Expert answer:discussion 150 words (use informations from files)
Expert answer:Discussion GuidelinesPost one initial post and one reply post to a classmate due at the end of Week 14.Two bonus points are earned for posting both posts before Friday.Post should be in your own words.No outside research except content that is in the Module Week 14 and the text.Show understanding of the reading for Week 14 and my content comments as you write your posts.No more than 2 direct quotes per post. Direct quotations should not exceed 1.5 sentences in length.See grading rubric in right hand corner drop down gear menu.Do not make a list. Write in paragraph form. Display understanding and in depth analysis.Posts are due at the end of Week 14 for 10 points.No direct quotations longer than 1.5 sentences. Initial PostJFK is considered our first “television” president. How did the medium of television impact politics in the 1960’s? Do you think TV impacts politics today in the same way (s) or do other media have more impact now in your opinion?You can focus on one thing or many. Make sure you use specific examples from the Module 14, text or content comments in your post.
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comments_on_chapter_29_kennedy.docx
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Prof. Haber’s Content Comments Week 14 Chapter 29
JFK victory in 1960
Kennedy won by about 120,000 votes. There were disputed votes in Texas (Johnson’s home
county) and Chicago area–the arena of Democratic Party boss Richard Daly
Nixon’s aides told him to challenge the election. Nixon claimed he could have disputed the
election but didn’t want to put the country through that turmoil. He refused to do so because of
how it would damage the image of the U.S. during the Cold War. Contrast this with the Al Gore
campaign challenge in 2000. How things have changed in terms of what is acceptable in politics
between 1960 and the Election of 1960!
I encourage you to watch the Kennedy Nixon Debates. Note the level of discourse then in the
debates.
Kennedy Foreign Policy goals
JFK wanted to win the developing nations and new nations emerging from colonialism to
freedom and democracy. He wanted to move them into the American sphere of influence. He
wanted more options to be able to do this as well as fight Communism’s spread. .He wanted
multiple strategies and weapons to fight communism. He called it “flexible response”. He would
do this through foreign aid such as the agencies such as the Alliance for Progress and the Peace
Corps. He also used military (overt) and covert tools of the Cold War too. He was the last
President to get everything he asked for in terms of military spending. JFK called for an “across
the board” military buildup and he got it. Kennedy represents the apex of U.S. containment of
communism and the apex of Pax Americana.
This policy was containment all over the world. Kennedy pledged to be tougher on the
USSR. He asked Congress for an across the board military buildup and he got everything he
wanted. Part of the multiple military options would be conventional forces, tactical nuclear
response, strategic nuclear weapons, counter insurgency and guerrillas (he began the Green
Berets). Also land based, sea based and mobile missile systems were part of the flexible response
too.
Remember at the end of the Eisenhower administration the public believed Ike was “soft” on
communism and we were losing the race against the USSR. Kennedy believed that we needed to
outspend the USSR. He advocated a building buildup across the board. He was the ultimate
“Cold Warrior”/
JFK and Civil Rights
Kennedy used federal marshals and the justice department to support integration. He also used
federal lawsuits to support voting rights and integration of schools. He also used the power of the
Justice Department. He ordered integration of bus and train stations (supporting the Freedom
Riders) and he used his Attorney General to demand integration of universities as U of Alabama.
(816-818) It was Johnson who got the Civil Rights legislation through the Congress. He
capitalized on the public’s change of heart due to the television images of the attacks on civil
rights marchers and workers. He also built on the emotion following the President’s death. Let’s
complete what Kennedy wanted in terms of civil rights, he said.
Khrushchev and Kennedy
Khrushchev later stated that he sized Kennedy up as weak when he met him in June 1961 in
Vienna. Part of this was Kennedy wasn’t elected with a mandate, the failure at Bay of Pigs, and
his perception of Kennedy when he met him in Vienna. Many historians conclude that
Khrushchev felt he could “take JFK” and that’s why he was aggressive in foreign policy at that
time, the placing of offensive missiles in Cuba.
Cuban Missile Crisis
The text makes it sound as if the U.S. was the aggressor. You have to understand that USSR was
itself moving aggressively –for example building the Berlin Wall in 1961; what were the Soviet
intentions to West Berlin and Southeast Asia; what were the missiles for? Remember they were
offensive missiles 90 miles away from Florida; We later found out from Khrushchev’s memoirs
that Castro was pushing him to use these missiles on the U.S. The Left in the U.S. attacked
Kennedy for speaking out against the Soviets and for giving them an ultimatum. However we
know that Kennedy took the least provocative action and worked behind the scenes to get the
Soviets to withdraw their missiles. We also know that by being “strong” and not appeasing
Khrushchev, Kennedy gained his respect.
