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The "Kennedy style"
- the tone of elegance and youthfulness. Uplifting rhetoric.
- He wanted new ideas and fresh thinking. Kennedy himself was the youngest person ever elected pres.
- Cabinet appointments emphasized youth
- appealed to minorities and af ams
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Congress Democratic but conservative
they blocked: his efforts to ↑ fed aid/edu, health insurance for aged, creation a dept of urban affairs, a tax cut, & his initiatives for unemp youths/migrant workers/mass transit.
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The Alliance for Progress
created to help LA
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The Peace Corps
- give jobs to college students
- created 1961 to supply volunteers who would provide edu/tech services abroad.
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Trade Expansion Act
Kennedy’s greatest achievement. Led to avg 35% tariff on goods traded b/w US and euro econ community (the common market).
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Housing Act
provided for urban renewal over 4yrs, ↑min wage
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Area Redevelopment Act of 1961
provided leans/grants to distressed areas
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other Domestic and social legislation successes
social security, funds for sewage-treatment plants, man on moon.
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Gideon v. Wainwright ’63
court required every felony defendant be provided a lawyer regardless of defendant’s ability to pay.
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Escobedo v. IL ’64
sc ruled that a person accused of a crime must be allowed to consult a lawyer before being interrogated by police.
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Greensboro sit-ins
Based on King's "militant nonviolence" philosophy
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Creation of SNCC – Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
worked w/ S Christian Leadership Conference to broaden the civil rights mvmt.
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Freedom riders
sent by the congress of Racial Equality to test the fed court ruling banning segregated busses/trains/terminals.
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Integration of the University of Mississippi
they refused to let James Meredith in, Attorney gen Robert Kennedy dispatched fed marshals and troops to enforce the law.
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King's "Letter from Birmingham City Jail"
became an important doc of civil r mvmt. He emphasized need to edu s whites about injustice of segregation/discrimination. King signaled a shift in strategy for social change. He focused on gaining fed enforcement of law and new legislation by getting racists to display their hatred in public.
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Kennedy endorses civil rights
he supported the bill intended to end discrimination in pub facilities & schools, and protect af am voters, but congress blocked the bill.
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Wallace's defiant gesture
he stood in the door of University of AL to block enrollment to af am students. He stepped aside b/c of fed marshals. Led to pres Kennedy highlighting the moral issue facing the nation.
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March on Washington
was the high point of c r mvmt. King's "I Have a Dream" speech occurred.
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Modest progress in cities like Atlanta
b/c the continuing protests threatened econ devel
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Bay of Pigs disaster
- Secret CIA operation – they were training 1,500 anti-Castro Cubans for an invasion of Cuba.
- Failure of invasion – they had underestimated Castro’s popularity and resilience. Invasion suffered from poor communication, maps, equipment, and leadership.
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Berlin Wall
- What did Khrushchev do? – he threatened to limit access to Berlin
- Kennedy’s reaction – he called up Reserve and Guard units
- Soviets’ reaction – constructed Berlin Wall, isolating w Berlin & preventing mvmt b/w the halves.
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Cuban missile crisis
- Discovery of missiles in Cuba – their motives were to protect Cuba from another am invasion.
- Kennedy imposes naval quarantine – a naval blockade of Cuba.
- Khrushchev blinks – agrees to back off if US promised no to invade Cuba.
- Aftereffects – Lowered tensions, sale of surplus wheat to soviets, Washington-Moscow "hot line," removal of obsolete missiles in Turkey, It, and Br, and a nuclear test ban treaty.
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Neutrality for Laos
they were declared neutral in the Geneva accords of ’54, but were now struggling b/w comm Pathet Lao and inept Royal Laotian Army.
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Premier Ngo Dinh Diem
- Problem not comm guerilla attacks – Diem’s lack of economic and social reform and ability to rally popular support.
- Opposition to Diem – Buddhists ignited discontent in the s.
- Overthrow of Diem and later military regimes – took over s viet gov and killed Diem.
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Passing Kennedy's legislative program:
A major tax cut
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
- – the Revenue Act of ’64 to stimulate econ and consumer spending.
- – prohibited segregation in pub facilities and in registration of voters and hiring employees.
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Michael Harrington's The Other America
argued 40+mil ppl = poor caused ams to “rediscover” poverty.
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Economic Opportunity Bill
job corps for inner-city youths 16-21, head start program for disadvantaged preschoolers, work-study programs, grants to farmers/rural businesses, loans, volunteers in service to am, community action program.
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The Great Society
demands an end to poverty and racial injustice.
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Barry Goldwater
The election of 1964
Repub
- the conscience of a conservative (’66) – proposed the abolition of the income tax sale of TV Authority, and over hall of Soc Security.
- wanted to bomb n viet, → trigger happy
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Voting Rights Act of 1965
ensured all citizens right to vote. Authorized attorney gen to dispatch fed examiners to register voters.
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The Tonkin Gulf Resolution
- Response to attack on American destroyers – LBJ said it was unprovoked even though s viet ships may have provoked it.
- Result – Johnson interpreted to be congressional approval for war
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Attack at Pleiku
Operation Rolling Thunder
- – in s viet, 8ams killed, 126 wounded.
- – result of Pleiku. First sustained bombing of n viet.
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The turning point
The Tet Offensive
- city capital Hue fell to comm. Viet c occupied US embassy in Saigon.
- Result – Further erosion of support, Presidential primaries became referendums on Johnson's Vietnam policy.
- Effects on Johnson – he announced that he would not seek another term.
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The disastrous Chicago convention
Chicago mayor Daley gave shoot-to-kill orders to police during riots protesting King’s assassination. Riot broke down, televised.
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