CHAPTER 38: THE STORMY SIXTIES 1. What became one of Bobby Kennedy's focuses as he became attorney general? Robert Kennedy tried to recast the priorities of the FBI, but was resisted by J. Edgar Hoover. 2. How did JFK choose to attack a sagging economy? Kennedy’s tax-cut bill chose to stimulate the economy through price-cutting. 3. What was Charles DeGaulle's opinion of America? French leader Charlesde Gaulle was one who was suspicious of the U.S., and he rejected Britain’s application into the Common Market. 4. What was the 1962 Trade Expansion Act? Laos, freed of its French overlords in 1954, was being threatened by communism, but at the Geneva Conference of 1962, peace was shakily imposed. 5. What was JFK's "flexible response?" How was it received? Defense Secretary McNamara pushed a strategy of “flexible response,” which developed an array of military options that could match the gravity of whatever crises came to hand. 6. Why did America get involved in Vietnam? The American-backed Diem government had shakily and corruptly ruled Vietnam since 1954, but it was threatened by the communist Viet Cong movement led by Ho Chi Minh. JFK slowly sent more and more U.S. troops to Vietnam to “maintain order,” but they usually fought and died, despite the fact that it was “Vietnam’s war.” 7. What was the Alliance for Progress? Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress was dubbed the “Marshall Plan for Latin America,” and it aimed to close the rich-poor gap in Latin American and thus stem communism. However, too many Latin Americans felt that it was too little, too late. 8. How did JFK react to the Soviet installation of nuclear weapons in Cuba? In 1962, U.S. spy planes recorded missile installations in Cuba. It was later revealed that these were, in fact, nuclear missiles aimed at America. The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted 13 nerve-racking days and put the U.S., the U.S.S.R., and the world at the brink of nuclear war. 9. What was the Cuban Missile Crisis? Results? In the end, Khrushchev blinked, backed off of a U.S. naval blockade, looked very weak and indecisive, and lost his power soon afterwards. The Soviets agreed to remove their missiles if the U.S. vowed to never invade Cuba again; the U.S. also removed their own Russia-aimed nuclear missiles in Turkey. 10. What was important about JFK's 1963 American University speech? In June, 1963, Kennedy spoke, urging better feelings toward the Soviets and beginning the modest policy of détente, or relaxed tension in the Cold War. 11. Why did JFK move slowly in the area of racial justice entering office? Slowly but surely, Kennedy urged civil rights along, encouraging the establishment of the SNCC, a Voter Education Project to register the South’s blacks to vote. 12. When did JFK join with the civil rights movement? June 11, 1963, JFK made a speech urging immediate action towards this “moral issue” in a passionate plea. 13. How did JFK react to the Little Rock crisis? In September 1963, a bomb exploded in a Birmingham church, killing four black girls who had just finished their church lesson. 14. Who led the government investigation into the Kennedy assassination? On November 22, 1963, while riding down a street in Dallas, Texas, JFK was shot and killed, allegedly by Lee Harvey Oswald, who was himself shot by self-proclaimed avenger Jack Ruby, and there was much controversy and scandal and conspiracy in the assassination. 15. Where did LBJ prove to be more successful then JFK? As a president, LBJ went from conservative to liberal, helping pass a Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned all racial discrimination in most private facilities open to the public, including theaters, hospitals, and restaurants. Also created was the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which was aimed at eliminating discriminatory hiring. 16. What was the name of LBJ's domestic reform program? Great Society 17. What was the Tonkin Gulf Resolution? Johnson used the Tonkin Gulf Incident, in which North Vietnamese ships allegedly fired on American ships, to attack (at least partially) Vietnam, and he also got approval for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which gave him a virtual blank check on what he could do in affairs in Vietnam. 18. Why did voters favor LBJ in 1964? Johnson won a huge landslide over Goldwater to stay president. 19. What were some of the programs started by LBJ's Great Society? Evaluation of their successes/failures? Congress doubled the appropriation on the Office of Economic Opportunity to $2 billion and granted more than $1 billion to refurbish Appalachia, which had been stagnant. Johnson also created the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), headed by Robert C. Weaver, the first black cabinet secretary in the United States’ history. LBJ also wanted aid to education, medical care for the elderly and indigent, immigration reform, and a new voting rights bill. Johnson gave money to students, not schools, thus avoiding the separation of church and state by not technically giving money to Christian schools. In 1965, new programs called Medicare and Medicaid were installed, which gave certain rights to the elderly and the needy in terms of medicine and health maintenance. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the “national origin” quota and doubled the number of immigrants allowed to enter the U.S. annually, up to 290,000. An antipoverty program called Project Head Start improved the performance of the underprivileged in education. 20. What was the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964? Johnson’s Voting Rights Act of 1965 attacked racial discrimination at the polls by outlawing literacy tests and sending voting registrars to the polls. 21. What was the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965? The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the “national origin” quota and doubled the number of immigrants allowed to enter the U.S. annually, up to 290,000. 22. What amendment was passed to help blacks vote in the South? 24th amendment 23. What was the Voting Rights Act of 1965? It outlawed literacy tests and sending voting registrars to the polls. 24. What was the significance of the Watts Riots? 1965 began a period of violent black protests, such as the one in the Watts area of L.A., as black leaders, mocking Martin Luther King, Jr., like Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little), who was inspired by the Nation of Islam and its founder, Elijah Muhammed. They urged action now, even if it required violence, to the tune of his battle cry, “by any means necessary.” But, Malcolm X was killed in 1965 by an assassin. 25. Who were some of the influential black leaders of the sixties and how did their policies differ? Martin Luther King jr. Was interested in non-violent protesting. While Malcolm X was more aggressive. 26. What was the most serious blow to LBJ's Vietnam policy? Numerous protests in America went against the Vietnam War and the draft. Opposition was headed by the influential Senate Committee of Foreign Relations, headed by Senator William Fullbright of Arkansas. “Doves” (peace lovers) and “Hawks” (war supporters) clashed. 27. What happened at the 1968 Democratic convention? On June 5, 1968, Robert Kennedy was shot fatally, and the Democratic ticket went to Hubert Humphrey, Johnson’s “heir.” 28. Who was the third party candidate in 1968? Impact? George C. Wallace, former governor of Alabama, a segregationist who wanted to bomb the Vietnamese to death. 29. What did the major party candidates agree on regarding Vietnam? As a minority president, Nixon owed his presidency to protests over the war, the unfair draft, crime, and rioting. 30. What were some factors resulting in the upheavals of the sixties? In the 60s, the youth of America experimented with sex, drugs, and defiance. They protested against conventional wisdom, authority, and traditional beliefs.