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U.S. History – B Chapter 20

The New

Frontier

and the

Great Society

668 C

HAPTER 20

John F.

Kennedy is

elected

president.

1960

President Kennedy

is assassinated; Lyndon

B. Johnson becomes

president.

1963

Seventeen

African countries

gain independence.

1960

The drug thalidomide

is pulled from the market

after it is found responsible

for thousands of birth

defects in Europe.

1962

Soviet cosmonaut

Yuri Gagarin becomes

the first human in outer

space.

1961

U.S.

launches the

Bay of Pigs

invasion.

1961

Scientific and technological advances in

the early 1960s made possible the first

American spacewalk during the Gemini 6

mission on June 3, 1965.

John Glenn becomes

the first American to orbit

the earth.

1962

U.S. and USSR

face off in the Cuban

missile crisis.

1962

USA

WORLD

1960 1961 1962 1963

668-669-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:46 PM Page 668

Page 1 of 2

The New Frontier and the Great Society 669

Lyndon B. Johnson

is elected president.

1964

Congress passes

the Economic Opportunity

Act and Civil Rights Act.

1964

Richard M.

Nixon is

elected

president.

1968

Indira

Gandhi becomes

prime minister

of India.

1966

INTERACT

WITH HISTORY

Against the backdrop of an intense

space race between America and the

Soviet Union, the 1960 presidential

election approaches. The leading candi-

dates are a young, charismatic senator

and the ambitious, experienced vice-

president. The new president will face

tremendous responsibilities. Abroad,

the Soviet Union is stockpiling nuclear

weapons. At home, millions suffer

from poverty and discrimination.

What are the

qualities of

effective leaders?

Examine the Issues

• How can a leader motivate and

influence the public?

• What skills are needed to persuade

legislators?

• What enables a leader to respond

to crises?

Ferdinand

Marcos becomes

president of the

Philippines.

1965

Thurgood

Marshall becomes

the first African-

American justice

of the Supreme

Court.

1967

Israel wins

Arab territories in

the Six Day War.

1967

Warsaw

Pact troops

invade

Czechoslovakia.

1968

Visit the Chapter 20 links for more information

about The New Frontier and the Great Society.

RESEARCH LINKS CLASSZONE.COM

1964 1965 1966 1967

U.S. troops

enter Vietnam.

1965

668-669-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:46 PM Page 669

Page 2 of 2

One American's Story

John F. Kennedy became the 35th president of the United

States on a crisp and sparkling day in January 1961. Appearing

without a coat in freezing weather, he issued a challenge to the

American people. He said that the world was in “its hour of

maximum danger,” as Cold War tensions ran high. Rather than

shrinking from the danger, the United States should confront

the “iron tyranny” of communism.

A PERSONAL VOICE JOHN F. KENNEDY

“ Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and

foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of

Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by

a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and

unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human

rights to which this nation has always been committed. . . .

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that

we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, sup-

port any friend, oppose any . . . foe, in order to assure . . . the

survival and the success of liberty.

”

—Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961

The young president won praise for his well-crafted speech.

However, his words were put to the test when several Cold War

crises tried his leadership.

The Election of 1960

In 1960, as President Eisenhower’s second term drew to a close, a mood of rest-

lessness arose among voters. The economy was in a recession. The USSR’s

launch of Sputnik I in 1957 and its development of long-range missiles had sparked

fears that the American military was falling behind that of the Soviets. Further set-

backs including the U-2 incident and the alignment of Cuba with the Soviet Union

had Americans questioning whether the United States was losing the Cold War.

670 C

HAPTER 20

Terms & Names

MAIN IDEA

Kennedy and

the Cold War

•John F. Kennedy

•ﬂexible response

•Fidel Castro

•Berlin Wall

•hot line

•Limited Test Ban

Treaty

The Kennedy administration

faced some of the most

dangerous Soviet confronta-

tions in American history.

America’s response to Soviet

threats developed the United

States as a military superpower.

WHY IT MATTERS NOW

▼

John F. Kennedy delivers his inaugural

address on January 20, 1961.

670-678-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:46 PM Page 670

Page 1 of 9

The Democratic nominee for president, Massachusetts senator John Kennedy,

promised active leadership “to get America moving again.” His Republican oppo-

nent, Vice President Richard M. Nixon, hoped to win by riding on the coattails of

Eisenhower’s popularity. Both candidates had similar positions on policy issues.

Two factors helped put Kennedy over the top: television and the civil rights issue.

THE TELEVISED DEBATE AFFECTS VOTES

Kennedy had a well-organized

campaign and the backing of his wealthy family, and was handsome and

charismatic. Yet many felt that, at 43, he was too inexperienced. If elected, he would

be the second-youngest president in the nation’s history.

Americans also worried that having a Roman Catholic in the White House

would lead either to inﬂuence of the pope on American policies or to closer ties

between church and state. Kennedy was able to allay worries by discussing the

issue openly.

One event in the fall determined the course of the election. Kennedy

and Nixon took part in the ﬁrst televised debate between presidential

candidates. On September 26, 1960, 70 million TV viewers watched the

two articulate and knowledgeable candidates debating issues. Nixon, an

expert on foreign policy, had agreed to the forum in hopes of exposing

Kennedy’s inexperience. However, Kennedy had been coached by televi-

sion producers, and he looked and spoke better than Nixon.

Kennedy’s success in the debate launched a new era in American politics: the

television age. As journalist Russell Baker, who covered the Nixon campaign, said,

“That night, image replaced the printed word as the natural language of politics.”

KENNEDY AND CIVIL RIGHTS

A second major event of the campaign took place

in October. Police in Atlanta, Georgia, arrested the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.,

and 33 other African-American demonstrators for sitting at a segregated lunch

counter. Although the other demonstrators were released, King was sentenced to

months of hard labor—ofﬁcially for a minor trafﬁc violation. The Eisenhower

administration refused to intervene, and Nixon took no public position.

When Kennedy heard of the arrest and sentencing, he telephoned King’s wife,

Coretta Scott King, to express his sympathy. Meanwhile, Robert Kennedy, his broth-

er and campaign manager, persuaded the judge who had sentenced King to release

the civil rights leader on bail, pending appeal. News of the incident captured the

immediate attention of the African-American community, whose votes would help

Kennedy carry key states in the Midwest and South.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 671

“ That night,

image replaced the

printed word as

the natural lan-

guage of politics.”

RUSSELL BAKER

John F. Kennedy

(right) appeared

conﬁdent and at

ease during a

televised debate

with his opponent

Richard M. Nixon.

▼

Vocabulary

charismatic:

possessing

personal charm

that attracts

devoted followers

MAIN IDEA

Predicting

Effects

What effect

do you think the

televised debate

would have on

American politics?

A. Possible

Answer

Voters would

begin making

decisions based

on a candidate’s

perceived image

rather than on

his or her stand

on the issues.

670-678-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:46 PM Page 671

Page 2 of 9

The Camelot Years

The election in November 1960 was the closest since 1884; Kennedy won by fewer

than 119,000 votes. His inauguration set the tone for a new era at the White

House: one of grace, elegance, and wit. On the podium sat over 100 writers,

artists, and scientists that the Kennedys had invited, including opera singer

Marian Anderson, who had once been barred from singing at Constitution Hall

because she was African American. Kennedy’s inspiring speech called for hope,

commitment, and sacriﬁce. “And so, my fellow Americans,” he proclaimed, “ask

not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

During his term, the president

and his beautiful young wife,

Jacqueline, invited many artists and

celebrities to the White House. In

addition, Kennedy often appeared

on television. The press loved his

charm and wit and helped to bolster

his image.

