President John F. Kennedy
JFK – Election and Assassination:
· Democrat John F. Kennedy defeated the Republican Richard Nixon in the presidential election of 1960.
· In 1963, Pres. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas.
President Lyndon Johnson
· Vice-president Lyndon Johnson was named President upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.
· Pres. Johnson developed a series of new programs called the Great Society aimed at increasing the standard of living of Americans.
Examples:
- Medicare helped pay the hospital bills for citizens over the age of 65.
- Medicaid gave states money to help poor people pay for medical care.
- The Economic Opportunity Act helped the poor by offering job training and loans.
- Congress created the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to build low-income housing
Violent protests:
· Americans protested against the Vietnam War across the country.
· Thousands of college students burned draft cards and refused to serve in the military.
· Presidential candidate Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated.
Election of 1968:
· Republican Richard Nixon defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey.
Richard Nixon as President
· Pres. Nixon opposed parts of the Great Society programs and cut funds for job training, low-income housing and education.
· Nixon easily defeated Democratic Senator George McGovern to win reelection in 1972.
The Watergate Affair:
· In June of 1972, police caught five men breaking into the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate apartment building in Washington, D.C.
· The burglars were linked to Nixon’s reelection committee, but Nixon said that he was not involved in the scandal.
· However, Nixon made secret tapes of all conversations in his office, in which he was caught on tape talking about trying to cover up the Watergate break-in.
· In the meantime, Vice President Spiro Agnew was accused of taking bribes and was accused to resign.
· Pres. Nixon then assigned Representative Gerald Ford as his new Vice-President.
· In 1974, the House of Representatives passed three articles of impeachment against Nixon, including obstructing justice.
· In August of 1974, Nixon resigned from office rather than go through an impeachment trial.
· Vice-President Ford was named President upon Nixon’s resignation.
· Pres. Ford then granted Nixon a “full, free and absolute pardon”.
o Ford lost a close race for reelection in 1976 to the Democrat Jimmy Carter.
