SEM 4 (History)

JOHN F.
9

KENNEDY - RIDDHI JOSHI

VISITING FACULTY (HISTORY)
TV Debate Impacts Voters
 JFK
The Election of 1960
 wealthy, handsome,
charismatic
 Only 43
 Roman Catholic
 Kennedy looked and spoke
better than Nixon, but weak
against Communism
 Nixon more experienced
 8 years as Vice President
 Former Governor
 Huge Anti-Communist
 TELEVISED DEBATE AFFECTS VOTE
• On September 26, 1960, Kennedy and Nixon took part in the
first televised debate between presidential candidates

• Kennedy looked and spoke better than Nixon

• Journalist Russell Baker said, “That night, image replaced the

printed word as the national language of politics”
JFK: CONFIDENT, AT EASE DURING DEBATES
• Television had become so central to
people's lives that many observers
blamed Nixon's loss to John F.
Kennedy on his poor appearance in
the televised presidential debates

• JFK looked cool, collected,

presidential

• Nixon, according to one observer,

resembled a "sinister chipmunk"
 Kennedy and Civil Rights
 King arrested
 Nixon took no public position
 JFK telephoned Coretta to express
sympathy
 Bobby Kennedy (RFK) persuaded
the judge who had sentenced King
to release him on bail (helps JFK
appeal to the African-American
community)
 JFK won by fewer than 119,000
votes
◼ John F. Kennedy was elected 35th
president in 1960.
JFK and the Cold War
• “And so, my fellow Americans: ask
not what your country can do for you--
ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask
not what America will do for you, but
what together we can do for the
freedom of man.”
▫ JFK – Inaugural Address, January 20,
1961
 THE CAMELOT YEARS
• During his term in office, JFK and his
beautiful young wife, Jacqueline, invited
many artists and celebrities to the White
House

• press portrayed the Kennedys as a

young, attractive, energetic, and stylish
couple; with attention to arts and culture
and an average every-day family

• The press loved the Kennedy charm and

JFK appeared frequently on T.V.

• The Kennedys were considered American

“Royalty” (hence “Camelot” reference)
THE KENNEDY MYSTIQUE

• The first family fascinated

the American public

• For example, after learning

that JFK could read 1,600
words a minute, thousands
enrolled in speed-reading
courses

• Jackie, too, captivated the

nation with her eye for
fashion and culture
 THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST
• JFK surrounded himself with
what one journalist described
as the “best and the brightest”
available talent

• Of all of his elite advisors who

filled Kennedy’s inner circle,
he relied most on his 35-year-
old brother Robert, whom he
appointed attorney general
RFK was John’s closest
friend and advisor
 The Best and the Brightest
 McGeorge Bundy –
NSA
 Robert McNamara –
Secretary of Defense
 Dean Rusk –
Secretary of State
 Robert Kennedy –
Attorney General
▫Had no previous law
experience
 A New Military Policy
• Flexible response – increased defense spending in order to
boost conventional military forces – nonnuclear forces such
as troops, ships, and artillery – and to create an elite branch
of the army called the Special Forces, or Green Berets. He
also tripled the overall nuclear capabilities of the U.S.

• Goal – allow the U.S. to fight limited wars around the world
while maintaining a nuclear balance of power with the
Soviets
 Flexible Response
• Challenged Eisenhower’s
idea of “massive retaliation”
• Pushed for the use of
conventional weaponry and
military to combat
Communism
• U.S. couldn’t rely on nuclear
arsenal to protect itself
◼ Under Kennedy, the U.S. continued a
foreign policy of containment.

President Harry S. President Dwight D.