THE KENNEDY MYSTIQUE

Critics

of Kennedy’s presidency argued that

his smooth style lacked substance.

But the new ﬁrst family fascinated

the public. For example, after learn-

ing that JFK could read 1,600 words

a minute, thousands of people

enrolled in speed-reading courses.

The ﬁrst lady, too, captivated the

nation with her eye for fashion and

culture. It seemed the nation could

not get enough of the ﬁrst family.

Newspapers and magazines filled

their pages with pictures and stories

about the president’s young daugh-

ter Caroline and his infant son John.

With JFK’s youthful glamour and his talented advisers, the Kennedy White

House reminded many of a modern-day Camelot, the mythical court of King

Arthur. Coincidentally, the musical Camelot had opened on Broadway in 1960.

Years later, Jackie recalled her husband and the vision of Camelot.

A P

ERSONAL VOICE JACQUELINE KENNEDY

“ At night, before we’d go to sleep, Jack liked to play some records and the song

he loved most came at the very end of [the Camelot] record. The lines he loved to

hear were: ‘Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining

moment that was known as Camelot.’ There’ll be great presidents again . . . but

there’ll never be another Camelot again.

”

—quoted in Life magazine, John F. Kennedy Memorial Edition

THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST

Kennedy surrounded himself with a team of

advisers that one journalist called “the best and the brightest.” They included

McGeorge Bundy, a Harvard University dean, as national security adviser; Robert

McNamara, president of Ford Motor Company, as secretary of defense; and Dean

Rusk, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, as secretary of state. Of all the

advisers who ﬁlled Kennedy’s inner circle, he relied most heavily on his 35-year-

old brother Robert, whom he appointed attorney general.

672 C

HAPTER 20

President and

Mrs. Kennedy

enjoy time with

their children,

Caroline and John,

Jr., while

vacationing in

Hyannis Port,

Massachusetts.

▼

Background

The ﬁctional King

Arthur was based

on a real ﬁfth- or

sixth-century Celt.

In literature,

Arthur’s romantic

world is marked by

chivalry and

magic.

MAIN IDEA

Developing

Historical

Perspective

What factors

help explain the

public’s fascin-

ation with the

Kennedys?

B. Answers

The press por-

trayed the

Kennedys as a

young, attrac-

tive, energetic,

and stylish cou-

ple; attention to

arts and culture;

young children;

Kennedy’s elo-

quence; televi-

sion; an admir-

ing press.

670-678-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:46 PM Page 672

Page 3 of 9

A New Military Policy

From the beginning, Kennedy focused on the Cold War. He

thought the Eisenhower administration had not done

enough about the Soviet threat. The Soviets, he concluded,

were gaining loyalties in the economically less-developed

third-world countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He

blasted the Republicans for allowing communism to develop

in Cuba, at America’s doorstep.

DEFINING A MILITARY STRATEGY

Kennedy believed his

most urgent task was to redeﬁne the nation’s nuclear strategy.

The Eisenhower administration had relied on the policy of

massive retaliation to deter Soviet aggression and imperialism.

However, threatening to use nuclear arms over a minor con-

ﬂict was not a risk Kennedy wished to take. Instead, his team

developed a policy of ﬂexible response. Kennedy’s secretary

of defense, Robert McNamara, explained the policy.

A PERSONAL VOICE ROBERT S. MCNAMARA

“ The Kennedy administration worried that [the] reliance on

nuclear weapons gave us no way to respond to large non-

nuclear attacks without committing suicide. . . . We decided

to broaden the range of options by strengthening and mod-

ernizing the military’s ability to ﬁght a nonnuclear war.

”

—In Retrospect

Kennedy increased defense spending in order to boost

conventional military forces—nonnuclear forces such as

troops, ships, and artillery—and to create an elite branch of

the army called the Special Forces, or Green Berets. He also

tripled the overall nuclear capabilities of the United States. These changes enabled

the United States to ﬁght limited wars around the world while maintaining a

balance of nuclear power with the Soviet Union. However, even as Kennedy

hoped to reduce the risk of nuclear war, the world came perilously close to nuclear

war under his command as a crisis arose over the island of Cuba.

Crises over Cuba

The ﬁrst test of Kennedy’s foreign policy came in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast

of Florida. About two weeks before Kennedy took ofﬁce, on January 3, 1961,

President Eisenhower had cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba because of a rev-

olutionary leader named Fidel Castro. Castro openly declared himself a com-

munist and welcomed aid from the Soviet Union.

THE CUBAN DILEMMA

Castro gained power with the promise of democracy.

From 1956 to 1959, he led a guerrilla movement to topple dictator Fulgencio

Batista. He won control in 1959 and later told reporters, “Revolutionaries are not

born, they are made by poverty, inequality, and dictatorship.” He then promised

to eliminate these conditions from Cuba.

The United States was suspicious of Castro’s intentions but nevertheless

recognized the new government. However, when Castro seized three

American and British oil refineries, relations between the United States and

Cuba worsened. Castro also broke up commercial farms into communes that

would be worked by formerly landless peasants. American sugar companies,

The New Frontier and the Great Society 673

ANOTHER

EISENHOWER’S WARNING

The increase in defense spending

in the 1960s continued the trend

in which Defense Department

suppliers were becoming more

dominant in the American econo-

my. Before leaving ofﬁce,

President Eisenhower warned

against the dangers of what he

called the “military-industrial com-

plex.” He included in his parting

speech the following comments:

“This conjunction of an

immense military establishment

and a large arms industry is

new in the American experience.

The total inﬂuence—economic,

political, even spiritual—is felt in

every city, every statehouse,

every ofﬁce of the federal gov-

ernment. We recognize the

imperative need for this develop-

ment. Yet we must not fail to

comprehend its grave implica-

tions. . . . The potential for the

disastrous rise of misplaced

power exists and will persist.”

MAIN IDEA

Summarizing

What was the

goal of the

doctrine of ﬂexible

response?

Vocabulary

guerrilla: a soldier

who travels in a

small group,

harassing and

undermining the

enemy

Vocabulary

third world:

during the Cold

War, the

developing nations

not allied with

either the United

States or the

Soviet Union

C. Answer

To allow th e U.S.

to ﬁght limited

wars around the

world while

maintaining a

nuclear balance

of power with

the Soviets.

670-678-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:46 PM Page 673

Page 4 of 9

674 CHAPTER 20

Vocabulary

political

repression:

government

intimidation of

those with

different political

views

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Effects

What were the

consequences of

the failed invasion

for the United

States?

which controlled 75 percent of the crop land

in Cuba, appealed to the U.S. government for

help. In response, Congress erected trade barri-

ers against Cuban sugar.

Castro relied increasingly on Soviet aid—

and on the political repression of those who did

not agree with him. While some Cubans were

taken by his charisma and his willingness to

stand up to the United States, others saw Castro

as a tyrant who had replaced one dictatorship

with another. About 10 percent of Cuba’s popu-

lation went into exile, mostly to the United

States. Within the large exile community of

Miami, Florida, a counterrevolutionary move-

ment took shape.

