The 1960s - JFK and LBJ

Question 1

John F. Kennedy had to deal with several foreign policy crises within our hemisphere, centered around the island nation of __________.

Answer 1

Cuba. Cuba came under the communist leadership of Fidel Castro in 1959.

Question 2

This foreign policy failure of the U.S. under President Kennedy pushed Cuba closer to the Soviet Union. In this failure, U.S. backed rebels failed to overthrow the Castro government.

Answer 2

The Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)

Question 3

This foreign policy crisis under Kennedy was the closest the U.S. and Soviet Union ever came to nuclear war. This crisis began after an American U2 Spy Plane took photographs of offensive Soviet missiles being erected in Cuba.

Answer 3

The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

Question 4

How was the Cuban Missile Crisis resolved?

Answer 4

After the U.S. spotted the missiles, JFK orders a quarantine (blockade) of Cuba and demands the Soviet Union remove the missiles. After a tense standoff in the waters off the coast of Cuba, the Soviets publicly agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba while the US privately agreed to remove missiles it had in Turkey.

Question 5

This program, created by Kennedy, sent Americans into the countries of the developing world to help those countries create irrigation systems, build wells, and other development projects. The program was largely designed to get these other countries to respect and admire the U.S. in hopes that they would avoid turning to communism during the Cold War.

Answer 5

The Peace Corps

Question 6

This JFK program was designed to help Latin America experience economic development, largely by boosting American investment in Latin America.

Answer 6

The Alliance For Progress

Question 7

Who assassinated John F. Kennedy? Where? When?

Answer 7

JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald.

Question 8

Lyndon Johnson’s domestic policy agenda was nicknamed the ________ ________.

Answer 8

Great Society

Question 9

In Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, he declared war on ________.

Answer 9

Poverty. Johnson’s Great Society started to work, cutting poverty significantly. However, the Vietnam War took money away from Johnson’s Great Society programs.

Question 10

Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society created these two health care programs. _________ offered medical care for the elderly while __________ offered medical care for the poor.

Answer 10

Medicare = for the elderly; Medicaid = for the poor.

Question 11

This Great Society program was similar to the Peace Corps, but instead of sending Americans to help the developing world, Americans were sent to help people in need WITHIN the United States.

Answer 11

VISTA = Volunteers In Service To America. This is essentially like the Peace Corps, but HERE AT HOME IN THE USA.

Question 12

This resolution, following a controversial incident off the coast of North Vietnam, gave President Johnson a “permission slip” from Congress to use whatever force he deemed necessary to stop communist aggression against U.S. personnel in Vietnam.

Answer 12

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This was passed after North Vietnamese tropedo boats tried to shoot at the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam. It was after this resolution that Lyndon Johnson greatly escalated (increased) US involvement in Vietnam.

Question 13

This series of surprise attacks by the North Vietnamese deep into South Vietnam shocked the United States and made us realize that the Vietnam War was not going as well as the US Government was suggesting.

Answer 13

Tet Offensive of 1968.

Question 14

This Supreme Court case centered around whether high school students in Iowa were allowed, under the Constitution, to wear black armbands to school protesting the Vietnam War involvement. The Court ruled in favor of the students.

Answer 14

Tinker vs. Des Moines (1969) The court ruled that wearing the black armband constituted symbolic free speech. The students do NOT lose their first amendment rights simply by entering the school doors each day.

Question 15

This idea was behind America’s fears and eventual involvement in Vietnam. The idea was that if Vietnam fell to communism, it was only a matter of time before the neighbors of Vietnam also fell, causing a major expansion of communist countries.

Answer 15

The Domino Theory

Question 16

In the Vietnam War, what is meant by the term “Americanization”?

Answer 16

Americanization refers to the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam. As Johnson sent more and more US troops to fight in Vietnam…the war became more and more of America’s War…or Americanized.

Question 17

In the Vietnam War, what is meant by the term “Vietnamization”?

Answer 17

After Nixon’s election, largely on his promise of a secret plan to end the Vietnam War, Nixon began pulling American forces out of Vietnam and turning the responsibility of fighting the war back over to the forces of South Vietnam. Therefore, as the South Vietnamese did more and more of the fighting, the war was becoming “Vietnamized.”

Question 18

This controversial practice or policy was used during the Vietnam War. Essentially, whether you were told to go to Vietnam depended on a lottery system, tied to each man’s birthday. Many people avoided this practice by fleeing to Canada during the war years.

Answer 18

The Draft. Many other burned their draft cards in protest against the participation of the US in the Vietnam War. Later, many of those who evaded the draft by fleeing to Canada received amnesty (a pardon) from President Carter.