Kennedy and the New Frontier

Module 23: An Era of Social Change

• Significant and lasting changes are created when the Kennedy and Johnson administrations pushed for social reforms from within the government.
• Citizens banded together to create movements that changed the social climate in the 1960s and 1970s.

Lesson 1: Kennedy and the New Frontier

• John F. Kennedy brought energy, initiative, and important new ideas to the presidency.
• Kennedy's programs and proposals addressed important social issues and laid the groundwork for reforms to make America more innovative and progressive.
• John F. Kennedy was elected as the 35th president of the United States in January 1961.
• Kennedy challenged Americans to confront the "iron tyranny" of communism.
• Kennedy’s new generation of Americans were tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, and proud of their ancient heritage.
• The Democratic presidential nominee, John Kennedy, promised active leadership to get America moving again.
• His Republican opponent, Vice-President Richard M. Nixon, hoped to win by riding on Eisenhower's popularity.
• Television and the civil rights issue helped Kennedy win over Nixon.
• Kennedy and Nixon participated in the first televised debate between presidential candidates on September 26, 1960, watched by 70 million TV viewers.
• Kennedy was coached by television producers and looked and spoke better than Nixon.
• Radio listeners thought Nixon narrowly won, but television viewers gave Kennedy the edge.
• Kennedy's success in the debate launched the television age in American politics.
• Nixon and Kennedy's debate was the first of four televised debates between presidential candidates.
• Kennedy phoned Coretta Scott King to express sympathy when Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested.
• Robert Kennedy persuaded the judge to release King on bail, pending appeal.
• News of the incident captured the attention of the African American community, and their votes helped Kennedy carry key states.
• Kennedy's inauguration set the tone for a new era at the White House: one of grace, elegance, and wit.
• Kennedy's inspiring speech called for hope, commitment, and sacrifice.
• The president and his wife, Jacqueline, invited many artists and celebrities to the White House.
• Kennedy often appeared on television and the press loved his charm and wit.
• Kennedy surrounded himself with a team called “the best and the brightest".
• Key advisors included McGeorge Bundy, Robert McNamara, and Dean Rusk.
• Kennedy often promoted his plans for changing the nation in his campaign speeches.
• He then sought to transform his broad vision of progress into what he called the New Frontier.
• Kennedy called on Americans to be “new pioneers” and explore “uncharted areas of science and space".
• Part of Kennedy's New Frontier plans included proposals to provide medical care for the aged, rebuild urban areas, and improve education, but he couldn't gather enough votes.
• Kennedy did persuade Congress to enact measures to boost the economy, build national defense, provide international aid, and fund a massive space program.
• Kennedy also succeeded in making significant improvements to education through measures such as increasing funding to school libraries.
• He also allocated special funds to teach children with specialized needs and expanded opportunities for vocational training.
• By 1960, America was in a recession with increased unemployment and reduced personal consumption.
• Jobless rates climbed from under 6% to 7%
• Kennedy's advisers pushed for deficit spending, like Roosevelt's New Deal, to stimulate economic growth.
• The proposals Kennedy sent to Congress in 1961 called for increased spending.
• The Department of Defense received a nearly 20% budget increase for new nuclear missiles and submarines.
• Congress approved a package that increased the minimum wage to $1.25 an hour and extended unemployment insurance.
• One of the first campaign promises Kennedy fulfilled was the creation of the Peace Corps.
• The Peace Corp offered volunteer assistance to developing nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
• Critics in the United States called the program “Kennedy's Kiddie Korps"
• By 1968, more than 35,000 volunteers had served in 60 nations.
• A second foreign aid program, the Alliance for Progress, offered economic and technical assistance to Latin American countries.
• The United States invested almost $12 billion in Latin America from 1961 to 1969.
• The fight against segregation took hold, and demonstrators raised their voices in civil rights battles in the 1960s.
• Kennedy had introduced affirmative action policies to place more African Americans in federal jobs.
• Kennedy began to focus more closely on the issues at home in 1963 and called for a national assault on poverty's causes.
• Kennedy asked for Robert Kennedy's Justice Department to investigate racial injustices in the South.
• Kennedy presented Congress with a civil rights bill and a proposal to cut taxes by $10 billion.
• On November 22, 1963, Air Force One landed in Dallas, Texas.
• A few moments after Nellie Connally complimented Kennedy, rifle shots rang out and Kennedy was shot in the head.
• News spread through America's schools, offices, and homes, and the public reacted with disbelief.
• Throughout the next four days, television became the window of the world.
• Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office aboard the presidential airplane.
• Dallas police charged Lee Harvey Oswald with the murder with his palm print found on the rifle.
• Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner, shot and killed Oswald before he could be transferred to the county jail.
• In 1963, the Warren Commission investigated and concluded that Oswald had acted alone.