THE BAY OF PIGS

In March 1960, President

Eisenhower gave the CIA permission to secretly

train Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba. The

CIA and the exiles hoped it would trigger a mass

uprising that would overthrow Castro. Kennedy

learned of the plan only nine days after his elec-

tion. Although he had doubts, he approved it.

On the night of April 17, 1961, some 1,300 to 1,500

Cuban exiles supported by the U.S. military landed on the

island’s southern coast at Bahia de Cochinos, the Bay of Pigs.

Nothing went as planned. An air strike had failed to knock out

the Cuban air force, although the CIA reported that it had suc-

ceeded. A small advance group sent to distract Castro’s forces

never reached shore. When the main commando unit landed,

it faced 25,000 Cuban troops backed up by Soviet tanks and jet

aircraft. Some of the invading exiles were killed, others impris-

oned.

The Cuban media sensationalized the defeat of “North

American mercenaries.” One United States commentator

observed that Americans “look like fools to our friends, rascals to our enemies,

and incompetents to the rest.” The disaster left Kennedy embarrassed. Publicly, he

accepted blame for the ﬁasco. Privately, he asked, “How could that crowd at the

CIA and the Pentagon be this wrong.”

Kennedy negotiated with Castro for the release of surviving commandos and

paid a ransom of $53 million in food and medical supplies. In a speech in Miami,

he promised exiles that they would one day return to a “free Havana.” Although

Kennedy warned that he would resist further Communist expansion in the

Western Hemisphere, Castro deﬁantly welcomed further Soviet aid.

THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Castro had a powerful ally in Moscow: Soviet

Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who promised to defend Cuba with Soviet arms.

During the summer of 1962, the ﬂow to Cuba of Soviet weapons—including

nuclear missiles—increased greatly. President Kennedy responded with a warning

that America would not tolerate offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba. Then, on

October 14, photographs taken by American planes revealed Soviet missile bases

in Cuba—and some contained missiles ready to launch. They could reach U.S.

cities in minutes.

On October 22, Kennedy informed an anxious nation of the existence of

Soviet missile sites in Cuba and of his plans to remove them. He made it clear that

any missile attack from Cuba would trigger an all-out attack on the Soviet Union.

(top) Castro

celebrates after

gaining power in

Cuba.

(above) The Bay

of Pigs mission

was said to have

blown up in

Kennedy’s face.

Image not available

or use on this CD-

ROM. Please refer

to the image in the

textbook.

Page 5 of 9

(

)

(

)

(

)

Guantanamo

New York

Washington, D.C.

Denver

Houston

Atlanta

Chicago

Havana

UNITED STATES

CUBA

Gulf

Mexico

Caribbean Sea

PACIFIC

OCEAN

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

40°N

30°N

110°W 80°W90°W

Missile complex

Possible missile path

Range of quarantine

U.S. military installation

0 200 400 kilometers

200 400 miles

OCT. 22

OCT. 24

OCT. 25 OCT. 28

OCT. 14

OCT. 22

OCT. 24

OCT. 25 OCT. 28

OCT. 14

U.S. spy planes reveal nuclear

missile sites in Cuba.

Kennedy tells the nation

of his intention to halt

the missile buildup.

Soviet ships

approaching Cuba

come to a halt.

Khrushchev announces

plan to remove missiles

from Cuba.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 675

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER

Movement About how long would it have

taken for a missile launched from Cuba to

reach New York?

Human-Environment Interaction

Why do you think it may have been important

for Soviet missiles to reach the U.S. cities

shown above?

Kennedy implements a naval

“quarantine” of Cuba, blocking

Soviet ships from reaching the

island. (below) A U.S. patrol plane

ﬂies over a Soviet freighter.

Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962

*Missile path times and distances

are approximate.

670-678-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:47 PM Page 675

Page 6 of 9

For the next six days, the world

faced the terrifying possibility of

nuclear war. In the Atlantic Ocean,

Soviet ships—presumably carrying

more missiles—headed toward

Cuba, while the U.S. Navy pre-

pared to quarantine Cuba and pre-

vent the ships from coming within

500 miles of it. In Florida, 100,000

troops waited—the largest inva-

sion force ever assembled in the

United States. C. Douglas Dillon,

Kennedy’s secretary of the treasury

and a veteran of nuclear diploma-

cy, recalled those tension-filled

days of October.

A P

ERSONAL VOICE

C. DOUGLAS DILLON

“ The only time I felt a fear of

nuclear war or a use of nuclear

weapons was on the very ﬁrst day,

when we’d decided that we had to

do whatever was necessary to get

the missiles out. There was

always some background fear of

what would eventually happen,

and I think this is what was

expressed when people said they

feared they would never see

another Saturday.

”

—quoted in On the Brink

The ﬁrst break in the crisis

occurred when the Soviet ships

stopped suddenly to avoid a con-

frontation at sea. Secretary of State

Dean Rusk said, “We are eyeball

to eyeball, and the other fellow just

blinked.” A few days later,

Khrushchev offered to remove the

missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba. The United States also

secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey. The leaders agreed, and the crisis

ended. “For a moment, the world had stood still,” Robert Kennedy wrote years later,

“and now it was going around again.”

KENNEDY AND KHRUSHCHEV TAKE THE HEAT

The crisis severely damaged

Khrushchev’s prestige in the Soviet Union and the world. Kennedy did not escape

criticism either. Some people criticized Kennedy for practicing brinkmanship

when private talks might have resolved the crisis without the threat of nuclear

war. Others believed he had passed up an ideal chance to invade Cuba and oust

Castro. (It was learned in the 1990s that the CIA had underestimated the num-

bers of Soviet troops and nuclear weapons on the island.)

The effects of the crisis lasted long after the missiles had been removed. Many

Cuban exiles blamed the Democrats for “losing Cuba” (a charge that Kennedy

had earlier leveled at the Republicans) and switched their allegiance to the GOP.

676 C

HAPTER 20

JOHN F. KENNEDY

1917–1963

John F. “Jack” Kennedy grew

up in a politically powerful

family that helped make his

dreams possible. His parents

instilled in him the drive to

accomplish great things.

During World War II he

enlisted in the navy and was

decorated for heroism. In

1946, he won his ﬁrst seat in

Congress from a Boston dis-

trict where he had never

lived. While a senator, he won

a Pulitzer Prize for his book

Proﬁles in Courage.

Although he radiated self-

conﬁdence, Kennedy suffered

many ailments, including

Addison’s disease—a debili-

tating condition that he

treated with daily injections

of cortisone. “At least one

half of the days that he spent

on this earth were days of

intense physical pain,”

recalled his brother Robert.

NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV

1894–1971

“No matter how humble a

man’s beginnings,” boasted

Nikita Khrushchev, “he

achieves the stature of the

ofﬁce to which he is elected.”

Khrushchev, the son of a

miner, became a Communist

Party organizer in the 1920s.

Within four years of Stalin’s

death in 1953, Khrushchev

had consolidated his power in

the Soviet Union.

During his regime, which

ended in 1964, Khrushchev

kept American nerves on

edge with alternately concilia-

tory and aggressive behavior.

During a 1959 trip to the

United States, he met for

friendly talks with President

Eisenhower. The next year, in

front of the UN General

Assembly, he took off his

shoe and angrily pounded it

on a desk to protest the U-2

incident.

