The New Frontier and Great Society

1. The New Frontier and Great Society

2. Kennedy and the Cold War • John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960 over Richard Nixon, the Republican candidate • The election was one of the closest in American history—Television helped put JFK over the top • He was helped by the facts he was young and charismatic • He was hurt by the facts that he was young and Catholic

3. C. Once in office JFK and the Democrats took a hard line against the Soviets 1. JFK expanded the country’s non-nuclear military 2. He created a new policy called flexible response

4. D. Bay of Pigs E. Cuban Missile Crisis F. Berlin Wall

5. II. The New Frontier A. The American people were fascinated with the first family. The Kennedy administration reminded people of a modern day Camelot B. JFK surrounded himself with a team of young and talented advisors known as “The Best and the Brightest”

6. C. JFK’s vision for America was know as the New Frontier 1. His agenda included various economic and social reforms but they faced opposition from conservative Democrats and republicans in Congress 2. He was able to increase defense spending and lower taxes 3. He also created the Peace Corps to address poverty abroad

7. D. Space Race

8. E. Tragedy in Dallas 1. JFK was assassinated in November, 1963 2. The official government investigation called the Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone as the assassin 3. 4 decades later though there are still unanswered questions about what happened

9. III. The Great Society A. Lyndon Baines Johnson grew up in rural Texas and idolized FDR B. In Congress he proved to be a master of party politics and behind-the-scenes maneuvering C. LBJ’s congressional connections and his Southern Protestant background compensated for JFK’s weaknesses as a candidate so JFK asked him to be his running mate in the 1960 election

10. D. Johnson’s domestic agenda 1. Continuing JFK’s agenda—tax cuts and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 2. The War on Poverty—LBJ attacked poverty through the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 E. LBJ defeated the conservative senator Barry Goldwater in a landslide in 1964

11. F. Building the Great Society 1. Health—Medicare and Medicaide 2. Education—aid for schools, scholarships for students 3. Environment—Clean Air and Water Acts 4. Cities—Department of Housing and Urban Development 5. Consumer Advocacy—Truth in Packaging, Highway Safety, Dept. of Transportation 6. Discrimination—1964 Civil Rights Act, 1965 Voting Rights Act

12. G. Reforms of the Warren court 1. Brown V. Board of Ed.—segregation 2. Banned prayer in public schools 3. Banned state-required loyalty oaths 4. Extended free speech to symbolic speech 5. Rights of the accused a. Gideon v Wainwright—right to a state appointed lawyer b. Miranda v Arizona—suspects must be read their rights