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| Televised Debates | In September of 1960, voters watched the first ever TELEVISED presidential debates between Nixon and Kennedy. TV viewers said Kennedy won while radio listeners said that Nixon won. After that night, political image became more important than the printed words of candidates. |
| John F. Kennedy | Presidential winner of the 1960 elections. 35th president. From Massachusetts and assassinated in 1963. |
| Martin Luther King Jr. | Civil Rights leader. Minister. Kennedy stepped and helped get King released from jail while other politicians did nothing. |
| Camelot years | Term given to the three years of Kennedy's presidency. A brief shining moment of perfectness as viewed by many Americans. |
| "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" | Famous quote by Kennedy reminding Americans that they were capable, giving people that can make the world a better place. |
| Best and Brightest | Term Kennedy used to describe his team of advisers in the White House. One of the advisers included his brother, Robert (Bobby) Kennedy. |
| Robert Kennedy | Brother to John F. Kennedy. Served as an adviser to the president. Bobby is also assassinated. |
| flexible response | Kennedy steps back from previous president Eisenhower's policy of threatening nuclear response for any military crisis. Instead, Kennedy's administration advocated the use of multiple military responses to AVOID nuclear war. |
| Fidel Castro | Revolutionary Communist leader in Cuba who welcomed aid from the Soviet Union and openly hated the US. |
| Cuban Dilemma | Castro gained power by promising democracy but when he seized power in Cuba, he immediately seized US and British oil refineries, took away private property to create communes, and took over sugar companies. Congress passes a trade barrier with Cuba. |
| Bay of Pigs | 1500 Cuban exiles where CIA trained to sneak into Cuba and overthrow Castro. The rebels failed when promised US support NEVER materialized and the rebels were left without any back up. The Soviet Union perceived Kennedy to be weak which will led to a huge nuclear missile crisis. |
| Cuban Missile Crisis | For 13 days, the US and the Soviets were on the brink of nuclear war when the Soviet Union supplied Castro with over twenty nuclear missiles to fire at the US. |
| Solution to the Missile Crisis | US used a naval blockade to prevent any further Soviet shipments to Cuba. Last minute compromise saw the US removed missiles from Turkey that were pointed at the Soviets and the Soviets removed missiles from Cuba. |
| Nikita Khrushchev | Soviet leader who faced off with Kennedy during the Cold War. |
| Berlin Crisis | The second one. This time the BERLIN WALL is constructed. |
| Berlin Wall | Soviets and US fight for control of Berlin. The US refuses to let West Berlin fall into the hands of the Soviets. Khrushchev is furious and responds by building the BERLIN WALL which came to symbolize Cold war tensions. |
| Hot line | Soviets and the US established a telephone line between the Kremlin and the White House so that the leaders could communicate at once if another crisis arose. |
| Limited Test Ban Treaty | US and Soviet Union agree to a treaty that banned nuclear testing in the ATMOSPHERE. Notice no mention is made of testing underground or underwater. |
| Alan Shepard | First American IN SPACE. Soviets had already sent a man to space. The trip only took 15 minutes but opened the door to modern space travel. |
| New Frontier | Kennedy platform that called upon Americans to be pioneers in space and science, overcome poverty and discrimination. Unfortunately, many Americans did not agreed and instead embraced the status quo (the way things had always been done). |
| popular mandate | Occurs when a majority of voters make it clear they want change or support presidential plans. Kennedy did NOT have a mandate for his New Frontier. |
| deficit spending | Economic policy whereby the government spends more than they have to simulate the economy and create jobs. Additionally, taxes are lowered too. Doesn't always work. |
| Peace Corps | Program of volunteers who go to under-developed countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to start schools, hospitals, build infrastructures, and spread American goodwill. Most volunteers were right out of college. |
| Alliance For Progress | Offered economic and technical assistance to Latin American countries. |
| Race to the Moon | Since the Soviets beat the US by sending the first man into space, the next big deal was to land on the moon. This feat became the goal of NASA and 7 years after announced, Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon before the Soviets. |
| "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" | Quote by Neil Armstrong when he walked on the surface of the moon. |
| Four Days in November | Kennedy is in Dallas, Texas campaigning for the 1964 election when he is shot and killed in an open car. |
| Lee Harvey Oswald | Man who assassinated Kennedy. |
| Warren Commission | Federal investigation committee that determined that ONLY Oswald had acted when killing the president. Many Americans did not believe the report and CONSPIRACIES abounded about what really happened to Kennedy. |
| Lyndon Baines Johnson or LBJ | Vice President then President after Kennedy's assassination. |
| LBJ Treatment | Term used to describe Johnson's master handling of party politics and behind the scenes maneuvering. |
| First days of Lyndon Johnson | Urged congress to pass civil rights and tax-cut bills that Kennedy had sent to Congress. |
| Economic Opportunity Act | 1 Billion dollars for youth programs, anti-poverty measures, small-business loans, and job training. |
| 1964 Election | Lyndon Johnson v. Barry Goldwater. LBJ (Johnson) will win. |
| The Great Society | Johnson vision for America, an legislative program that would END POVERTY and RACIAL INJUSTICE. |
| Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 | Johnson felt education was key to ending poverty and racial injustice therefore, 1 billion in federal aid was given to public and parochial (church owned schools) to purchase textbooks and new library materials. |
| MEDICARE | provided hospital insurance and low cost medical insurance for almost every American age 65 and over. |
| MEDICAID | Extended health insurance to welfare recipients REGARDLESS OF AGE. |
| DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVElopment | Agency to create housing for low and moderate income families that would provide low rent and better housiing opportunities. |
| Immigration Act of 1965 | Opened the door for many NON-Europeans to settle in the US by ending quotas based on nationality. |
| Silent Spring | Book by Rachel Carson that exposed that many industries were poisoning the environment with their fumes, and chemicals into local waterways. The book chronicles the devastation of the animal population and plant life due to pollution. |
| Water Quality Act of 1965 | Act that was passed AFTER the public reads Silent Spring. Not since The Jungle by Upton Sinclair had a book caused such an uproar and change. |
| Consumer Protection | During Johnson's presidency major consumer safety laws including a truth in labeling law were passed. |
| Warren Court | Time period of many Supreme Court decisions overseen by CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN. |
| Warren Court Decisions | Banned state sanctioned prayer in public schools and declared state required loyalty oaths unconstitutional. Additionally, this court forbid the censoring of books, music, and said that anti-war protests were PROTECTED SPEECH. |
| reapportionment | the way in which states redraw election districts based on the changing # of people in them. Warren Court ordered states to redivide or reapportion districts for more equal political representation. |
| Rights of the Accused | The Warren Court greatly expanded the rights of those accused. For example, MIRANDA RIGHTS , Right to a lawyer, illegal search and seizure were all new rights introduced. |
| Miranda Rights | Warren Court decision that state the accused has the right to know why they are being arrested and also to be told they do not have to say anything and they have the right to a lawyer even if they can't afford one. |
| Illegal search and seizure | Warren court decision that states that any evidence illegally obtained MAY NOT be used in a court of law even if that evidence proves someone's guilt. |
| Impact of the Great Society | War on poverty: poor people decreased from 21% to 11%, massive tax cut spurred (helped) the economy. DOWNSIDE: the massive spending (deficit) became a debt that future generations would pay and pay and pay. |