670-678-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:47 PM Page 676

Page 7 of 9

Meanwhile, Castro closed Cuba’s doors to the exiles in November 1962 by ban-

ning all ﬂights to and from Miami. Three years later, hundreds of thousands of

people took advantage of an agreement that allowed Cubans to join relatives in

the United States. By the time Castro sharply cut down on exit permits in 1973,

the Cuban population in Miami had increased to about 300,000.

Crisis over Berlin

One goal that had guided Kennedy through the Cuban missile crisis was that of

proving to Khruschev his determination to contain communism. All the while,

Kennedy was thinking of their recent confrontation over Berlin, which had led to

the construction of the Berlin Wall, a concrete wall topped with barbed wire

that severed the city in two.

THE BERLIN CRISIS

In 1961, Berlin was a city in great tur-

moil. In the 11 years since the Berlin Airlift, almost 3 million

East Germans—20 percent of that country’s population—had

ﬂed into West Berlin because it was free from Communist

rule. These refugees advertised the failure of East Germany’s

Communist government. Their departure also dangerously

weakened that country’s economy.

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Effects

What were the

results of the

Cuban missile

crisis?

E. Answers

Kennedy staved

off war;

Khrushchev’s

prestige tar-

nished; many

Cuban exiles

blamed

Democrats for

“losing Cuba”

and switched

allegiance to

GOP; Castro limit-

ed exiles’ access

to Cuba.

The “death strip” stretched like a barren

moat around West Berlin, with patrols,

ﬂoodlights, electric fences, and vehicle

traps between the inner and outer walls.

Walls and other barriers 10–15 feet

high surrounded West Berlin. The

length of the barriers around the city

totaled about 110 miles.

Guard dogs and machine guns dis-

uaded most people from crossing

over illegally, yet some still dared.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 677

East

Berlin

West

Berlin

French

Zone

British

Zone

American

Zone

Checkpoint

Charlie

Brandenburg

Gate

0 4 kilometers

0 4 miles

THE BERLIN WALL, 1961

In 1961, Nikita Khrushchev, the

Soviet premier, ordered the Berlin

Wall built to stop the ﬂow of

refugees from East to West Berlin.

Most were seeking freedom from

Communist rule.

The wall isolated West Berlin

from a hostile German Democratic

Republic (GDR). Passing from East

to West was almost impossible

without the Communist govern-

ment's permission.

During the 28 years the wall was

standing, approximately 5,000 peo-

ple succeeded in ﬂeeing. Almost

200 people died in the attempt;

most were shot by the GDR border

guards. In 1989, East Germany

opened the Berlin Wall to cheering

crowds. Today the rubbled concrete

is a reminder of the Cold War ten-

sions between East and West.

The Berlin Wall was ﬁrst made of brick and barbed wire,

but was later erected in cement and steel.

Bonn

East

Berlin

West Berlin

NORTH

SEA

BALTIC SEA

FED. REP.

OF GERMANY

GER. DEM.

REPUBLIC

POL.

CZECH.

0 100 kilometers

0 100 miles

670-678-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:47 PM Page 677

Page 8 of 9

678 C

HAPTER 20

•John F. Kennedy

•ﬂexible response

•Fidel Castro

•Berlin Wall

•hot line

•Limited Test Ban Treaty

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its

signiﬁcance.

MAIN IDEA

2. TAKING NOTES

Using diagrams such as the one

below, list two outcomes for each of

these events: ﬁrst Kennedy-Nixon

debate, Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuban

missile crisis, and construction of

the Berlin Wall.

Which of these outcomes led

directly to other events listed here

or described in this section?

CRITICAL THINKING

3. EVALUATING DECISIONS

How well do you think President

Kennedy handled the Cuban missile

crisis? Justify your opinion with spe-

ciﬁc examples from the text.

Think About:

• Kennedy’s decision to impose a

naval “quarantine” of Cuba

• the nuclear showdown between

the superpowers

• Kennedy’s decision not to invade

Cuba

4. ANALYZING VISUAL SOURCES

Examine the cartoon above of

Kennedy (left) facing off with

Khrushchev and Castro. What do

you think the cartoonist was trying

to convey?

5. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

What kind of political statement was

made by the United States’ support

of West Berlin?

Outcome

Event

Outcome

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Motives

What led

Khrushchev to

erect the Berlin

Wall?

F. An sw er

Communists

wanted to stop

the ﬂow of East

German

refugees into

West Berlin and

further isolate

the thriving city.

Khrushchev realized that this problem had to be

solved. At a summit meeting in Vienna, Austria, in

June 1961, he threatened to sign a treaty with East

Germany that would enable that country to close all

the access roads to West Berlin. When Kennedy refused

to give up U.S. access to West Berlin, Khrushchev furi-

ously declared, “I want peace. But, if you want war,

that is your problem.”

After returning home, Kennedy told the nation in a tele-

vised address that Berlin was “the great testing place of

Western courage and will.” He pledged “[W]e cannot and will

not permit the Communists to drive us out of Berlin.”

Kennedy’s determination and America’s superior nuclear

striking power prevented Khrushchev from closing the air and

land routes between West Berlin and West Germany. Instead, the Soviet premier sur-

prised the world with a shocking decision. Just after midnight on August 13, 1961,

East German troops began to unload concrete posts and rolls of barbed wire along

the border. Within days, the Berlin Wall was erected, separating East Germany from

West Germany.

The construction of the Berlin Wall ended the Berlin crisis but further aggra-

vated Cold War tensions. The wall and its armed guards successfully reduced the

ﬂow of East German refugees to a tiny trickle, thus solving Khrushchev’s main

problem. At the same time, however, the wall became an ugly symbol of

Communist oppression.

SEARCHING FOR WAYS TO EASE TENSIONS

Showdowns between Kennedy and

Khrushchev made both leaders aware of the gravity of split-second decisions that

separated Cold War peace from nuclear disaster. Kennedy, in particular, searched for

ways to tone down his hard-line stance. In 1963, he announced that the two nations

had established a hot line between the White House and the Kremlin. This dedi-

cated phone enabled the leaders of the two countries to communicate at once should

another crisis arise. Later that year, the United States and Soviet Union also agreed

to a Limited Test Ban Treaty that barred nuclear testing in the atmosphere.

“ I want peace.

But, if you want

war, that is your

problem.”

SOVIET PREMIER

NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV

▼

Reading from this note card during a

speech in West Berlin, Kennedy

proclaimed “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I am

a Berliner”).

670-678-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:47 PM Page 678

Page 9 of 9

Terms & Names

MAIN IDEA

•New Frontier

•mandate

•Peace Corps

•Alliance for

Progress

•Warren Commission

While Kennedy had trouble

getting his ideas for a New

Frontier passed, several goals

were achieved.

Kennedy’s space program

continues to generate scientiﬁc

and engineering advances that

beneﬁt Americans.

WHY IT MATTERS NOW

The New Frontier and the Great Society 679

One American's Story

The New Frontier

On May 5, 1961, American astronaut Alan Shepard climbed

into Freedom 7, a tiny capsule on top of a huge rocket boost-

er. The capsule left the earth’s atmosphere in a ball of ﬁre and

returned the same way, and Shepard became the first

American to travel into space. Years later, he recalled his

emotions when a naval crew ﬁshed him out of the Atlantic.

