Chapter 20 Section 2

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Chapter 20 Section 2

• The New Frontier

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The Camelot Years

• Kennedy inauguration
• Set tone for new era in White House
• Grace
• Elegance
• Wit

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The Camelot Years

• Gave an inspiring speech- ask not what your
  country can do for you, but what you can do for
  your country.
• During his term recognized art and culture and
  appeared frequently on TV

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Kennedy Mystique

• Critics said he was all style with no substance
• But 1st family fascinated the public
• After learning JFK could read 1,600 wpm
• Thousands enrolled in speed reading courses

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Kennedy Mystique

• 1st lady had influence on fashion and culture
• Media fascinated with Kennedy children
• 1st familys glamour seemed like a fairy tale
• JFK his advisors reminded many of a modern day
  Camelot

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The Best and the Brightest

• JFK surrounded himself with young intellectuals
  and business people
• Media called them the Best and the Brightest

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The Best and the Brightest

• McGeorge Bundy
• National Security Advisor

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The Best and the Brightest

• Robert McNamara
• Secretary of Defense

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The Best and the Brightest

• Dean Rusk
• Secretary of State

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The Best and the Brightest

• Robert Kennedy
• Brother
• 35 years old
• Attorney General

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The Promise of Progress

• New Frontier-JFKs legislative agenda
• Called on Americans to be new pioneers and
  explore uncharted areas of science and
  spaceunconquered pockets of ignorance and
  prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and
  surplus.

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The Promise of Progress

• JFK had a hard time turning his New Frontier into
  reality
• Showed little skill in pushing his domestic
  reforms through Congress
• Lacked a mandate- a clear indication that voters
  approved of his plans

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The Promise of Progress

• As a result of not having a mandate, JFK played
  it safe
• Was able to persuade Congress to enact measures
  to
• Boost economy
• Build national defense
• Provide international aid
• Fund a massive space program

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Stimulating the Economy

• US stuck in a recession by 1960
• Unemployment at 6
• JFK criticized Eisenhower for not doing more to
  stimulate the economy

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Stimulating the Economy

• Advocated deficit spending
• Felt economy would grow with a mixture of
  government spending and lower taxes

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Stimulating the Economy

• Dept. of Defense budget increased by 20
• New nuclear missiles
• Nuclear submarines
• Expansion of armed services

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Stimulating the Economy

• Congress increased minimum wage to 1.25/ hour
• Extended unemployment insurance
• Provide assistance to cities with high
  unemployment

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Addressing Poverty Abroad

• Created Peace Corps- volunteer assistance to
  developing nations of Latin America, Asia, and
  Africa

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Addressing Poverty Abroad

• Critics referred to the fact that the volunteers
  were so young
• Many foreigners questioned whether Americans
  understood other cultures

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Addressing Poverty Abroad

• Peace Corps became a huge success
• People of all ages and backgrounds signed up to
  work as
• Agricultural advisors
• Teachers
• Health aides

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Addressing Poverty Abroad

• By 1968 more than 35,000 volunteers served in
  more than 60 nations

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Addressing Poverty Abroad

• Alliance for Progress- offered economic and
  technical assistance to help Latin American
  nations
• Meant to spread of communism

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Addressing Poverty Abroad

• Alliance for Progress
• Built schools
• Houses
• Sanitation facilities
• Encouraged economic reforms
• Between 1961 and 1969 the US invested almost 12
  billion in Latin America

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Race to the Moon

• April 12, 1961- Soviets launched 1st man into
  space
• Yuri Gagarin
• Americans stunned
• JFK saw this as a challenge that had to be met

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Race to the Moon

• JFK set goal of landing a man on the moon and
  returning him safely to earth
• To be achieved by the end of the decade (1960s)
• Within weeks NASA began building new launch
  facilities

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Race to the Moon

• February 20, 1962- Colonel John Glenn orbited
  earth 3 times
• Later that year- satellite Telstar relayed live
  TV pictures across the Atlantic Ocean from Maine
  to Europe

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Race to the Moon

• July 20, 1969- U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong
  becomes the 1st man to walk on the moon

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Race to the Moon

• Space race impacted many parts of society
• Education
• Science and technology
• Computers
• Miniaturized electronics

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New Domestic Agenda

• 1962- problem of poverty came to national
  attention
• The Other America by Michael Harrington used
  govmt stats to profile 42 million Americans that
  made less than 1000/year

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New Domestic Agenda

• Mass movement against segregation also emerged
• JFK pushed for legislation dealing with poverty
  and civil rights

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Tragedy in Dallas

• Fall 1963
• JFK had popular support
• 60 of the public approved of him

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Four Days in November

• November 22, 1963
• In Dallas to repair relationship with Texas
  Democratic party

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Four Days in November

• Sat next to his wife in an open air limousine
• Texas Governor John Connally sat in front of him
• Car approached Texas School Book Depository

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Four Days in November

• Kennedy shot in the head
• Rushed to hospital
• JFK died less than an hour after he had been shot

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Four Days in November

• Lyndon Baines Johnson becomes new President

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Four Days in November

• Dallas police charge Lee Harvey Oswald with the
  murder of JFK
• Oswalds palm print on the rifle used to kill the
  President
• Former Marine sniper
• Dishonorably discharged
• Lived briefly in the Soviet Union
• Active supporter of Fidel Castro

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Four Days in November

• November 24, 1963
• Oswald being transferred from one prison to
  another on live TV
• Shot by Dallas night club owner Jack Ruby
• Oswald died less than an hour later

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Four Days in November

• November 25, 1963
• JFK buried at Arlington National Cemetary

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Unanswered Questions

• Many wondered if Oswald acted as part of a
  conspiracy
• Commission presided by Chief Justice Earl Warren
  conducted an extensive 10 month investigation

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Unanswered Questions

• Warren Commission- concluded that Oswald did
  shoot JFK and acted on his own
• However, in a 1979 congressional committee- they
  concluded that

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Unanswered Questions

• Oswald probably shot Kennedy
• But in conspiracy with unknown people
• Possible that 2 people fired at the President