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Key Terms
The New Frontier was a legislative initiate by President John F. Kennedy that was about spending massively on social reforms as well as welfare programs. It included ambitious new projects like space exploration and the Peace Corps.
The bay of pigs was a failed invasion carried out in 1961 by the CIA during President Kennedy’s administration on the Gulf of Cazones in Cuba.
The Berlin wall was an enclosure that divided the city of Berlin in half between 1961 and 1989 and restricted access to West Berlin from East Berlin and adjacent areas.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a military and political standoff between the US and Soviet Union that was caused by the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba less than 100 miles from the shores of the United States.
The student nonviolent coordinating committee was a group of civil activists that gave a voice to younger blacks in the civil rights movement.
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists rode into segregated Southern States on interstate buses in 1961 and years that follow in protest of the Supreme Court Decision on Morgan v. Virginia and Boynton v. Virginia.
Nonviolent civil disobedience is challenging the government and its policies through non-violent means.
The March on Washington was a huge protest on August 1963 attended by half a million people challenging the inequalities African Americans faced 100 years after they became free citizens.
The Black Power movement was a crusade for political and social issues whose promoters believed in equality of all Black people, self-sufficiency, and racial pride.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned segregation in public places and outlawed job discrimination on the basis of race, religion, skin color, national origin, or sex.
The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 established the Head Start Program that was created to prepare school going children for success in public schools.
Medicare is a program that gives health coverage for people over the age of 65 and people with disabilities regardless of income. Medicaid is a state and federal program that provides medical cover for people for low-income people.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson with the aim of bringing down legal barriers that hindered African Americans from exercising their legal rights.
The Tet Offensive was a series of coordinated attacks on over 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam by the Communist government of North Vietnam.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave President Lyndon Johnson the authority to take needed measures to repel any armed attacks on the United States forces and to prevent further aggression by North Vietnam.
The Silent majority was a time coined by President Richard Nixon that meant a larger contingent of Americans did not feel part of the dissent voices that defined the time period around Nixon’s presidency.
The Great Society was a local program by President Lyndon B. Johnson administration that established social welfare programs sponsored by the Federal Government.
President Johnson Policy on communisms and social issues
President Kennedy through his young and energetic White House strived to create their informal contact with foreign affairs administration. Kennedy worked to build a democratic firewall that locked out communism although he was failing in South Vietnam. His work in Vietnam was part of his plan to stop the spread of communism. He faced the threat of Castro and his resolve to spread communism to other developing nations in America with support from the Soviet Union. He authorized the Bay of Pigs invasion which was a huge failure and tarnished his name as a defender of freedom because of his interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. He went on to collect millions of dollars to expand America’s combat forces to keep up with the Soviet Union’s Khrushchev’s military challenge.
Kennedy proposed his domestic agenda in his “New Frontier” speech. Kennedy was active with Civil Rights Laws in his quest to halt the biggest crisis at the time. He wanted the support of Democratic Southern Senators because he felt the weight of pushing too hard for Civil Rights. He succeeded in the enactment of the Civil Rights Act. He also succeeded in tax cuts, advocated for mental health issues, worked for affordable housing, equal pay for all genders, among other agendas.
Divisions and the Achievements of the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement had a group of moderates who were willing to negotiate with the courts and the white man and included NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and UL (National Urban League). CORE and SNCC were radicals that advocated for violence if prompted. They did not agree with NAACP and UL who thought they were too radical.
The Civil Rights movement achieved the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which were laws that ensured African Americans could enjoy constitutional rights. They ended segregation in the Armed Services, segregation in public schools, contributed to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 protecting voter rights, the voting Rights act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968
President Johnson’s War on Poverty
President Lyndon B. Johnson put measures to provide healthcare for the poor as a way to fight poverty. He enacted the Head Start program to ensure low-income children succeeded in public schools. The Great Society called for an end to poverty and racial injustice and provided an opportunity for every child.
America’s Motivation in the Vietnam War
Americans involved in the Vietnam war was part of its plan to curb the spread of communism. President Kennedy was focused on ensuring that developing nations did not adopt communism and President Johnson continued this legacy.
Why Nixon Won the Presidency
Nixon campaigned on a platform that reached the “Silent Majority” which included the Working and Middle-Class Americans. He gave the promise of bringing America together. His election was also aided by his promise to find peace with Vietnam. Americans wanted to get out of the Vietnam Quagmire desperately.