The Movement of Migrant Workers

• The nation's 2 million farm workers harvest much of the fruit and vegetables families eat.
• Most fieldworkers on U.S. farms remain in one place for the year.
• Migrant workers move with their families as the growing seasons change.
• Migrant workers make up about 50% of hired farm workers.
• Three major streams of migrant worker movements existed in the 1960s: Pacific coast, the Midwest, and the Atlantic coast.

Lesson 2: Johnson and the Great Society

• The demand for reform helped create a new awareness of social problems, especially civil rights and poverty effects.
• Reforms in the 1960s have had a lasting impact by increasing the rights of minorities.
• The Job Corps was a federal program that trained young people from poor backgrounds.
• Larry Alfred joined VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), often called the "domestic Peace Corps."
• Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964, a cornerstone of the Great Society.
• This law was the main offensive of Johnson's “war on poverty".
• VISTA assigned Alfred to work with a community of poor farm laborers in Robstown, Texas.
• He established the Robstown Association for Retarded People.
• By the time Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) succeeded to the presidency, his ambition and drive had become legendary.
• Johnson entered politics in 1937 and styled himself as a “New Dealer”.
• Roosevelt helped Johnson secure key committee assignments in Congress.
• Johnson proved himself a master of party politics.
• He rose to the position of Senate majority leader in 1955.
• Johnson's deft handling of Congress led to passing the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
• Johnson's presence on the ticket helped Kennedy win key states in the South.
• Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress after Kennedy’s assassination urging passage of civil rights and tax-cut bills.
• Congress passed a tax reduction of $10 billion.
• In July, Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress.
• The Act prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and sex.
• Johnson declared unconditional war on poverty in early 1964.
• Congress enacted the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) which created the Job Corps, VISTA, Head Start, and the Community Action Program.
• In 1964, the Republicans nominated conservative senator Barry Goldwater to oppose Johnson.
• In May 1964, Johnson had summed up his vision for America in a phrase: the Great Society.
• The Great Society would expand existing programs and create new programs to improve social welfare.
• The New Deal addressed the Great Depression.
• The Great Society strove to address the ongoing problems of poverty, healthcare, education, and housing.
• It also concerned civil rights, immigration reform, environmental concerns, and protection for consumers.
• Johnson initiated a flurry of bills to Congress in 1965 and 1966.
• Johnson considered education “the key which can unlock the door to the Great Society".
• The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 provided over $1 billion in federal aid.
• 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 and older.
• Medicaid extended health insurance to welfare recipients.
• The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was created as part of the Great Society, Robert Weaver was appointed as secretary and was the first African-American cabinet member.
• The Immigration Act of 1965 opened the door for many non-European immigrants to settle in the United States.
• It led to sharp increases in immigration and altered the demographic makeup of the United States.
• In 1962, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring exposed the effects of pesticides on the environment.
• The Water Quality Act of 1965 required states to clean up rivers.
• Johnson ordered the government to search out the worst chemical polluters.
• Consumer protection advocates convinced Congress to pass major safety laws, including a truth-in-packaging law.
• Ralph Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed criticized the U.S. automobile industry for ignoring safety concerns.
• The Wholesome Meat Act of 1967 improved food safety.
• The wave of liberal reform that characterized the Great Society also swept through the Supreme Court of the 1960s.
• Under Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Court took an activist stance, starting with Brown v. Board of Education.
• The Warren Court addressed reapportionment, which is the way in which states redraw election districts.
• Baker v. Carr (1962) established the principle of "one person, one vote".
• Rights of the accused were expanded, such as in Mapp v. Ohio (1961) and Gideon v. Wainwright (1963).
• The Court went one step further in Miranda v. Arizona in 1966.
• In Katz v. United States (1967), the Court established the constitutional “right to privacy".
• LBJ won 61% of the popular vote in the elections.
• Defenders of the Great Society contend that it bettered the lives of millions of Americans.
• Conservations say the Great Society created "big government" and dependency.
• Great Society's social welfare programs created a culture of dependency.
• Johnson's massive tax cut spurred the economy, but created economic compromises.
• Funding the Great Society contributed to a growing budget deficit.
• The increase of Communist forces in Vietnam overshadowed the goals of the Great Society.
• The 1960s witnessed an increase in the amount of people in government housing.
• By 1965 all citizens over aged 65 were part of the Medicare health service and were provided hospital insurance and low cost medical insurance.
• Elementary and Secondary Education Act directed states to implement money for Textbooks and learning material.