A PERSONAL VOICE ALAN SHEPARD

“ Until the moment I stepped out of the ﬂight deck . . .

I hadn’t realized the intensity of the emotions and feel-

ings that so many people had for me, for the other

astronauts, and for the whole manned space program.

. . . I was very close to tears as I thought, it’s no

longer just our ﬁght to get ‘out there.’ The struggle

belongs to everyone in America. . . . From now on

there was no turning back.

”

—Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon

The entire trip—which took only 15 minutes from

liftoff to splashdown—reafﬁrmed the belief in American ingenuity.

John F. Kennedy inspired many Americans with the same kind of belief.

The Promise of Progress

Kennedy set out to transform his broad vision of progress into what he called the

New Frontier. “We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier,” Kennedy had

announced upon accepting the nomination for president. He called on Americans

to be “new pioneers” and explore “uncharted areas of science and space, . . .

unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of

poverty and surplus.”

Kennedy had difﬁculty turning his vision into reality, however. He offered

Congress proposals to provide medical care for the aged, rebuild blighted urban

areas, and aid education, but he couldn’t gather enough votes. Kennedy faced the

same conservative coalition of Republicans and Southern Democrats that had

▼

Astronaut Alan Shepard

(inset) prepares to enter

the space capsule for his

Mercury ﬂight.

679-683-Chapter 20 10/28/02 3:13 PM Page 679

Page 1 of 5

blocked Truman’s Fair Deal, and he showed little skill in pushing

his domestic reform measures through Congress. Since Kennedy

had been elected by the slimmest of margins, he lacked a popular

mandate—a clear indication that voters approved of his plans.

As a result, he often tried to play it safe politically. Nevertheless,

Kennedy did persuade Congress to enact measures to boost the

economy, build the national defense, provide international aid,

and fund a massive space program.

STIMULATING THE ECONOMY

One domestic problem the

Kennedy team tackled was the economy. By 1960 America was

in a recession. Unemployment hovered around 6 percent, one

of the highest levels since World War II. During the campaign,

Kennedy had criticized the Eisenhower administration for fail-

ing to stimulate growth. The American economy, he said,

was lagging behind those of other Western democracies and

the Soviet Union.

Kennedy’s advisers pushed for the use of deﬁcit spend-

ing, which had been the basis for Roosevelt’s New Deal. They

said that stimulating economic growth depended on increased

government spending and lower taxes, even if it meant that

the government spent more than it took in.

Accordingly, the proposals Kennedy sent to Congress in

1961 called for increased spending. The Department of

Defense received a nearly 20 percent budget increase for new

nuclear missiles, nuclear submarines, and an expansion of the

armed services. Congress also approved a package that

increased the minimum wage to $1.25 an hour, extended

unemployment insurance, and provided assistance to cities

with high unemployment.

ADDRESSING POVERTY ABROAD

One of the first campaign promises

Kennedy fulﬁlled was the creation of the Peace Corps, a program of volunteer

assistance to the developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Critics in

the United States called the program “Kennedy’s Kiddie Korps” because many vol-

unteers were just out of college. Some foreign observers questioned whether

Americans could understand

other cultures.

Despite these reservations,

the Peace Corps became a huge

success. People of all ages and

backgrounds signed up to work

as agricultural advisers, teach-

ers, or health aides or to do

whatever work the host coun-

try needed. By 1968, more

than 35,000 volunteers had

served in 60 nations around

the world.

Asecondforeignaid

program, the Alliance for

Progress, offered economic

and technical assistance to

Latin American countries.

Between 1961 and 1969, the

United States invested almost

680 C

HAPTER 20

WHAT IS A RECESSION?

A recession is, in a general sense,

a moderate slowdown of the econ-

omy marked by increased unem-

ployment and reduced personal

consumption. In 1961, the

nation's jobless rate climbed from

just under 6 percent to nearly 7

percent. Personal consumption of

several major items declined that

year, as people worried about job

security and spent less money.

Car sales, for example, dropped

by more than $1 billion from the

previous year, while fewer people

took overseas vacations. Perhaps

the surest sign that the country

had entered a recession was the

admission by government ofﬁcials

of how bleak things were. “We are

in a full-ﬂedged recession,” Labor

Secretary Arthur Goldberg declared

in February of 1961. (See reces-

sion on page R44 in the

Economics Handbook.)

A Peace Corps

volunteer gives a

ride to a Nigerian

girl.

Background

See deﬁcit

spending on page

R39 in the

Economics

Handbook.

MAIN IDEA

Identifying

Problems

Why did

Kennedy have

difﬁculty achieving

many of his New

Frontier goals?

A. Answer

He lacked the

votes in

Congress and a

popular mandate.

▼

679-683-Chapter 20 10/28/02 3:13 PM Page 680

Page 2 of 5

U.S. Space Race Expenditures, 1959–1975

Source: NASA

Government Expenditures

for Space Activities

Geographical Distribution of

NASA Contracts (1961–1975)

Spending (in billions of dollars)

Other

States 39%

$15.6 billion

New York 9%

$3.4 billion

Florida 7%

$2.8 billion

California 39%

$15.4 billion

Texas 6%

$2.5 billion

’59 ’61 ’63 ’65 ’67 ’69 ’71 ’73 ’75

SKILLBUILDER

Interpreting Graphs and Charts

In which year did the federal government spend the most money on the space race?

What state beneﬁted the most?

$12 billion in Latin America, in part to deter these countries

from picking up Fidel Castro’s revolutionary ideas. While the

money brought some development to the region, it didn’t

bring fundamental reforms.

RACE TO THE MOON

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut

Yuri A. Gagarin became the ﬁrst human in space. Kennedy saw

this as a challenge and decided that America would surpass the

Soviets by sending a man to the moon.

In less than a month the United States had duplicated the

Soviet feat. Later that year, a communications satellite called

Telstar relayed live television pictures across the Atlantic Ocean

from Maine to Europe. Meanwhile, America’s National

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had begun to

construct new launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and a

mission control center in Houston, Texas. America’s pride and

prestige were restored. Speaking before a crowd at Houston’s Rice

University, Kennedy expressed the spirit of “the space race.”

A PERSONAL VOICE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY

“ We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the

other things, not because they are easy, but because they are

hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the

best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one

that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to post-

pone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

”

—Address on the Nation’s Space Effort, September 12, 1962

Seven years later, on July 20, 1969, the U.S. would achieve

its goal. An excited nation watched with bated breath as U.S.

astronaut Neil Armstrong took his ﬁrst steps on the moon.

As a result of the space program, universities expanded their science pro-

grams. The huge federal funding for research and development gave rise to new

industries and new technologies, many of which could be used in business and

industry and also in new consumer goods. Space- and defense-related industries

sprang up in the Southern and Western states, which grew rapidly.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 681

HISTORICAL

JOHNSON AND

MISSION CONTROL

President Kennedy appointed

Vice President Johnson as chair-

man of the National Aeronautics

and Space Council shortly after

they assumed ofﬁce in 1961. The

chairman’s duties were vague,

but Johnson spelled them out:

“He is to advise the president of

what this nation’s space policy

ought to be.” And Johnson’s

advice was to land a man on the

moon.

