt tripled to more than 3 Trillion
  during 1980s

50
Rise of the Religious Right/Christian
Fundamentalism

• Jerry Falwells Moral Majority and other
  conservative Christian groups helped lead the
  Conservative Revolution.
• Evangelical Christians became very prominent in
  the Republican Party
• They (and Reagan) advocated Constitutional
  amendments banning abortion and allowing prayer
  in public schools, among other things.

51
Reagan Foreign Policy Aggressive Anti-Communism

• Reagan referred to the USSR as the Evil Empire.
• He initiated increased spending on nuclear
  weapons-related programs like the M-X Missile and
  the SDI/Star Wars missile defense system
• This arms build-up is credited by many historians
  for helping to end the Cold War.

52
End of the Cold War

• Reformer Mikhail Gorbachev became Soviet premier
  in 1985
• Gorbachev initiated Glasnost, a new sense of
  openness, and economic reforms.
• He also proposed nuclear arms reductions.

53
End of the Cold War

• In a series of summits, Reagan and Gorbachev
  worked out the first nuclear weapons reduction
  agreement, the INF Treaty (1987).
• Gorbachev later signed the much more significant
  START Treaty with Reagans successor George H. W.
  Bush.

54
1990s The Clinton Era

• The Democrats regained the presidency as Bill
  Clinton defeated incumbent president George H. W.
  Bush in a 3-way race included independent
  candidate H. Ross Perot in 1992.
• Clinton was part of a movement to make the
  Democratic Party more moderate/conservative
  called the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC).

55
Clinton and Congress

• Clinton worked with a Republican-controlled
  Congress (after big Republican victories in the
  1994 midterm elections) to pass moderate
  legislation like the Welfare Reform Act of 1995.
• The Republican Congress turned on Clinton in
  1998, when the House impeached him at the height
  of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
• Clintons approval ratings remained high,
  however, as the economy boomed.

56
2000 Presidential Election

• Gov. George W. Bush prevailed after a lengthy
  legal battle over Floridas electoral votes
  despite losing the popular vote to VP Al Gore

57
September 11, 2001

• And the rest is . . .