Download US History Chapter 27 Notes

US History Chapter 27 Notes
Kennedy and the Cold War
The Main Idea
President Kennedy continued the Cold War policy of resisting the spread of communism by offering to
help other nations and threatening to use force if necessary.
Reading Focus
In what ways did Kennedy’s election as president suggest change?
Why did the Bay of Pigs invasion take place, and with what results?
Why did the Berlin crisis develop, and what was its outcome?
What caused the Cuban missile crisis, and how was war avoided?
How did Kennedy’s foreign policy reflect his view of the world?
Kennedy’s Election
John F. Kennedy
from a wealthy, politically powerful family
Good looking, young, and comfortable in front of the television cameras
People felt Kennedy represented the future
Factors Leading to Kennedy's Election in 1960
Kennedy represented hope and change
Played on the nation’s Cold War fears
Gained the African American vote when Kennedy called Coretta King after Martin
Luther King Jr. was arrested; Robert Kennedy persuaded the judge to release King
Kennedy Takes Office
Kennedy’s Advisers
Gathered a group some called “the best and the brightest” as his advisers
Most of Kennedy’s advisers were young.
His Closest advisers were Ted Sorensen and Robert Kennedy
The Bay of Pigs
Background
Fidel Castro
had taken American land in Cuba. This made U.S.-Cuban Relations poor in the 1960
Kennedy
Kennedy learned that the CIA was training troops to invade Cuba and topple Castro.
Kennedy was worried about Communism spreading to Latin America.
Kennedy gave the go-ahead.
The Invasion
Bay of Pigs invasion failed.
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Information was leaked early.
Air strikes failed.
Invaders were captured and ransomed back to United States.
Castro turns to the Soviets for protection from the United States
The Berlin Crisis
Berlin’s Significance
Khrushchev demanded that the United States recognize East Germany as an independent
Communist nation.
Many East Germans fled to West Germany through Berlin.
Kennedy refused to be bullied, sent troops into West Germany, built nuclear shelters, and waited
for Khrushchev's next move
The Berlin Wall
On August 13, 1961, Khrushchev closed the crossing points between East and West Berlin.
A high concrete wall was built to prevent further escapes to freedom.
Over time, the wall was extended and fortified.
The Cuban Missile Crises
U.S. actions in the Bay of Pigs and Berlin crises encouraged the Soviets to use tougher tactics with the
U.S.
The Soviets were worried about another invasion of Cuba and U.S. nuclear missiles placed in Turkey.
Kennedy was worried about accusations of being “soft on communism.”
A U.S. U-2 spy plane detected Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) in Cuba.
The Soviets argued that the SAMs were defensive missiles and swore that they didn’t have offensive
missiles in Cuba.
The Soviets having OFFENSIVE missiles in Cuba was a direct cause of the Cuban Missile Crises
The Cuban Missile Crises
Kennedy assembled a group of advisers, known as the ExComm, to help him plan a response.
Kennedy and ExComm agreed to a Navy blockade of the Soviet ships
The world watched as Soviet ships carrying missile parts approached the naval blockade. They turned
back
Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the missiles if the United States pledged to never invade Cuba.
Both Kennedy and Khrushchev took steps to ease tensions between their countries.
They set up a hotline to allow direct communication during times of crisis.
The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed, ending atmospheric and underwater testing of
nuclear weapons.
Kennedy Foreign Policy and the Cold War
Kennedy also followed the Cold War policies of his predecessors.
He continued the nuclear arms buildup begun by Eisenhower.
He continued to follow Truman’s practice of containment.
He developed the strategy of flexible response.
Strengthening conventional American forces so the nation would have other options than
nuclear weapons in times of crisis
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Kennedy’s Thousand Days
The Main Idea
John F. Kennedy brought energy, initiative, and important new ideas to the presidency
Reading Focus
What was Kennedy’s New Frontier?
In what ways did the Warren Court change society in the early 1960s?
What impact did Kennedy’s assassination have on the nation and the world?
Kennedy’s New Frontier
Americans were struck by the youth and vitality of the Kennedy White House.
Kennedy’s lacked a clear mandate, this made it difficult for him to convince congress to support his
proposals
The New Frontier came to be symbolized by the exploration of space
Space Program
Khrushchev claimed the Soviet lead in space showed the superiority of communism.
In May 1961 Kennedy vowed that the United States would land a man on the moon.
The space race became a part of the Cold War—a part that the United States would win.
Kennedy expanded the space program to bolster the nation's prestige and power in the face of several
foreign policy setbacks
The Supreme Court in the Early 1960s
Under the leadership of Chief Justice Earl Warren, Court rulings extended individual rights and
freedoms.
Voting-rights reform
The rights of the accused
Religious freedom
Chief Justice Earl Warren
Many historians regard Earl Warren as one of the most important chief justices.