A new home for the moon pro-

gram’s Manned Spacecraft

Center was created. Some NASA

administrators had wanted to

consolidate the center and the

launch site in Florida. However,

when Johnson’s friends at

Humble Oil donated land to Rice

University, which sold 600 acres

to NASA and donated the rest,

the debate was over. Houston

became the center of the new

space program.

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Motives

Why did

Kennedy want to

invest in foreign

aid?

B. Answer

To help develop-

ing countries

and to create a

strong U.S.

presence to

counter commu-

nist inﬂuence.

C. Answer

It improved edu-

cation, particu-

larly in science

and math, and

spurred many

businesses

and industries.

Skillbuilder

Answers

1. 1965

2. California

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Effects

What effect

did the space

program have on

other areas of

American life?

679-683-Chapter 20 10/28/02 3:14 PM Page 681

Page 3 of 5

ADDRESSING DOMESTIC PROBLEMS

While progress was being made on the

new frontiers of space exploration and international aid, many Americans

suffered at home. In 1962, the problem of poverty in America was brought to

national attention in Michael Harrington’s book The Other America. Harrington

proﬁled the 50 million people in America who scraped by each year on less than

$1,000 per person. The number of poor shocked many Americans.

While Harrington awakened the nation to the nightmare of poverty, the ﬁght

against segregation took hold. Throughout the South, demonstrators raised their

voices in what would become some of the most controversial civil rights battles of

the 1960s. (See Chapter 21.) Kennedy had not pushed aggressively for legislation

on the issues of poverty and civil rights, although he effected changes by execu-

tive action. However, now he felt that it was time to live up to a campaign promise.

In 1963, Kennedy began to focus more closely on the issues at home. He called

for a “national assault on the causes of poverty.” He also ordered Robert Kennedy’s

Justice Department to investigate racial injustices in the South. Finally, he present-

ed Congress with a sweeping civil rights bill and a proposal to cut taxes by over

$10 billion.

Tragedy in Dallas

In the fall of 1963, public opinion polls showed that Kennedy was losing popu-

larity because of his advocacy of civil rights. Yet most still supported their beloved

president. No one could foresee the terrible national tragedy just ahead.

FOUR DAYS IN NOVEMBER

On the sunny morning of November 22, 1963, Air

Force One, the presidential aircraft, landed in Dallas, Texas. President and Mrs.

Kennedy had come to Texas to mend political fences with members of the state’s

Democratic Party. Kennedy had expected a cool reception from the conservative

state, but he basked instead in warm waves of applause from crowds that lined the

streets of downtown Dallas.

Jacqueline and her husband sat in the back seat of an open-air limousine. In

front of them sat Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie. As the car

approached a state building known as the Texas School Book Depository, Nellie

Connally turned to Kennedy and said, “You can’t say that Dallas isn’t friendly to you

today.” A few seconds later, riﬂe shots

rang out, and Kennedy was shot in the

head. His car raced to a nearby hospital,

where doctors frantically tried to revive

him, but it was too late. President

Kennedy was dead.

As the tragic news spread through

America’s schools, ofﬁces, and homes,

people reacted with disbelief. Questions

were on everyone’s lips: Who had killed

the president, and why? What would

happen next?

MAIN IDEA

Making

Inferences

In what

directions did

President Kennedy

seem to be taking

his administration

in 1963?

D. Answer

Tow ard ta king

more action on

domestic prob-

lems, including

poverty, civil

rights, and the

economy.

Image not available

for use on CD-ROM.

Please refer to the

image in the textbook.

679-683-Chapter 20 10/28/02 3:14 PM Page 682

Page 4 of 5

During the next four days, television became “the window

of the world.” A photograph of a somber Lyndon Johnson tak-

ing the oath of ofﬁce aboard the presidential airplane was

broadcast. Soon, audiences watched as Dallas police charged

Lee Harvey Oswald with the murder. His palm print had been

found on the riﬂe used to kill John F. Kennedy.

The 24-year-old Marine had a suspicious past. After receiv-

ing a dishonorable discharge, Oswald had brieﬂy lived in the

Soviet Union, and he supported Castro. On Sunday, November

24, as millions watched live television coverage of Oswald

being transferred between jails, a nightclub owner named Jack

Ruby broke through the crowd and shot and killed Oswald.

The next day, all work stopped for Kennedy’s funeral as

America mourned its fallen leader. The assassination and

televised funeral became a historic event. Americans who

were alive then can still recall what they were doing when

they ﬁrst heard about the shooting of their president.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

The bizarre chain of events

made some people wonder if Oswald was part of a conspiracy.

In 1963, the Warren Commission investigated and con-

cluded that Oswald had shot the president while acting on his

own. Later, in 1979, a reinvestigation concluded that Oswald

was part of a conspiracy. Investigators also said that two per-

sons may have ﬁred at the president. Numerous other people

have made investigations. Their explanations have ranged

from a plot by anti-Castro Cubans, to a Communist-spon-

sored attack, to a conspiracy by the CIA.

What Americans did learn from the Kennedy assassina-

tion was that their system of government is remarkably stur-

dy. A crisis that would have crippled a dictatorship did not prevent a smooth tran-

sition to the presidency of Lyndon Johnson. In a speech to Congress, Johnson

expressed his hope that “from the brutal loss of our leader we will derive not

weakness but strength.” Not long after, Johnson drove through Congress the

most ambitious domestic legislative package since the New Deal.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 683

KENNEDY’S ASSASSINATION

From the beginning, people have

questioned the Warren Commis-

sion report. Amateur investiga-

tors have led to increasing public

pressure on the government to

tell all it knows about the assas-

sination.

In response, Congress passed

the JFK Records Act in 1992,

which created a panel to review

government and private ﬁles and

decide which should be part of

the public record.

Since the law was enacted,

newly declassiﬁed information has

added some weight to a body of

evidence that JFK was shot from

the front (the Warren Commission

had concluded that a single bullet

struck the president from behind)

and that Oswald, thus, could not

have acted alone. While such evi-

dence challenges the Warren

Commission’s report, no informa-

tion has yet surfaced that conclu-

sively disproves its ﬁndings.

•New Frontier

•mandate

•Peace Corps

•Alliance for Progress

•Warren Commission

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its signiﬁcance.

MAIN IDEA

2. TAKING NOTES

Re-create the web shown and ﬁll it in

with programs of the New Frontier.

Which do you think was most

successful? Why?

CRITICAL THINKING

3. ANALYZING MOTIVES

Why do you think Congress was so

enthusiastic about allocating funds

for the space program but rejected

spending in education, social

services, and other pressing needs?

4. MAKING INFERENCES

Why do you think Kennedy lost

popularity for supporting civil rights?

5. EVALUATING LEADERSHIP

Do you think President Kennedy was

a successful leader? Explain your

viewpoint. Think About:

• the reasons for his popularity

• the goals he expressed

• his foreign policy

• his legislative record

The New Frontier

Vocabulary

conspiracy: an

agreement by two

or more persons

to take illegal

political action

MAIN IDEA

Contrasting

How did

the Warren

Commission’s

ﬁndings differ from

other theories?

E. Answer

It declared that

Oswald acted

alone, while oth-

ers claimed a

conspiracy.