Assumptions of Bay of Pigs Mission
The plan was based on the assumption that the world wouldn’t know the U.S. was behind it. That
is why Kennedy pulled the promised air support. It was also based on other “erroneous”
assumptions such as there would be an uprising with the invasion of the Cuban people against
Castro. Another assumption was that Castro’s forces were not good fighters and it would be a
“cake walk” for the returning exiles to be victorious. The Kennedy people accepted the CIA plan
that had lots of problems. It was filled with false assumptions. Our intelligence was very
flawed. I have no problem believing the failures of our intelligence with WMD in the Iraq war
after studying all the CIA’s failures and problems.
JFK assassination
Back then security was so lax. People could walk in and out of the Dallas police station just to
“hang out”. Jack Ruby was someone who would hang out there at the police station. No one was
searched. If you look at the TV films people were mobbing the law enforcement officer who was
escorting Oswald from the police station to the jail when Oswald was killed. Kennedy rode in a
open car!!!
By the way take a look at my PPT files on the assassination spot. I encourage you to go to the
Sixth Floor Museum if you are interested in the Kennedy assassination. They go through all the
theories and show the “holes” in them. There are also great links on that site to discussions by
notable historians about the assassination.
I recommend Vincent Bugliosi’s book on the Kennedy Administration. It is called Reclaiming
History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (2007). He was the L.A. District
Attorney who prosecuted Charles Manson. Bugliosi goes through each assassination theory. His
book is very thorough.
LBJ Political Skills
Robert Caro, a biographer, has the volume on LBJ’s Senate career called Master of the Senate.
LBJ had phenomenal political skills. He had experience far beyond that of JFK.
Johnson’ s Great Society
Johnson really did care about the poor. He wanted to give people “a leg up”. He did not envision
what became of many of his programs. He wanted to give people opportunity to succeed and get
out of poverty. He did not envision what became a “permanent welfare class” as one to two
generations of family members existed on welfare and did not have an example of seeing a
family member go to work.
Security at a President Bill Clinton event
Now the President is always under security and even much more now with the threat of
terrorists. I was at a President Bill Clinton town meeting at Channel 10 in 1993 and I was to ask
a “women’s issue” question. Those selected to ask questions at the “town meeting”on TV met at
the zoo and we were under strict security. No one in the public knew where the town meeting
audience was organizing. After gathering and being “processed” at a building in the zoo, we
were bused to Channel 10. We had to stay an hour after the event at the station until the entire
Clinton entourage cleared out and then we were all bused back to the zoo. There were secret
service agents everywhere even in the rafters of the room where the meeting was held. It was
fascinating.
Tet Offensive and Television’s Impact
This is a good example of the difference between perception and reality. You are correct that the
forces were not only pushed back but the Americans were victorious. What the public recalled
and perceived however was pictures (from TV) of the enemy on the very lawn of the U.S.
Embassy in Saigon. The perception was the war was impossible to win and we were losing. You
see the impact of visual images and the impact of television on the public’s view of the war after
the images of Tet offensive were shown on television.
Malcolm X
He was born in Nebraska. His father a preacher, supported and spoke about the teaching of
Marcus Garvey who advocated black nationalism. After receiving threats from the KKK, the
dad moved the family to Michigan where his sermons were continued to attract controversy. His
father was murdered by white supremacists whom the authorities wouldn’t prosecute. Malcolm
ended up in taken from his family, dropped out of high school, moved to Boston, and got
involved with crime. While in prison convicted at age 21 of burglary, he was exposed to the
teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam (sometimes called the Black
Muslims). Elijah Muhammad’s teachings were of black nationalism but also condemnation of
whites (“blue eyed devils”) advocating racial separation. It was here that Malcolm took the
name X. Malcolm X left the movement after a pilgrimage to Mecca where he was impressed by
Muslim unity. He changed his name to E-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and founded the Organization
of Afro-American Unity. This movement gained broader appeal in America as it was more
moderate. He was shot to death February, 1965 by Nation of Islam members as he spoke in New
York City at a rally for his new organization.