Warren did not have a positive record on civil rights when President Eisenhower appointed him chief
justice in 1953.
Called for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
However, as chief justice, Warren led the Court to one of the most significant civil rights advances in
U.S. history.
Brown v. Board of Education banned racial segregation in the nation’s schools
Kennedy’s Assassination
On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in within hours.
Within hours, police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald for the assassination of the president. While being
transferred to the county jail, Oswald was shot to death by Jack Ruby.
One reason JFK's assassination deeply affected people was because he had represented hope for
a better future
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The Warren Commission
The strange circumstances surrounding President Kennedy’s death caused people to wonder
whether Oswald had acted alone in killing the president.
President Johnson appointed the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination.
They determined that there was no conspiracy to assassinate president Kennedy
The Great Society
The Main Idea
President Johnson used his political skills to push Kennedy’s proposals through Congress and expanded
them with his own vision of the Great Society.
Reading Focus
Why was Lyndon Johnson’s background good preparation for becoming president?
Why was Johnson more successful than Kennedy in getting Congress to enact Kennedy’s agenda?
In what ways did Johnson’s Great Society change the nation?
What foreign-policy issues were important in Johnson’s presidency?
Lyndon Johnson
Personality
Large and intense with none of Kennedy’s good looks, polish, or charm
Genuine desire to help others
Greater concern for the poor and underprivileged than Kennedy
Believed in an expanded role for government in making Americans’ lives better
Johnson’s skill as a politician gave him success in passing many of former President Kennedy's
programs
Enacting Kennedy’s Agenda
Johnson's “Unconditional War on Poverty” started when he asked Congress to pass the Economic
Opportunity Act in 1964.
Economic Opportunity Act
Funded several new anti-poverty programs
The Job Corps offered work-training programs for unemployed youth.
VISTA was a domestic version of the Peace Corps.
Other programs provided education for adults, work for unemployed parents, and help to fight rural
poverty and assist migrants.
The Great Society
In 1964 Johnson told the nation that he had his own plans for the United States. He called the domestic
programs of his administration the Great Society.
Creating the Great Society
Elementary and Secondary Education Act - first large scale program of government aid to public
schools
The Higher Education Act - created the first federal scholarships for needy college students
Head Start – education program for preschool children of low-income parents
Omnibus Housing Act – created Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Medicaid – program that provides free health care for poor people
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Medicare – health care program for people over age 65
The term “Great Society” came to represent the domestic programs of the Johnson Administration
Johnson’s Foreign Policy
Vietnam
By the end of 1966, some 385,000 U.S. combat troops were in Vietnam, and the government was
spending $2.5 billion a month on the war
Johnson Doctrine
Policy dictating that revolutions in Latin America were more than local concerns if communism was
involved. The U.S. would intervene.
Johnson sent troops to end a revolt in the Dominican Republic in 1965.
In January 1968 North Korea captured a U.S. Navy spy ship—the Pueblo—off the coast of Communist
North Korea.
The United States claimed it was in international waters and called up troops.
The North Koreans released the crew, but kept the ship
Section 1 Vocab
John F. Kennedy president of the United States from 1961 to 1963
Robert Kennedy brother of the president; served as attorney general
Fidel Castro Communist dictator of Cuba
Bay of Pigs invasion unsuccessful attempt by the United States to overthrow Castro
Lyndon B. Johnson Kennedy’s vice president who went to West Berlin
Cuban missile crisis conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union over
Soviet missiles in Cuba
Peace Corps U.S. group that trained volunteers and sent them to poorer nations to be
teachers, health care workers, and to do other helpful work
Alliance for Progress Kennedy’s program for aid to Latin America
flexible response Cold War strategy that involved strengthening non-nuclear U.S. forces
so that there would be choices for response other than nuclear war
Section 2 Vocab
Jacqueline Kennedy First Lady to President John F. Kennedy
New Frontier Kennedy’s plans to change the country
mandate permission to act
Earl Warren chief justice of the Supreme Court; author of many important decisions
Warren Court the Supreme Court for the 21 years that Earl Warren was chief justice
Lee Harvey Oswald assassin of President Kennedy
Warren Commission commission led by Earl Warren to investigate Kennedy’s
assassination
Section 3 Vocab
War on Poverty set of programs designed to reduce poverty in the United States
Job Corps work-training program for unemployed youth of the United States
VISTA Volunteers in Service to America; the domestic Peace Corps
Great Society Johnson’s programs to improve American society
Barry Goldwater Johnson’s opponent in the presidential election of 1964
Medicaid government program to provide free medical care to the poor
Medicare government program to provide medical care to the elderly
Johnson Doctrine foreign policy guideline that called for the United States to step in if a
Communist dictator came to power in Latin America
Pueblo incident capture of a U.S. Navy spy ship by the North Koreans
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