Truman Eisenhower
(1945–1953) (1953–1961)
Alliance for Progress
• JFK’s pledge of support for Latin
America
• Considered a “Marshall Plan for
brown people”
▫ $20 billion to support internal
improvements
▫ Supported education and schools
▫ Built hospitals and promote
health care
▫ Helped distribute land
• Pros: helped some
• Cons: much abuse and corruption
Crises over Cuba
• The Cuban dilemma
▫ Fidel Castro comes to power in
1959
▫ Puts on mass public trials and
executions
▫ U.S. denounces Cuba and
accepts thousands of Cuban
refugees
▫ Castro seizes U.S. businesses
and Eisenhower cuts off
imports of Cuban sugar
▫ 1960 – Cuba signs a trade
treaty with the Soviet Union
The Bay of Pigs
• In March 1960 Ike orders CIA to
train Cuban exiles for an invasion
of their homeland
• JFK notified of plan 9 days into his
presidency
• JFK continues with the plan
• The plan: day before the invasion,
planes would attempt to wipe out
Castro’s air force, then exiles would
land at the beach, and the Cuban
people would rise up against Castro
and overthrow him
Bay of Pigs
• Plan failed: JFK failed to
provide the necessary
resources to help the exiles
and they were rounded up by
Castro’s men
• It turned out to be a disaster
when in April, 1961, 1,200
Cuban exiles met 25,000
Cuban troops backed by
Soviet tanks and were soundly “We looked like fools to our friends,
defeated rascals to our enemies and
incompetents to the rest”
Quote from U.S. Commentator
 Operation Mongoose
• JFK goes ahead with a plan called
Operation Mongoose in which gov’t
agents worked to disrupt the island’s
trade and continued working with
mobsters to assassinate Castro
• Castro survives more than 600
assassination attempts created by the
CIA
• Examples: Exploding cigar, poisoned
wetsuit, poisoned milkshake,
exploding conch shell, etc.
 Cuban Missile Crisis
In October, 1962,
photographs taken
by American planes
revealed Soviet
missile bases in
Cuba-and some
contained missiles
ready to launch.
They could reach
U.S. cities in
minutes.
 OPTIONS WITH KENNEDY
1. Do nothing.
2. Use diplomatic pressure to get the Soviet Union to remove
the missiles.
3. An air attack on the missiles.
4. A full military invasion.
5. The naval blockade of Cuba, which was redefined as a
more restrictive quarantine.[12]
 The Crisis

• Soviets armed Cuba with nuclear missiles

On October 22,
Kennedy ordered
a naval blockade
of Cuba to prevent
further deliveries
of Soviet weapons.
He also demanded
that the Soviets
remove the missiles.
Khrushchev promised to
challenge the blockade,
calling it “outright banditry.”
Dear Mr. President, .... Imagine, Mr. President, what if we
were to present to you such an ultimatum as you have
presented to us by your actions. How would you react
to it? I think you would be outraged at such a move on
our part. And this we would understand. Having
presented these conditions to us, Mr. President, you
have thrown down the gauntlet. Who asked you to do
this? By what right have you done this? Our ties with
the Republic of Cuba, as well as our relations with other
nations, regardless of their political system, concern
only the two countries between which these relations
exist. And, if it were a matter of quarantine as
mentioned in your letter, then, as is customary in
international practice, it can be established only by
states agreeing between themselves, and not by some
third party. Quarantines exist, for example, on
agricultural goods and products. However, in this case
we are not talking about quarantines, but rather about
much more serious matters, and you yourself
understand this.
For a few days, nuclear war and massive destruction was a
distinct possibility for every American. In schools, children
practiced air raid drills, a common occurrence during the Cold
War. People who had built bomb shelters began stocking
them with food and other provisions. Even the president called
his family to the White House where they could be protected in
the presidential nuclear shelter.
Suddenly, on October 24, many of the Soviet ships stopped short
of the blockade line, turned, and sailed home. “We’re eyeball to
eyeball,” said Secretary of State Dean Rusk, “and I think the
other fellow just blinked.” On October 28 Khrushchev agreed
to dismantle the missile bases in response to Kennedy’s promise
not to invade Cuba.
Soviet ship Poltava on its way to Cuba (CIA photo)