1968
Take a 2nd look at the photo on page 837 (13th edition). Many disgruntled elements in the
Democratic Party came to Chicago to protest. They set up a “people’s park” and clashed with
police as they called the police “pigs”. Some wore pig masks. The perception that came across on
TV (remember perception can be as strong as reality) was that the Democratic Party was taken
over by kooks and crazies. This also helped Nixon gain votes.
John F. Kennedy
JFK was our first television President. New mobile cameras could follow the President around.
JFK was the first President to use live press conferences. His aides would test him on key
questions before he would go on the air. He was successful in building public opinion for
himself and his programs with these press conferences. He was tan, charming and the camera
“was friendly” to him. He was used to being in a public family and used to the limelight.
He had Democratic majorities in both houses of the Congress.
Some of you compared John Kennedy and Barack Obama. They are both young and charismatic
with youthful supporters.
The Presidents as some of you mentioned are similar when it comes to their desire to spread
equality and help the poor and disadvantaged.
However on many policies they differ.
For example, Kennedy supported tariff reduction (for more free trade) and the Congress during
Kennedy’s presidency did pass legislation reducing tariffs. President Obama supports the TransPacific Trade Agreement and fast tracking free trade agreements; however many of his party do
not support free trade. Hillary Clinton has switched her position on free trade and Bernie
Sanders is against it too. See this NYT article
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/10/us/politics/after-michigan-loss-hillary-clinton-retoolsmessage-on-jobs-and-trade.html?_r=0
Kennedy supported tax cuts for the wealthy to fuel the economy and President Obama supports
raising taxes on the wealthy, tax cuts for the middle class and more government spending to
grow the economy. Kennedy’s tax cuts did work. Our economy is at one of its lowest growth
rates since WWII. See http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/10/28/whichpresidents-have-been-best-for-the-economy
The latter is an article on the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) under Presidents Kennedy to
Obama.
To compete with the Soviets and build American scientific strength Kennedy committed to a
moon landing and growth of the space program. Under President Obama we have conceded
much of our space program to private companies and other countries. We ended our space
shuttle program. This was criticized by Apollo program astronauts. See
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/space/04/14/us.space.program/
NASA is still funded but not on the levels the agency wants. Some key programs have been
abandoned.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/02/09/president-obama-proposes-19-billionnasa-fiscal-2017/80053964/
Obama Administration Proposes Smaller 2017 NASA Budget of $19 Billion with Big Exploration Cuts
A central feature of JFK’s foreign policy was an across the board military buildup. The opposite
has been the policy and the outcome of the Obama Administration.
JFK was an example of globalism with an activist foreign policy. He believed that American
strength would deter conflict. This is different from the President’s policy of “leading from
behind” and policy of pulling back troops.
Kennedy would actively pursue enlarging the nations that were free by overt and covert activities
such as Peace Corps., Alliance for Progress, trade agreements, but he would also do so with
supporting Allies by aid, covert forces, or use of power. After the Berlin Wall was built by the
Soviets which sealed off the Soviet sector of Berlin to keep Berliners inside and to stop them
from fleeing to West Berlin, Kennedy asked for 3.6 billion more in defense spending.
Kennedy did not have a mandate from the election of 1960 as the election was very close. The
CIA plan developed under Eisenhower to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs had many flaws.
Kennedy accepted the plan and it was disastrous.
He grew though in office. Placing offensive missiles in Cuba was a very aggressive move by the
Soviets. We had U-2 evidence. It was the most serious and dramatic crisis of the Cold War. We
know from Khrushchev’s memoirs that he believed Kennedy was weak and JFK would do
nothing. Kennedy surprised him by taking a firm stand. Unlike the Bay of Pigs preparation
where the plan of the CIA was accepted, during the Cuban Missile Crisis JFK got advice from
many groups and individuals. In the end, he gave Khrushchev time so he wouldn’t be pressured
into a fast decision and gave him a “carrot” (so he wouldn’t lose face at home) which was our
promise to remove missiles from Turkey.
This is from JFK’s Inaugural Address.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any
burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the
success of liberty. and In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been
granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.
Kennedy wanted peace but let the country and the world know we would defend liberty with
arms if necessary. The idea was peace through strength. For example he signed the first arms
limitation treaty limiting atmosphere testing of nuclear weapons in 1963.
…
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