Lesson 3: Culture and Counterculture

• The ideals and lifestyle of the counterculture challenged the traditional views of Americans.
• Music, art, and politics of the counterculture have left enduring marks on American society.
• Alex Forman left his mainstream life in 1966 and headed to San Francisco.
• He joined thousands determined to live in a more peaceful and carefree environment.
• Forman was part of the counterculture, often white, middle-class college youths who had grown disillusioned with Vietnam.
• Instead of challenging the system, they turned their backs on traditional America.
• In the late 1960s historian Theodore Roszak deemed these idealistic youths the counterculture.
• Members of the counterculture, known as hippies, shared some of the beliefs of the New Left movement.
• They felt that American society had grown hollow and embraced nonconformity.
• The hippie era was sometimes known as the Age of Aquarius.
• It was marked by rock 'n' roll music, outrageous clothing, sexual license, and illegal drugs.
• Hippies donned ragged jeans, tie-dyed T-shirts, military garments, love beads, and Native American ornaments.
• Hippies also rejected conventional home life and joined communes.
• The peace and harmony gave way to violence and disillusionment.
• Illegal drug use also rose significantly throughout the 1960s.
• Counterculture youth embraced new ideas in art and music.
• Pop artists, led by Andy Warhol, attempted to bring art into the mainstream.
• The Beatles helped propel rock music into mainstream America
• More than 400,000 showed up for a music festival called “Woodstock Music and Art Fair".
• Hippies and other activists used music as a vehicle of political expression, for example, Bob Dylan wrote "The Times They Are A-Changin'".
• While the counterculture movement faded, its casual “do your own thing” philosophy left its mark.
• In 1966, the government started the Narcotic Act in order to cut down on illegal drug use.
• A conservative response to the culture begun as many believed the US was losing its sense of what was right and wrong.

Historic Decisions of the Supreme Court

• In 1963, Ernesto Miranda was arrested for kidnap and rape, but was not given legal council.
• The Court overturned Miranda's conviction saying suspects must be informed of their legal rights and may not undertake suspects who invoke them.
• Chief Justice Earl Warren based his Miranda v. Arizona opinion on the Fifth Amendment.
• The Fifth amendment prevents individuals from being held as guilting until they confess.
• Suspects who are interrogated by the police can have statements ruled unreliable.
• A balance between safety of others and a defendants rights must be presented.

Lesson 4: Environmental Activism

• During the 1960s and 1970s, Americans strengthened their efforts to address the nation's environmental problems.
• The nation continues to struggle to balance industrial growth and environmental concerns.
• In 1972, Lois Gibbs and her family moved to Niagara Falls, New York.
• In the 1890s, chemical companies dumped hazardous waste into the Love Canal.
• In 1977, Lois Gibbs uncovered the toxic waste and mobilized the community.
• In 1980, President Carter authorized funds for many Niagara Falls families to move.
• Through the energy crisis, Americans learned that their natural resources were limited which encouraged conservation.
• Rachel Carson, a marine biologist, published Silent Spring in 1962.
• The book warned against the growing use of pesticides due to growing use in the 1940s.
• Carson argued pesticides poisoned the food they protected, she asked why not harm the humans.
• Silent Spring sold nearly half a million copies within six months of it's release.
• Kennedy created an advisory committee to investigate the situation.
• The U.S. government outlawed DDT in 1972 in response to Carson's pushing.
• The United States ushered in the 1970s with the first Earth Day celebration.
• Nixon consolidated environmental departments that gave way to the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)
• EPA main goal was to set pollution standards and conduct research.
• Nixon signed a new Clean Air Act and Congress passed the Endangered Species Act to halt the trend toward extinction.
• The government also pushed to strengthen laws protecting the “waters of the United States.”
• From 1970-1980 the increase of conservation in Alaska as one of the largest ecological places in the world took place.
• By 1971 Nixon approved Native land.
• The dangers of nuclear power were validated at Three Mile Island.