Download Ch 3941 Stormy Sixties Questions and

Name: _____________________________________ Class: ______ Date: _________________
Chapter 39/41 “The Stormy Sixties”
1. How did President Johnson deal with the civil rights issue? What were his goals and were these goals actualized
by the end of the decade?
Johnson said that the best way to honor Kennedy’s memory was to pass the Civil Rights Bill. The act banned racial
discrimination in most private facilities open to the public, including theaters, hospitals, and restaurants. It
strengthened the federal government’s power to end segregation in schools and other public places. It created
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to eliminate discrimination in hiring. He also rammed
Kennedy’s tax bill through congress and added proposals of his own for his War on Poverty. What role did
President Johnson have in the Vietnam conflict?.
Johnson inherited the situation in Vietnam from Kennedy who had committed troops, money, and resources. Under
his authority, “Operation Rolling Thunder” was launched, regular, full-scale bombing attacks against North Vietnam.
He believed that a fine-tuned, step-by-step “escalation” of American force would drive the enemy to defeat. He did
not take into account the toughness and dedication of the Viet Cong guerillas in South Vietnam and their allies in the
north. Johnson continued to raise the stakes by sending more men and money to the war.
2. What were the major goals of Johnson’s Great Society? How successful were they?
The Big Four legislative achievements were: aid to education, medical care for the elderly and indigent,
immigration reform, and a new voting rights bill. His goals were to aid education, medical care for the elderly and
indigent, immigration reform, and a new voting rights bill. He avoided the issue of the separation of church and
state by providing aid to students, not schools. Medicare for the elderly and poor became a reality; Immigration
reform was passed with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 which abolished the “national-origins” quota
system. It also doubled the number of immigrants allowed to enter annually while setting limits to the number of
immigrants from the Western Hemisphere. The law also allowed close family relatives of US citizens to
immigrate. The poverty rate declined measurably in the next decade. Medicare helped reduce the incidence of
poverty among the elderly. Project Head Start improved the educational performance of underprivileged youth.
Infant mortality rates fell in minority communities as health conditions improved. Johnson was not completely
victorious, but he did make good strides in the war on poverty.
3. How did Nixon’s foreign policy of détente differ from previous administrations? How did détente help or hurt
relations with China and the Soviet Union?
Previous administrations had practiced an anti-communist containment policy with little diplomatic intercourse.
Nixon was aware of the tension between the Soviet Union and China (these two communist countries differed
philosophically over their interpretation of Marxism). Nixon recognized an opportunity to play one country off the
other and perhaps relieve some tension on the US. As a well-known anti-communist “red hunter” Nixon surprised
everyone when he accepted an invitation to travel to Beijing in 1972. Next he travelled to Moscow. The Soviets were
worried that the US would back China and create a powerful enemy in the East. The Soviets were also desperate for
American grain and foodstuffs. A deal was struck in 1972 by which the US agreed to sell grain ($750 million worth) to
the Soviets based on a three-year contract. In addition the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty was signed which
limited each country to two clusters of defensive missiles. Next was the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) which
was an agreement to freeze the numbers of long-range nuclear missiles for five years. This was the first step toward
slowing the arms race. Nevertheless, the US went forward with the development of the multiple independently
targeted reentry vehicles (MIRVs) that were designed to overcome any defense by saturating it with large numbers of
warheads. The Soviets did the same. By playing China off of the Soviet Union, Nixon set the stage for the US to exit
Vietnam.
4. Explain the cultural upheaval of the sixties.
Everywhere in the 1960s there was a newly negative attitude toward all kinds of authority. Young people were
disillusioned that American society still suffered from racism, sexism, imperialism, and oppression. This caused
many to lose their “moral compass.” Neither families nor churches nor school seemed able to define values and
shape behavior during this time. The war in Vietnam became a focal point that polarized public opinion. Some
young men and women became radical political rebels protesting the war. Others began to experiment with
hallucinogenic (and other) drugs and alternative lifestyles (communes). Patriotism became a dirty word and flags
and draft cards were burned. There was also a sexual revolution during this time. The introduction of the birth
control pill made unwanted pregnancies much easier to avoid. Peaceful civil rights demonstrations had given way
to urban riots. Innocent experimentation with drugs like marijuana and LSD had fried brains and created an
underworld of drug lords and addicts. Soldiers returning from the war suffered from PTSD and in some cases, drug
addiction. The upheaval of the 60s can be attributed to the youthful population bulge, the protest against racism
and the war, and the apparent permanence of prosperity.
