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Chapter 17 Summary
The New Frontier & Great Society
Section 1: Kennedy and the Cold War
KENNEDY BECOMES PRESIDENT
John F. Kennedy ran against Richard Nixon for president in the 1960 election. Kennedy
called his plans for changing the nation the New Frontier. He spoke out about changes,
but he also spoke out against communism. He won by a small majority of the popular
vote. Kennedy had young, smart advisers, including the attorney general, who was his
brother, Robert Kennedy.
THE BAY OF PIGS INVASION
In 1960 the CIA had been training exiled Cubans to invade Cuba. They wanted to
remove Fidel Castro, the Communist dictator of Cuba. He had ties to the Soviet Union.
The invasion, called the Bay of Pigs invasion, began during Kennedy’s early days in
office. Many things went wrong and the invasion was a failure. Cuba grew closer to the
Soviet Union.
THE BERLIN CRISIS
Kennedy met with Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, in 1961. Khrushchev demanded
that the United States recognize East Germany as an independent nation and remove
its troops from West Berlin. West Berlin was an island of freedom surrounded by East
Germany. Kennedy reacted by sending more troops.
Thousands of East Germans were escaping to West Berlin. To stop them, the East
Germans closed the borders and built a high wall around Berlin. Anyone caught
crossing the wall was shot. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visited West Berlin and
told its people they would not be abandoned. Two years later, Kennedy, too, visited
Berlin and repeated the promise.
THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
The Cuban missile crisis began in October 1963, when U.S. spy planes found that the
U.S.S.R. had put nuclear missiles in Cuba. These could strike anywhere in the United
States. In response, Kennedy blockaded Cuba by sea. He put U.S. forces on full alert.
Soviet ships carrying missile parts approached the American ships. Fortunately, at the
last minute they turned back. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba if
the United States promised never to invade Cuba.
KENNEDY’S FOREIGN POLICY
Kennedy created several programs to help poorer nations. The Peace Corps trained
volunteers to serve as teachers and health care workers in poor countries. The Alliance
for Progress gave aid to Latin America. However, it often tied the aid to anti-Communist
dictators who were not supported by the people. Kennedy’s strategy was the flexible
response. This meant strengthening non-nuclear forces so there were choices other
than nuclear war.
Chapter 17 Summary © Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Section 2: Kennedy’s Thousand Days
KENNEDY’S NEW FRONTIER
Kennedy was skilled at using the media to project the image he wanted. He showed
himself as young and athletic. Actually, he had many health problems. First Lady
Jacqueline Kennedy was attractive and from a wealthy family. She supported the arts
and made the White House the nation’s unofficial cultural center.
Kennedy wanted to improve the nation with his New Frontier plans. However, he did not
have a clear mandate. The election of 1960 was too close to be seen as permission for
him to act. Kennedy urged Congress to reduce taxes in order to fight unemployment. He
proposed federal aid for education and creation of a health plan for the elderly.
Congress acted on none of these ideas. Kennedy did convince Congress to pass
financial help for poor areas of the country. Congress also created a job retraining
program and raised the minimum wage. In 1961 the Soviet Union caught Americans by
surprise. It launched the first human into space. Kennedy proposed that within 10 years
the United States should land a human on the moon. The space race began.
THE WARREN COURT
During Kennedy’s presidency, the Supreme Court made major changes in U.S. society.
Led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the court made many important decisions about the
laws of the land. The court became known as the Warren Court. In 1954 the court
banned racial segregation in schools. In 1962 the court required the states to redraw the
boundaries of their legislative districts when populations changed. In 1964 it decided
that a person has a right to a lawyer during police questioning. The court also prohibited
formal prayers and daily Bible readings in public schools. The justices said that the
government may not make any one religion the nation’s “official” religion.
THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION
On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was working to build support for his re-election
campaign in Texas. He was in Dallas, riding in an open car on his way to deliver a
speech. Suddenly shots were fired and Kennedy was killed. Within hours, Vice
President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the next president.
Just hours after Kennedy was shot, the police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, a troubled
man with connections to Cuba and the Soviet Union. As Oswald was being moved to
the county jail, he was shot to death by Jack Ruby, a man with ties to organized crime.
These occurrences caused people to wonder if Oswald had acted alone. President
Johnson named Earl Warren to head the Warren Commission to investigate the
assassination. It concluded that Oswald and Ruby had each acted alone.
Kennedy offered great promise to Americans. In world affairs he had won friends for the
nation through the Peace Corps and bettered relations with the Soviet Union. At home,
however, he was not able to accomplish all he set out to do.
Chapter 17 Summary © Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Section 3: The Great Society
JOHNSON BECOMES PRESIDENT
Johnson had been a congressman, a senator, and Senate majority leader. By 1960,
when he became vice president, he had more influence in Washington, D.C., than any
other Democrat. He had great political skills and great compassion for the
underprivileged.
ENACTING KENNEDY’S AGENDA
Johnson told the nation that he would carry on Kennedy’s programs. He asked
Kennedy’s advisers to stay. One of Kennedy’s plans was to fight poverty. Johnson
called it the War on Poverty and gave it high priority. He got Congress to pass the
Economic Opportunity Act. It created the Job Corps, a worktraining program for
unemployed youth, and VISTA, Volunteers in Service to America. VISTA was a domestic
Peace Corps. Kennedy’s tax cut bill was passed and the economy grew while
unemployment fell. Johnson also got Congress to finally pass the Civil Rights Act.
THE GREAT SOCIETY
Johnson’s plans for the country went beyond those of Kennedy. He wanted to create the
Great Society, a society with abundance, liberty, and justice for all. In the 1964 election,
Johnson faced conservative Barry Goldwater. Goldwater suggested using nuclear
weapons in Vietnam and thought that government programs to help people were similar
to communism. Johnson won the election by a landslide. With a mandate to act,
Johnson pushed Congress into action. In 1965 it passed the first large-scale program of
government aid to public schools. Other programs created the first federal college
scholarships and Head Start, a preschool education program. The Department of
Housing and Urban Development was created. Congress approved the money for
Medicaid. This provided free health care for poor people. Medicare, a health care
program for the elderly, was also begun. In 1967 Johnson also signed laws to improve
the environment and to create the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
JOHNSON’S FOREIGN POLICY
Progress on the Great Society slowed by the end of 1966. One reason was that the
government was spending $2.5 billion per month on the Vietnam War. Johnson was
determined not to lose ground to the Communists. In 1965 he had sent troops to the
Dominican Republic to end a revolt. The development of the Johnson Doctrine said that
the United States had a right to step in if a Communist dictatorship might be
established. In 1967 Johnson signed the first direct treaty with the Soviet Union in 50
years. Also, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 58 other nations agreed to ban
weapons in outer space. In a 1968 crisis, the North Koreans captured the U.S. Navy spy
ship Pueblo. Johnson negotiated a settlement for the Pueblo incident. North Korea
released the crew but kept the ship.
Chapter 17 Summary © Holt, Rinehart and Winston