1950’s & 60’s Domestic Politics

1. 1950’s & 60’s Domestic Politics

2. I. Dwight Eisenhower (1953-60) • Moderate (Keeps most New Deal/Fair Deal Policies) & “apolitical” War Hero and Grandfather-like Image • Reassures Cold War era anxieties http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG4IX5jBc4Q

3. Economic & Social Trends in 1950’s:Sputnik, National Defense Education Act, GI Bill, Interstate Highway Act, Military – Industrial Complex, & Move to the Sun Belt,Suburbia

4. II. JFK (1961-1963) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE7JDIkiEZg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf3r0_AdlEY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDhcypoywCc&feature=related

5. “New Frontier” = JFK Domestic Plans • Goals include: medical insurance for elderly, more civil rights, environmental regulation, increased funding for public transportation & education, higher minimum wage, reorganize income taxes • Gets mixed Congressional support initially due to narrow victory • Most programs passed when LBJ becomes President

6. JFK & Cold War • Space Race/Moon Pledge • Establishes Peace Corps • Targets Latin America & “3rd World” Nations • JFK adjusts “New Look” to “Flexible Response” • Cuban Missile Crisis

7. III. LBJ as President (1963 – 1968)

8. 1964 Election: LBJ vs Goldwater “Daisy Commercial” helps spark Landslide for LBJ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63h_v6uf0Ao

9. LBJ Aspires to be another FDR • “War on Poverty” Job Corps, VISTA, Head Start, School Lunches, Appalachian Development, EEOC, HUD • “Great Society” Education, Medicare, Immigration, PBS, NEA, Environment, Consumer Protection, Civil Rights

10. Vietnam dilemma takes $ & focus away from domestic agenda (Guns vs. Butter)

11. November 22, 1963 • JFK Assassination in Dallas • Shocks World • Murder of Oswald sparks Conspiracy Theories • Warren Commission report