The Kennedy Years

1961-1963

Election of 1960

• First televised debates • Slim victory for Kennedy

Candidate Electoral Vote

Popular Vote

% Electoral Vote

% Popular Vote

John F. Kennedy

(Democrat)

303 34,227,096 56.4 49.7

Richard M. Nixon

(Republican)

219 34,107,646 40.8 49.6

Kennedy’s Foreign Policy

• “flexible response”: gave increased funding to conventional armed forces

• Peace Corps: organization to help underdeveloped countries and provided education and health services

• Alliance for Progress: Improved ties with Latin America

Bay of Pigs Invasion

• April 17-19, 1961• Planned by Eisenhower administration• CIA recruited and trained Cuban exiles to attack Cuban

government• Failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba

Bay of Pigs Invasion

• Khrushchev wanted West Berlin in Soviet Union’s control but Kennedy refused

• Led to construction of Berlin Wall

The Berlin Crisis

The Berlin Wall

• 239 killed trying to cross• 66 miles long

• September 1962• U.S. intelligence realized Soviets

were building nuclear missile sites in Cuba

Cuban Missile Crisis

• Kennedy approved a naval blockade of Cuba• Leaders eventually reached a diplomatic

negotiation after six days

Cuban Missile Crisis

• “hot line”: telephone system between Moscow and Washington

• Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: ended above ground nuclear tests

Effects of Cuban Missile Crisis

Discussion Points

• 1. According to these documents, what deal did the US strike with the USSR?

• 2. Why was this deal kept secret?• 3. Who seems to be more scared or on the

defensive in these documents?• 4. What does this event show you about how

people felt during the Cold War?

• “New Frontier”• Very ambitious• Increased minimum

wage to $1.25/hour• Set up the

President’s Commission on the Status of Women– Equal Pay Act to

reduce wage gap between men and women

Kennedy’s Domestic Policy

Kennedy’s Domestic Policy

• To help economy, Kennedy gave tax credits to encourage business investment

• Increased military spending• Advocated Keynesian economics, or deficit

spending, to boost economy• Tax cuts for middle class Americans • Increased taxes on wealthier citizens

Kennedy and Civil Rights

• Approached Civil Rights timidly

• Introduced Civil Rights Bill in 1963– Prosecuted voting

rights violations– Gave federal funds

to schools integrating

• Sent federal marshals to Ole Miss

Space Program

• US behind in the “space race” with Soviet Union

• Wanted a man on the moon by 1970

• Funded space program- NASA

• Neil Armstrong lands on moon in 1969

White House Renovation

Personal Life

• Constant affairs

• Marilyn Monroe• Sang “Happy

Birthday”

Kennedy’s Assassination

• Visited Texas to boost support for re-election

• Fatally shot while riding through Dallas, TX on November 22, 1963

Kennedy’s Assassination

• Shot by Communist sympathizer, Lee Harvey Oswald

Johnson Sworn In