• Soviet ships turned back at the last minute

 The Compromise

Members of ExComm and JFK planning a compromise

• Soviet missiles removed from Cuba

• U.S. promises not to invade Cuba
• U.S. removed missiles from Italy and Turkey
 The Compromise

Members of ExComm and JFK planning a compromise

• Soviet missiles removed from Cuba

• U.S. promises not to invade Cuba
• U.S. removed missiles from Italy and Turkey
JFK signs Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963
• “Hotline” b/t the S.U. and U.S. leaders
• Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: no
testing of nuclear weapons aboveground
• JFK foreign policy success
The New Frontier
Bold, new domestic
programs
• Education
• Welfare
• Health Care
• Elderly Assistance
• Inner-Cities
• Continue FDR’s social
action
 New Frontier Goals
• Provide medical care for elderly
• Rebuild urban areas
• Education (focusing on Math & Science)
• Bolster national defense
• Increase international aid
• Expand space program
• Kennedy went to work on funding public schools by passing new bills.
• He tried fighting poverty in the South and in big cities.
• He supported the Area Development Act which encouraged businesses to
move into economically depressed areas.
• The Housing Act asked for $5 billion for urban renewal
Kennedy and Steel
• Kennedy told steel
companies to hold down
prices to allow economic
growth, but they didn’t listen.
• He threatened them by
saying the US would buy
foreign steel and sent the
Justice Department to
investigate their business
practices.
The New Frontier
President Kennedy’s
legislative program to
provide medical care
for the elderly….

To rebuild blighted
urban areas….
 To aid education….

To bolster the national

defense….
To increase
international aid….

To expand the space

program.
To provide volunteer
assistance to developing
nations in Asia, Africa,
and Latin America.

And to promote civil rights.

Kennedy created the Peace Corps (volunteer program)
to provide support to developing nations of the world.
The Peace Corps
• JFK’s call for American international
volunteerism
• The Peace Corps is a volunteer program to
assist developing nations in Asia, Africa and
Latin America
• The commitment:
▫ Spend 2 years in developing nations
▫ Specialize in education, agriculture, irrigation,
sewage treatment, or health care
▫ Promote democracy and American influence
• Remains one of the most lasting legacy’s of
JFK’s presidency
RACE TO THE MOON
• On April 12, 1961, Soviet
cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became
the first human in space

• Meanwhile, America’s space

agency (NASA) began
construction on new launch
facilities in Cape Canaveral,
Florida and a mission control
center in Houston, Texas
The Space Race
• JFK’s promise to be the first
to the moon
• 1962: NASA sends John
Glenn, first American in
space
▫ Used Saturn V rocket to propel
out of Earth’s orbit
• 1969: Saturn V rocket
launches Apollo 11
▫ First successful moon landing
▫ Neal Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin,
and Michael Collins
 A MAN ON Armstrong

