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President Kennedy supported a "New Frontier for America."
Feb 1960: Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum. First sit-in of four
African-American students at café. Waited 40min, read bibles, Henry
Thoreau's essay, brought back more. Continued. Similar sit-ins across
country. Greensboro officials lifted whites-only policy. Meal-ins at
churches and wait-ins at public pools. Much violence against protestors.
Presidential Election during 1960
- Kennedy v. Nixon, pretty similar histories
- Both more interested in foreign affairs than domestics.
- Eisenhower couldn't name any major accomplishment of Nixon, his VP
- Nixon led anti-Communist hearings
- Became known as cunning deceiver
- Kennedy was "more pragmatic than ideological," charismatic,
political celebrity. 35th pres.
- Rich and powerful Roman Catholic family, accomplished wife
- First presidential debate: Nixon had a virus, described as
menacing, pale, sickly.
- Kennedy's father, a business, engineered his campaign to support
books, helped him win.
- Kennedy saw Cold War as a conflict between capitalist godliness
and ruthless godlessness of the Soviets.
- Kennedy saw civil rights as an obstacle because he needed Southern
whites' votes, but he did help free MLK from prison.
- One million leaflets distributed by civil rights people to black
churches in favor of Kennedy.
Kennedy's inaugural speech was about "keeping America strong" and
"reducing friction with Soviets." "We shall do [anything] to protect
liberty. So ask ... what you can do for your country."
- Kennedy suffered from serious medical problems, despite his strong,
healthy image.
- Kennedy appointed his entirely inexperienced brother as AG.
- Mixed success with foreign affairs
- Absolutely bungled Bay of Pigs. Believed it would inspire
anti-Castro Cubans to rebel, but his advisors were entirely
inaccurate on how effective the Cuban exiles would be.
- Castro had 20K soldiers waiting
- JFK refused to support the rebels when he realized he was
failing
- Elevated position of Fidel Castro.
- Gorbachev was empowered and threatened to take all of Berlin. JFK
brought in troops to demonstrate power. The Soviets built the wall,
becoming a propaganda weapon for the US.
JFK didn't want to support the Civil Rights movement until he needed to
because it would lose support of Southern Democrats.
Freedom Rides were Civil Rights movement about desegregating
buses/public transport by occupying them.
Much pushback on Freedom Rides.
MLK, in church, held meeting to honor freedom riders. Attacked by white
racists; JFK urged Alabama governor to intervene. Freedom riders were
jailed, despite federal judges ruling in their favor.
Bobby Kennedy realized segregationists, like Mississippi governor, would
never stand down to the White House trying to integrate black people.
White mob shouting "go to hell, JFK" against people trying to protect
one black student, required JFk to send in the national guard.
The Battle of Ole Miss
- Violent white supremacists trying to barricade the campus vs.
- Marshals, gassing the mob that was burning cars, throwing molotovs,
etc.
- Eventually, after thousands of nat. guard sent in, the student
registered at Ole Miss.
- One journalist: "it's as if the Civil War never ended."
- Cuban Missile Crisis approved by Gorbachev. Felt justified because,
after Bay of Pigs, US installed missiles in Turkey.
- Over 13 days, Kennedy and a Security Council figured out a plan to
remove the missiles. Discussed the "unthinkable possibility of a
nuclear exchange with the Soviets."
- "Not a real strategic threat."
- Eventually, National Security Council settled on two options:
- airstrike of missiles and invasion if necessary
- Bay of Pigs made JFK fearful of this.
- Also feared that invasion of Cuba would allow Sovs to take
over West Berline and cause WW3
- JFK supported: blockade of Cuba to prevent more missiles.
- Kruschev agreed to move the missiles in exchange for:
- US secretly removing Turkish missiles
- Promise not to invade Cuba
- Relationship between Sovs and US improved because approaching the
brink of Cold War made them soften Cold War rhetoric.
Birmingham, Alabama. Supremacists refuse to negotiate with Civil Rights
Activists.
- Alabam led by openly racist George Wallace, promising to uphold
segregation regardless of the cost.
- MLK felt that breaking segregation in Alabama would display
segregationist brutality to the world.
- Millions of Americans were outraged
- 3000 demonstrators
- wrote "letter from a Birmingham Jail," a defense of nonviolent
civil disobedience
- Biggest foe of change was the white moderate: "I agree with
you in the goal you seek, but I do not agree with you in your
methods."
- JFK supported the Civil Rights movement eventually
- Called it a moral issue
- Killing of Medgar Evers, a black kid, caused JFK to hold a meeting
with Civil Rights leaders.
- The March of Washington for Jobs and Freedom
- Largest political demonstration in history
- "You didn't see blacks or whites; you saw America."
- Civil Rights activists gave speeches, entertainers sang
protest songs
- "I Have a Dream" speech was improvised.
Remained "A dream deferred" for some time.
- KKK attacked a church, killing four.
- Sparked a new wave of indignation.
- Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy in Kansas.
- Oswald idolized Castro and hated the US.
- Also called a policeman
- JFK seemed to have a premonition: "We're heading into nut country
today. If someone wants to shoot me from a window with a rifle, no
one can stop it, so why worry about it?" he told his wife.
- This was at the end of the election, when Kennedy was on the
campaign trail.
Next up, Lyndon B Johnson
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