679-683-Chapter 20 10/28/02 3:14 PM Page 683

Page 5 of 5

686 C

HAPTER 20

Terms & Names

MAIN IDEA

One American's Story

The Great Society

•Lyndon Baines

Johnson

•Economic

Opportunity Act

•Great Society

•Medicare and

Medicaid

•Immigration Act

of 1965

•Warren Cour t

•reapportionment

The demand for reform helped

create a new awareness of

social problems, especially on

matters of civil rights and the

effects of poverty.

Reforms made in the 1960s

have had a lasting effect on

the American justice system

by increasing the rights of

minorities.

WHY IT MATTERS NOW

In 1966, family ﬁnances forced Larry Alfred to drop out of high

school in Mobile, Alabama. He turned to the Job Corps, a federal

program that trained young people from poor backgrounds. He

learned to operate construction equipment, but his dream was to

help people. On the advice of his Job Corps counselor, he joined

VISTA—Volunteers in Service to America—often called the “domes-

tic Peace Corps.”

Both the Job Corps and VISTA sprang into being in 1964, when

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act.

This law was the main offensive of Johnson’s “war on poverty” and

a cornerstone of the Great Society.

VISTA assigned Alfred to work with a community of poor farm

laborers in Robstown, Texas, near the Mexican border. There he found

a number of children with mental and physical disabilities who had

no special assistance, education, or training. So he established the

Robstown Association for Retarded People, started a parents educa-

tion program, sought state funds, and created a rehabilitation center.

At age 20, Larry Alfred was a high school dropout, Job Corps graduate, VISTA

volunteer, and in Robstown, an authority on people with disabilities. Alfred

embodied Johnson’s Great Society in two ways: its programs helped him turn his

life around, and he made a difference in people’s lives.

LBJ’s Path to Power

By the time Lyndon Baines Johnson, or LBJ, as he was called, succeeded to the

presidency, his ambition and drive had become legendary. In explaining his fre-

netic energy, Johnson once remarked, “That’s the way I’ve been all my life. My

daddy used to wake me up at dawn and shake my leg and say, ‘Lyndon, every boy

in town’s got an hour’s head start on you.’”

FROM THE TEXAS HILLS TO CAPITOL HILL

A fourth-generation Texan,

Johnson grew up in the dry Texas hill country of Blanco County. The Johnsons

never knew great wealth, but they also never missed a meal.

▼

VISTA volunteers

worked in a variety of

capacities. This

woman is teaching

art to young pupils.

686-693-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:48 PM Page 686

Page 1 of 8

LBJ entered politics in 1937 when he won a special elec-

tion to ﬁll a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Johnson styled himself as a “New Dealer” and spokesperson

for the small ranchers and struggling farmers of his district.

He caught the eye of President Franklin Roosevelt, who took

Johnson under his wing. Roosevelt helped him secure key

committee assignments in Congress and steer much-needed

electriﬁcation and water projects to his Texas district. Johnson,

in turn, idolized FDR and imitated his leadership style.

Once in the House, Johnson eagerly eyed a seat in the

Senate. In 1948, after an exhausting, bitterly fought cam-

paign, he won the Democratic primary election for the

Senate by a margin of only 87 votes out of 988,000.

A MASTER POLITICIAN

Johnson proved himself a master

of party politics and behind-the-scenes maneuvering, and

he rose to the position of Senate majority leader in 1955.

People called his legendary ability to persuade senators to

support his bills the “LBJ treatment.” As a reporter for the

Saturday Evening Post explained, Johnson also used this

treatment to win over reporters.

A PERSONAL VOICE STEWART ALSOP

“ The Majority Leader [Johnson] was, it seemed, in a

relaxed, friendly, reminiscent mood. But by gradual stages

this mood gave way to something rather like a human hurri-

cane. Johnson was up, striding about his ofﬁce, talking with-

out pause, occasionally leaning over, his nose almost touch-

ing the reporter’s, to shake the reporter’s shoulder or grab

his knee. . . . Appeals were made, to the Almighty, to the

shades of the departed great, to the reporter’s ﬁner

instincts and better nature, while the reporter, unable to get

a word in edgewise, sat collapsed upon a leather sofa, eyes

glazed, mouth half open.

”

—“The New President,” Saturday Evening Post, December 14, 1963

Johnson’s deft handling of Congress led to the passage

of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, a voting rights measure that

was the ﬁrst civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.

Johnson’s knack for achieving legislative results had cap-

tured John F. Kennedy’s attention, too, during Kennedy’s

run for the White House. To Kennedy, Johnson’s congres-

sional connections and his Southern Protestant background compensated for his

own drawbacks as a candidate, so he asked Johnson to be his running mate.

Johnson’s presence on the ticket helped Kennedy win key states in the South,

especially Texas, which went Democratic by just a few thousand votes.

Johnson’s Domestic Agenda

In the wake of Kennedy’s assassination, President Johnson addressed a joint ses-

sion of Congress. It was the ﬁfth day of his administration. “All I have I would

have given gladly not to be standing here today,” he began. Kennedy had inspired

Americans to begin to solve national and world problems. Johnson urged Congress

to pass the civil rights and tax-cut bills that Kennedy had sent to Capitol Hill.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 687

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Motives

Why did

Kennedy choose

Johnson to be his

running mate?

A. Answer

Johnson

brought balance

to the ticket

because of his

experience and

inﬂuence in

Congress and

his Southern

Protestant back-

ground.

LYN DON B. JOHN SON

1908–1973

LBJ received his teaching degree

from Southwest Texas State

Tea chers College in 19 30 . To ﬁ-

nance his own education, Johnson

took a year off from college to

work at a Mexican-American

school in Cotulla, Texas. He later

taught public speaking and

debate at the Sam Houston High

School in Houston. At age 26, he

became the state director of the

National Youth Administration, a

New Deal agency.

As president, Johnson pushed

hard for the passage of the

Elementary and Secondary

Education Act. In 1965, he

signed the act at the one-room

schoolhouse near Stonewall,

Tex as, where his o wn education

had begun. Johnson later wrote,

“My education had begun with

what I learned in that school-

room. Now what I had learned

and experienced since that time

had brought me back to fulﬁll a

dream.”

686-693-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:48 PM Page 687

Page 2 of 8

In February 1964 Congress passed a tax reduction of

over $10 billion into law. As the Democrats had hoped, the

tax cut spurred economic growth. People spent more,

which meant proﬁts for businesses, which increased tax

revenues and lowered the federal budget deﬁcit from $6 bil-

lion in 1964 to $4 billion in 1966.

Then in July, Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act of

1964 through Congress, persuading Southern senators to

stop blocking its passage. It prohibited discrimination based

on race, religion, national origin, and sex and granted the

federal government new powers to enforce its provisions.

THE WAR ON POVERTY

Following these successes, LBJ

pressed on with his own agenda—to alleviate poverty. Early

in 1964, he had declared “unconditional war on poverty in

America” and proposed sweeping legislation designed to

help Americans “on the outskirts of hope.”

In August 1964, Congress enacted the Economic

Opportunity Act (EOA), approving nearly $1 billion

for youth programs, antipoverty measures, small-business

loans, and job training. The EOA legislation created:

• the Job Corps Youth Training Program

• VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America)

• Project Head Start, an education program for underpriv-

ileged preschoolers

• the Community Action Program, which encouraged

poor people to participate in public-works programs.

