Download Kent Chronicles Packet October 2012

Kent Chronicles October 4, 2012
First off,
Presidents of the 1960’s
______________________ until 1960
_____________________________________ 1961-63
_____________________________________1963-1968
_____________________________________ 1969-1974
Kennedy’s Presidency
JFK’s plan for the country was called _________________________________________________. It was
a collection of programs, many of which provided inspiration for a new generation of Americans. Two
key programs included _____________________________________, for young Americans to go
overseas to serve in under developed countries, and ________________________ which gave
Americans pride as they looked skyward.
Kennedy’s Foreign
Problems
Bay of Pigs Invasion
CIA planned and backed invasion
of _____________________, in
1961, by members of the exile
community. It was planned
during the Eisenhower
administration then JFK gave the
go ahead. It was a colossal
failure and an embarrassment
for the United States.
Cuban Missile Crisis
1962- After the scare during the
Bay of Pigs, Fidel Castro moved
closer to the Khrushchev and the
Soviet Union. Together, they
decided to build Medium Range Ballistic Missile sites in Cuba. This served as a deterrent for further
American aggression and also a response for American missile instillations in ___________________.
Over a week, the world waited with baited breath as the US instituted a blockade of Soviet vessels into
Cuba. Tension was high, but obviously, nuclear Armageddon was avoided.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/photos.htm - lots of really cool pictures
Where were you when…
JFK’s assassination on November 22, 1963
Over a million people were on hand for the processional in Washington DC.
Lyndon Johnson was swiftly sworn in as the new president.
LBJ
Initially, LBJ continued Kennedy’s programs of the New Frontier.
He used Kennedy’s memory to get the __________________________ and the Economic Opportunity
Act of 1964 passed through Congress.
After he was elected in his own right, LBJ tried to institute his own plan called _____________________.
Included were programs like:
Head Start, VISTA, Wilderness Protection Act, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Voting Rights
Act of 1965, Medicare, The National Endowment for the Arts, an Immigration Act, an Omnibus Housing
Act, Air and Water Quality Acts, and Consumer Safety Legislation.
Pretty solid list, right?
But how do we remember LBJ?
Vietnam
Had been a __________________________________ colony until 1954.
The country had been split like Korea, with a plan to hold talks for reunification. Those didn’t happen
and there was a civil war between pro-communist north and pro-American south. The US was slowly
drawn deeper into the conflict.
Unfortunately, the US was forced to support the incompetent dictator ___________________________,
whose record included forced internment of South Vietnamese villagers, drafts, redistribution of land to
old colonial grandees, and the arrest of over 1400 Buddhist monks.
President Johnson finally fully committed the United States to war after the
______________________________________.
Excerpt from the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: August 7, 1964
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That the Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as
Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the
United States and to prevent further aggression.
"Sec. 2. The United States regards as vital to its national interest and to world peace the maintenance of
international peace and security in Southeast Asia. Consonant with the Constitution of the United States
and the Charter of the United Nations and in accordance with its obligations under the Southeast Asia
Collective Defense Treaty, the United States is, therefore, prepared, as the President determines, to take
all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the
Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom.
"Sec. 3. This resolution shall expire when the President shall determine that the peace and security of
the area is reasonably assured by international conditions created by action of the United Nations or
otherwise, except that it may be terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress."
Guerrilla war in unfavorable terrain.
In late 1967, General William Westmoreland told Congress that the United States could win the war if
there was just more commitment. He was then ridiculed as the North Vietnamese launched the Tet
Offensive.
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/vietnam.htm - Lots of great primary source documents from
the era
Disillusion with the war created a strong peace movement and large anti-war protests.
Counter Culture revolution: Hippies: Headbands: Woodstock
All these things seem far from Kent, WA in the 1960s. Population just over 9000 in 1960.
Howard Hanson Dam
Started in 1959, competed in 1962 for a cost of $40.5 million. As of 1996, it is estimated that the dam
saved more than $694 million in damages from flooding.
This allowed Kent to grow as an industrial and commercial hub. Boeing arrived in 1964, with a space
center. Incidentally, the Lunar Roving Vehicle would be designed and built in Kent!
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=3549 History Link is an
awesome sight for Washington State History.