Camelot: Kennedy & the New Frontier: 1960- 1963

The Election of 1960

• Kennedy ran against Richard Nixon who was Vice President at the time• JFK was a senator from Massachusetts• The race was very close • The first televised debate took place during this campaign and had a definite impact on the outcome

• The first took place in Chicago on Sept. 26, 1960• An interesting poll was taken after the debate• Those who listened to the debate on the radio seemed to think Nixon won

http://www.debates.org/pages/his_1960.html

• Those who watched the debate on television felt Kennedy won• Kennedy was well rested and worked with TV producers to be more “camera friendly”• Nixon, on the other hand, had been campaigning furiously and was tired. He was also sick and his appearance wasn’t as appealing to viewers

• Some were concerned JFK was too young & inexperienced• Another concern was his religion (Roman Catholic)• There had never been an R.C. president before and some were concerned it would lead to less separation between church and state• JFK addressed these issues and assured the public they would not be a concern

• Kennedy took a bold stance on the Civil Rights issue as he showed his support for the efforts of Martin Luther King Jr.• This won him the support of many African- American voters

• The election in November was extremely close• Kennedy won the popular vote by about 119,000 votes• This was the closest election in US history until 2000 (Gore v. Bush)

I WON!

No you didn’t!

• The electoral vote was also close• Nixon: 219 Kennedy: 303

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/Nytimes1960electionpage.jpg

• Kennedy & his young family became very popular with the American public• People referred to the White House as Camelot after a popular musical at the time about King Arthur’s court• JFK surrounded himself with advisers from the business world nicknamed “the best & the brightest”

Flexible Response

1. Kennedy was concerned with the growing risk of nuclear war2. He did not want the US to have to rely solely on nuclear weapons in a war

3. In order to give the US another option he increased spending on non-nuclear military items such as troops, ships, and artillery4. The creation of the Green Berets (Army Special Forces) were part of this program

Kennedy & Khrushchev

Bay of Pigs 5. The US wanted to eliminate Communism in Cuba along with its leader, Fidel Castro6. Eisenhower had approved the training of Cuban exiles in 19607. The US was going to send these exiles back to Cuba & have them overthrow Castro

8. Kennedy approved the plan in 19619. The US was to provide air support & aid for the exiles10. The invasion failed miserably– 1,500 exiles ran into 25,000 Cuban troops who were armed with Soviet tanks & jets11. Major embarrassment to JFK and the US12. Led to more aid for Cuba from the USSR

Cuban Missile Crisis13. In October, 1962 US spy planes photographed Soviet missile bases in Cuba14. These missiles could reach as far west as Denver and as far north as New York in 17 minutes or less

15. Kennedy informed the nation about these missiles16. JFK demanded that the Soviet Union remove these missiles

17. US ships were sent to block any further shipments of weapons to Cuba18. People were very worried that this incident was going to lead to a nuclear war between the US and the USSR19. After a tense week, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for the US’s promise not to invade Cuba

20. The US also secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey that threatened the USSR21. Both sides agreed and disaster was avoided

Berlin Wall 22. Many E. Germans (Communist) were leaving the country for W. Germany & W. Berlin (Democratic)

23. This frustrated both E. Germany & the USSR24. They decided to build a wall between E. & W. Berlin and shut off the border between E. & W. Germany to prevent anyone from passing between the nations

25. Kennedy supported the W. Germans & W. Berliners right to democracy & did not want these areas to become Communist26. This led to more hard feelings between the US and the USSR

New Frontier— Economy 27. Kennedy’s program for improving the US was called the New Frontier28. Unemployment was a big problem in the US at the time29. JFK pushed for deficit spending, lowering taxes, and increasing the minimum wage to $1.25 in order to stimulate the economy

New Frontier— Foreign Poverty

30. JFK created the Peace Corps to help eliminate foreign poverty31. The Peace Corps is made up of volunteers who do different projects in poor nations (serve as agricultural advisers, teachers, health aides, etc.

32. Alliance for Progress– offered economic and technical assistance for Latin American nations33. US gave $12 billion to Latin America in the hopes that they would not become Communist like Cuba

Race to the Moon 34. The Soviets were the first to launch a satellite (Sputnik, 1957) and the first to put a man into space (Yuri Gagarin, 1961)35. This was an embarrassment to the US so in 1962 JFK announced plans to put a man on the moon 36. By 1969 Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon

Tragedy in Dallas

37. On November 22, 1963, JFK was assassinated while riding through the streets of Dallas38. Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of killing the President by shooting him in the head from the window of the Texas School Book Depository

39. As Oswald was being moved from jail, he was killed on live television by a nightclub owner named Jack Ruby40. There are many unanswered questions about Kennedy’s assassination41. The Warren Commission investigated the assassination and found that Oswald acted alone

42. There are many conspiracy theories that say there were others involved in the assassination43. Not much has actually been proven on this question44. This tragedy affected many Americans who could later recall exactly what they were doing when JFK was shot

45. Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), the Vice President, was sworn in as President later that day on Air Force One as it flew to Washington DC