THE 1964 ELECTION

In 1964, the Republicans nominat-

ed conservative senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona to

oppose Johnson. Goldwater believed the federal govern-

ment had no business trying to right social and economic

wrongs such as poverty, discrimination, and lack of oppor-

tunity. He attacked such long-established federal programs

as Social Security, which he wanted to make voluntary, and

the Tennessee Valley Authority, which he wanted to sell.

In 1964, most American people were in tune with

Johnson—they believed that government could and should

help solve the nation’s problems. Moreover, Goldwater had

frightened many Americans by suggesting that he might use nuclear weapons on

Cuba and North Vietnam. Johnson’s campaign capitalized on this fear. It produced

a chilling television commercial in which a picture of a little girl counting the petals

on a daisy dissolved into a mushroom cloud created by an

atomic bomb. Where Goldwater advocated interven-

tion in Vietnam, Johnson assured the American peo-

ple that sending U.S. troops there “would offer no

solution at all to the real problem of Vietnam.”

LBJ won the election by a landslide, win-

ning 61 percent of the popular vote and 486

electoral votes, while Senator Goldwater won

only 52. The Democrats also increased their

majority in Congress. For the ﬁrst time since

1938, a Democratic president did not need the

votes of conservative Southern Democrats in order

to get laws passed. Now Johnson could launch his

reform program in earnest.

688 C

HAPTER 20

THE WAR IN VIETNAM

As LBJ pushed through his

domestic programs, the U.S. grew

more interested in halting the

spread of communism around the

world. In Vietnam, anti-

Communist nationalists controlled

South Vietnam while Communist

leader Ho Chi Minh had taken

over North Vietnam. The Geneva

Accords had temporarily provided

peace, dividing Vietnam along the

17th parallel into two distinct

political regions. Despite this

treaty, the North was supporting

Communist rebels who were try-

ing to take over the South.

Though Presidents Eisenhower

and Kennedy had provided eco-

nomic and military aid to South

Vietnam, soon the U.S. would be

directly involved in ﬁghting the war.

17th Parallel

Gulf of

Tonkin

South

China Sea

Gulf

Thailand

Hanoi

Saigon

LAOS

CHINA

THAILAND

NORTH

VIETNAM

CAMBODIA

SOUTH

VIETNAM

Background

See poverty on

page R43 in the

Economics

Handbook.

Campaign

buttons like this

one capitalized on

the nation’s

growing liberal

democratic

sentiments.

▼

B. Answer

Poverty and lack

of opportunity.

MAIN IDEA

Identifying

Problems

What

problems in

American society

did the Economic

Opportunity Act

seek to address?

686-693-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:48 PM Page 688

Page 3 of 8

Building the Great Society

In May 1964, Johnson had summed up his vision for America in a phrase: the

Great Society. In a speech at the University of Michigan, Johnson outlined a

legislative program that would end poverty and racial injustice. But, he told an

enthusiastic crowd, that was “just the beginning.” Johnson envisioned a legisla-

tive program that would create not only a higher standard of living and equal

opportunity, but also promote a richer quality of life for all.

A PERSONAL VOICE LY N D ON B . J O HN S O N

“ The Great Society is a place where every child can ﬁnd knowledge to enrich his

mind and to enlarge his talents. It is a place where leisure is a welcome chance to

build and reﬂect, not a feared cause of boredom and restlessness. It is a place

where the city of man serves not only the needs of the body and the demands of

commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community. It is a place

where man can renew contact with nature. It is a place which honors creation for

its own sake and for what it adds to the understanding of the race.

”

—“The Great Society,” May 22, 1964

Like his idol FDR, LBJ wanted to change America. By the time Johnson left

the White House in 1969, Congress had passed 206 of his measures. The president

personally led the battle to get most of them passed.

EDUCATION

During 1965 and 1966, the LBJ administration introduced a ﬂurry

of bills to Congress. Johnson considered education “the key which can unlock

the door to the Great Society.” The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

1965 provided more than $1 billion in federal aid to help public and parochial

schools purchase textbooks and new library materials. This was the ﬁrst major

federal aid package for education in the nation’s history.

The New Frontier and the Great Society 689

These

preschoolers in

a Head Start

classroom are

among the

millions of

Americans whose

daily lives have

been affected by

Great Society

programs.

▼

686-693-Chapter 20 10/21/02 5:48 PM Page 689

Page 4 of 8

Great Society Programs, 1964–1967

HEALTHCARE

LBJ and Congress changed Social Security by establishing

Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare provided hospital insurance and low-cost

medical insurance for almost every American age 65 or older. Medicaid extend-

ed health insurance to welfare recipients.

HOUSING

Congress also made several important decisions that shifted the

nation’s political power from rural to urban areas. These decisions included:

appropriating money to build some 240,000 units of low-rent public housing and

helping low- and moderate-income families pay for better private housing; estab-

lishing the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); and appoint-

ing Robert Weaver, the ﬁrst African-American cabinet member in American his-

tory, as Secretary of HUD.

690 C

HAPTER 20

POVERTY

1964 Tax Reduction Act cut corporate and

individual taxes to stimulate growth.

1964 Economic Opportunity Act created Job

Corps, VISTA, Project Head Start, and other

programs to ﬁght the “war on poverty.”

1965 Medicare Act established Medicare and

Medicaid programs.

1965 Appalachian Regional Development Act

targeted aid for highways, health centers,

and resource development in that

economically depressed area.

CITIES

1965 Omnibus Housing Act provided money

for low-income housing.

1965 Department of Housing and Urban

Development was formed to administer

federal housing programs.

1966 Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan

Area Redevelopment Act funded slum

rebuilding, mass transit, and other

improvements for selected “model cities.”

EDUCATION

1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act

directed money to schools for textbooks,

library materials, and special education.

1965 Higher Education Act funded scholarships

and low-interest loans for college students.

1965 National Foundation on the Arts and the

Humanities was created to ﬁnancially assist

painters, musicians, actors, and other artists.

1967 Corporation for Public Broadcasting was

formed to fund educational TV and radio

broadcasting.

ENVIRONMENT

1965 Wilderness Preservation Act set aside over

9 million acres for national forest lands.

1965 Water Quality Act required states to clean

up their rivers.

1965 Clean Air Act Amendment directed the

federal government to establish emission

standards for new motor vehicles.

1967 Air Quality Act set federal air pollution guide-

lines and extended federal enforcement power.

DISCRIMINATION

1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination in

public accommodations, housing, and jobs;

increased federal power to prosecute civil

rights abuses.

1964 Twenty-Fourth Amendment abolished the

poll tax in federal elections.

1965 Voting Rights Act ended the practice of

requiring voters to pass literacy tests and

permitted the federal government to monitor

voter registration.

1965 Immigration Act ended national-origins

quotas established in 1924.

CONSUMER ADVOCACY

1966 Truth in Packaging Act set standards for

labeling consumer products.

1966 National Trafﬁc and Motor Vehicle Safety

Act set federal safety standards for the

auto and tire industries.

1966 Highway Safety Act required states to set

up highway safety programs.

1966 Department of Transportation was created

to deal with national air, rail, and highway

transportation.

SKILLBUILDER

Interpreting Charts

What did the Great Society programs indicate about the federal government’s changing role?

MAIN IDEA

Comparing

How are

Medicare and

Medicaid similar?

C. Answer

Both provide

government-

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