Chapter 29: Civil Rights, Vietnam, & the Ordeal of Liberalism Flashcards
New Frontier
JFK had campaigned promising a set of domestic reforms described as the New Frontier
Congress dominated by Republicans and conservative Democrats posed challenges to him, though
managed a tariff reduction and began building an agenda that called for significant tax cut to help the economy
Kennedy Assassinated
November 22, 1963 in Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald
VP Lyndon Johnson replaced him
Great Society
a reform program made by Lyndon Johnson, much of it approved thanks to his skillful lobbying in Congress
reflected Johnson’s belief in active use of power (between 1963 and 66, Johnson compiled most impressive legislative effort since FDR)
Barry Goldwater
conservative right wing senator from Arizona who ran against Johnson in the 1964 presidential elections
was beat by Johnson by a lot, and elections also resulted in record democratic majorities in both houses of congress, ensuring Johnson would be able to fulfill many of his goals
Medicare & Medicaid
1965: medicare: a program to provide federal aid to the elderly for medical expenses
1966: medicaid: program by Johnson which extended federal medical assistance to welfare recipients and other indigent people of all ages
importance: smaller steps in a much larger war on poverty, and first time since 1930’s that the fed. government took steps to create new social welfare programs
war on poverty
program planned by Kennedy, enacted by Johnson
at the centerpiece of this was the Office of Economic Opportunity, which created an array of new educational, employment, housing, and health-care programs. But OEO was controversial b/c of its commitment to the idea of “community action”
Community Action programs
comm. action was an effort to involve members of poor communities themselves in the planning and administration of the programs designed to help them
provided jobs for many poor and gave them experience in political work
many who went on to have successful careers (black, hispanic, Indian politicians) got their start in Comm. Action programs
despite success, was impossible to sustain b/c of administrative failures and excesses of a few agencies damaging the pop. image of CA programs . helped reduce poverty, but didn’t eliminate it.
Dep’t of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
1966: a new cabinet agency, established by Johnson
reflected federal efforts to promote the revitalization of decaying cities and to strengthen the nation’s schools
Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965
JFK had long previously fought for federal aid to public education, but failed b/c of two obstacles: fear that this would lead to federal control of the schools, and Catholics insisted that fed. assistance must extend to parochial schools also
bill created by Johnson, bills extended aid to both private and parochial schools and based the aid on the economic conditions of the students, not on the needs of the schools themselves
important results: total federal expenditures for education rose from 5 billion to 12 billion between 1964 and 1967
Immigration Act of 1965
one of most important pieces of legislation of 1960’s
law maintained strict limit on the number of newcomers admitted to the country each year (170,000) but eliminated “national origins” system established in the 20’s, which gave preference to immigrants from N Europe
continued to restrict from Latin America, but gave equal access to Europe, Asia, and Africa
effects: by early 1970’s, character of US immigration had changed, with members of new national groups, particularly large groups of Asians, entering US and changing character of US population
legacies of the Great Society
negative views:
Great Society reforms meant increase in federal spending, and for a time, rising tax revenues from growing economy compensated. Great Society programs began to multiply, however, and as they began to compete with escalating costs of military ventures, federal spending rapidly outpaced increases in revenue.
high costs, failures of many of the programs contributed to growing disillusionment in later years with the idea of federal efforts to solve social problems
funding for Great Society competed with funding for Vietnam
positive views:
despite many failures, it was also responsible for significant achievements
reduced hunger, made medical care available to elderly and poor who wouldn’t have been able to afford it, greatest reduction in poverty in US history, and it affected blacks and whites in about the same proportion
statistic: 1959: 21% of Americans live below poverty line… 1969: 12% remain below the line
Greensboro sit-in
Feb. 1960: black college students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter, and in following weeks, similar demonstrations spread throughout the South, forcing many merchants to integrate their facilities
a cry for fundamental change in response to Kennedy being sympathetic to the cause, but not a committed crusader (his help in bailing out MLK from prison in 1960 gained him many black voters, but he was hesitant to go full force because he didn’t want to alienate southern Democrat voters. he strove for modest progress without creating politically damaging division.)
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
formed in fall of 1960, worked to keep the spirit of resistance alive
freedom rides
1961: interracial group of students, working with the CORE, began freedom rides (reviving a tactic that was unsuccessful in the 1940’s)
tried to force the desegregation of bus stations, but traveling by bus throughout the south
met with such violence that Kennedy had to dispatch federal marshals to keep the peace, and he ordered integration of all bus/train stations
Birmingham, Alabama 1963
events here helped bring the growing movement to something of a climax, and signaled to the president that the issue of race could no longer be avoided. Birmingham = heavily committed to segregation
- MLK launched series of nonviolent demonstrations. Police Commissioner Eugene Bull Connor supervised brutal effort to break up peaceful marches with dogs, tear gas, electric cattle prods, fire hoses, which was televised.
- Souther governor George Wallace, pro-segregation, refused to allow court-ordered enrollment of several black students. Arrival of federal Marshals and JFK made him budge, but his stunt made him popular with whites uncomfortable with integration.
- NAACP official Medgar Evers was murdered in Mississippi.
leader-centered vs. grassroots narratives of the civil rights movement
tbd
March on Washington
August 1963: more than 200,000 demonstrators marched down the Mall in Washington D.C. and gathered before the Lincoln memorial for greatest civil rights demonstration in the nation’s history.
Afterwards, MLK gave his “I have a dream” speech
march = high mark of peaceful, interracial civil rights movement
Civil Rights Act of 1964
after JFK assassinated, Johnson applied both public and private pressure, and the Senate passed the most comprehensive civil rights bill in the nation’s history
outlawed public segregation and discrimination, also discrim in the workplace