Vocabulary:
1. Robert F. Kennedy- an American politician from Massachusetts. He served as the United States junior senator
from New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968.
2. Robert S. McNamara an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving from
1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, during which time he played a
major role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War
3. Charles de Gaulle a French general and statesman. He was the leader of Free France and the head of the
4.
5.
Provisional Government of the French Republic.
Martin Luther King, Jr an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement.
He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his
Christian beliefs.
Lee Harvey Oswald an American former U.S. Marine who assassinated President John F. Kennedy on
November 22, 1963.
6. Lyndon B. Johnson an American politician who served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963
to 1969, assuming the office after serving as the 37th Vice President of the United States under
President John F. Kennedy, from 1961 to 1963. Johnson was a Democrat from Texas, who served as
a United States Representative from 1937 to 1949 and as a United States Senator from 1949 to 1961. He
spent six years as Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader, and two as Senate Majority
Whip.
7. Barry Goldwater an American politician and businessman who was a five-term United States Senator from
Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 1964 election.
8. Malcolm X an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist.
9. Stokely Carmichael a Trinidadian-American who became a prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement and
the global Pan-African movement.
10. Eugene McCarthy an American politician, poet, and a long-time Congressman from Minnesota. He served in the
11.
12.
U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.
Hubert H. Humphrey an American politician who served as the 38th Vice President of the United States under
President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to 1969
Richard M. Nixon an American politician who served as the 37th President of the United States from 1969 until
1974, when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office.
George Wallace an American politician and the 45th Governor of Alabama,
13.
14. Flexible response a defense strategy implemented by John F. Kennedy in 1961 to address the Kennedy
administration's skepticism of Dwight Eisenhower's New Look and its policy of massive retaliation.
15. New Frontier used by liberal Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his acceptance
speech in the 1960 United States presidential election to the Democratic National Convention at the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the Democratic slogan to inspire America to support him.
16. Peace Corps The stated mission of the Peace Corps includes providing technical assistance, helping people
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
outside the United States to understand American culture, and helping Americans to understand the cultures
of other countries. The work is generally related to social and economic development. Each program
participant, a Peace Corps Volunteer, is an American citizen, typically with a college degree, who works
abroad for a period of two years after three months of training.
Alliance of Progress initiated by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961 aimed to establish economic
cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America.
Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary
group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961
Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day (October 16–28, 1962) confrontation between the United States and the
Soviet Union concerning American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and Turkey with consequent Soviet
ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. The confrontation, elements of which were televised, is often
considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war.[1]
nuclear-test ban treaty a legally binding global ban on nuclear explosive testing and the final step in
the vision laid out fifty years ago by President John F. Kennedy.
March on Washington The purpose of the march was to stand up for civil and economic rights for African
Americans during a time when racism was more prevalent throughout society.
22. War on Poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B.
Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964.
23. Great Society a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President
Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The main goal was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice.
24. Tonkin Gulf Resolution authorizing President Johnson to take any measures he believed were
necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast
Asia.
25. Civil Right Act of 1964 a landmark civil rights and US labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination
based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
26. 24th Amendment prohibiting any poll tax in elections for federal officials.
27. Voting Rights Act a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial
discrimination in voting.
28. Operation Rolling Thunder the title of a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by
the U.S. 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF)
against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968,
during the Vietnam War.
29. Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, launched on January 30, 1968,
by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam against the forces of the South
Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and their allies. It was a
campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South
Vietnam.[10] The name of the offensive comes from the Tết holiday, the Vietnamese New Year, when the first
major attacks took place.[11]