THE MOON
• By July 20, 1969, the U.S. would
achieve its goal
“One small step for man, one
• An excited nation watched as giant leap for mankind”
U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong
took the first steps on the moon
• Space and defense-related
industries sprang up in Southern
and Western states
• Kennedy’s vision succeeded
KENNEDY ADDRESSES INNER CITY BLIGHT AND
RACISM
• In 1963, Kennedy called for “a
national assault on the causes of
poverty”
• He also ordered his brother,
Attorney General Robert
Kennedy to investigate racial
injustice in the South
• Finally, he presented Congress
with a sweeping civil rights bill
and a sweeping tax cut bill to
spur the economy
 JFK’s Problems
• Small Democratic majority in Congress
• Barely won the presidency
• Congress didn’t support policies
• Christian Southern Conservative Democrats didn’t like
him
• Republicans weren’t supportive either
• Battled high inflation
• Contending in conflicts in Cuba, Berlin, and Vietnam
• Most legislation would NOT pass
• Kennedy was frequently at odds with the legislative
branch.
• Southern senators and representatives blocked many
of the measures that he tried to pass partly because he
was for civil rights.
 The Arrival in Dallas
• JFK, LBJ, and families arrive in
Dallas for a political rally
• The families separate for an
escorted drive in downtown
Dallas
• Shots fired: JFK shot in the head
and the throat
• Eyewitnesses argue about the
number and locations of shots
 • As the motorcade
JFK SHOT TO DEATH approached the Texas
Book Depository, shots
rang out
• JFK was shot in the neck
and then the head
• His car was rushed to a
nearby hospital where
doctors frantically tried
to revive him
• President Kennedy was
dead (11/22/63)
Assassinated
• Assassinated November 22, 1963 in Dallas,
Texas, in an event that shook the nation’s
confidence and began a period of internal strife
and divisiveness, especially spurred by divisions
over US involvement in Vietnam.
The Plot Thickens
The Birth of a Conspiracy
• Lee Harvey Oswald had
connections with Russia and
supported the revolution in
Cuba
• Arrested 80 minutes after
the assassination
• Evidence found at the Book
Repository, where he shot
Kennedy
• Oswald shot by Jack Ruby, 2
days later
On Sunday, Nov. 24,
as millions watched
live television
coverage of Oswald
being transferred
between jails, a
nightclub owner
named Jack Ruby
broke through the
crowd and shot and
killed Oswald.
The Big Questions
• Why did Lee
Harvey Oswald kill
Kennedy?
• Why did Jack Ruby
kill Oswald?
• Was this part of a
larger conspiracy?
Sunday, 24 November, 1963 –
On Sunday morning, while millions watched on TV, Oswald was murdered in the basement of a
Dallas jail by Jack Ruby, the owner of a Dallas strip-tease joint called the Carousel . Rumors spread
rapidly, and a shocked nation demanded answers.

Jack Ruby, right, shoots Oswald, center, to death 11/24/63

Three-year old John
Kennedy Jr. salutes
his father’s coffin
during the funeral
LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON BECOMES
PRESIDENT
• The Vice-President,
Lyndon Baines
Johnson, became
President after JFK
was assassinated
• The nation mourned
the death of the
young president
while Jackie
A somber LBJ takes the oath of
Kennedy remained office aboard Air Force One with
calm and poised the Jackie next to him
The Warren Commission

• Chief Justice Earl Warren starts federal

investigation
• Goal:
▫ Prevent speculation about conspiracy
24 September, 1964 –
After ten months of secret hearings, Chief Justice Earl Warren presented the Commission’s
report to President Johnson. The Commission found that Oswald, acting alone, had assassinated
President Kennedy. Mainstream media hailed it as “the most massive, detailed and convincing
piece of detective work ever undertaken, unmatched in the annals of fact finding.”
 24 November, 1964
The US government releases 26
volumes of testimony and exhibits
which contained the evidence on
which the Warren Report was
purportedly based.
The New York Times reported that
the 26 volumes ‘overwhelmingly
supported the conclusions [of the
Warren Commission’s Report] that
the assassination was no
conspiracy but the work of one
unhappy man, Lee Harvey
Oswald.’
 WARREN COMMISSION FINDINGS
1. There were three shots fired and which struck Kennedy.
2. The shots came from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book
depository building.
3. One shot fired passed through Kennedy and struck Governor
Connally.
4. The shots were fired by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald.
5. The killing of Kennedy was due purely to a ‘lone-nut’ assassin.
Because there is not trial
mystery and conspiracy
theories abound. In
1963, the Warren
Commission investigated
and concluded that
Lee Harvey Oswald
had shot the president
while acting on his own.
 The Legacy of the assassination
• Devastated the country and shocked the world
• Seemed to end the dream of innocence of the 1950s
• Coincided with a broader wave of social change: the
Civil Rights Movement, the Feminist Movement,
escalation in Vietnam, and the Free-Speech and Anti-
War Movements
• LBJ became president and took a stronger position on
Vietnam and Civil Rights