America in the 1960s Flashcards
Reasons why Eisenhower’s approval rating started to drop (near the end of his presidency)
- Americans were afraid that they were losing in both the Arms + Space race
- During the Red Scare, Eisenhower never denounced Senator McCarthy(and his investigations)
- didn’t provide aid to low-income farmers in the South(which he had promised to do earlier)
- He “allowed” Cuba to turn communist
Election of 1960
Republican Nominee: Richard Nixon
Democratic Nominee: John F Kennedy
(the first-ever televised presidential debate which would help JFK win the election)
JFK’s New Frontier [Plan]
- improve education
- health care
- civil rights
- urban renewal
- space race
(*presidents of the 1900s regularly created plans: FDR’s New Deal, Teddy Roosevelt’s square deal, etc.)
Bay of Pigs invasion
April 17, 1961
- secret invasion planned by JFK to get Cuba back
- Castro found out+ prevented the invasion
- Causes Cuba to form an alliance with the Soviet union
Cuban Missle Crisis
- October 16, 1962 – October 28, 1962
- Response to the Soviet Union wanting to put nuclear silos in Cuba
- JFK sets up blockade surrounding Cuba
- 13 days
- agreement: the Soviet Union would remove all missiles from Cuba, America would remove all missiles from Turkey
Shift in Foreign Policy(creating a flexible response)
- Refrain from getting into an ‘Arms Race’ with the Soviet Union
- Develop different technologies + styles of warfare to combat communism
(Leads to more armed conflicts/the funding of armed conflicts around globe)
Lyndon B Johnson’s
The Great Society Plan
- War on poverty
(Provide more Federal programs to help provide aid to the lower classes and elderly) - Civil Rights
(Provide more Federal assistance and legislation to guarantee the rights of African Americans )
Women’s Liberation Movement/ 2nd wave of Feminism
- women would challenge the ‘norms of the 1950s and the role of women in America
- The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedman
National Organization for Women(NOW)
- organization dedicated to the advancement of women’s right in America
pushed for:
- maternity leave rights
- Child-care centers
- Tax deductions for childcare
- Equal job-training
- Passage of laws against employment discrimination
Equal Protection Commission(1965)
- federal legislation that prohibited employment discrimination
- (allowed the federal government to file suits against companies regarding discrimination based on race, sex, or origin)
March on Selma and Washington
Selma:
Washington D.C
- 08/28/1963
- "I Have A Dream" speech
- MLK asks for federal action for
more civil rights legislation
(250,000 attended)
Black Muslim Movment
- led by Elijah Muhammed + Malcolm X
- encouraged
- Black Nationalism
- Separatism
- Self-Improvement
Malcolm X
- symbol/voice of the Black Muslim movement throughout 1960s
- encourage African Americans to be educated but also meet violence with violence
- opposed MLK and his “civil disobedience” movement
George Wallace
- governor of Alabama
- most vocal politician against desegregation in America
(Wallace would become a large barrier for Civil Rights activist trying to desegregate southern schools during the Civil Rights Movment)
Civil Rights Act of 1964
- desegregated public facilities(ex-bathrooms, schools, hotels, etc..)
- Gave Federal government authority to use the military to enforce the desegregation of schools.
