wednesday April 1, 2009
- October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis U-2 spy planes from the U.S. took photos of missile sites under construction.

• Kennedy demanded that the soviets dismantle the missile sites & turn back supply ships heading for cuba w/ more missile equipment
• JFK publicly that the US wouldnt allow nuclear weapons to be installed that close to the US

-Kennedy settled on quarantine of Cuba - not a naval blockade

• soviet ships came with in very close range of US ships

however soviets turned around and agreed to dismantle missiles and missile sites in Cuba

• US ended the quarantine & pledged not to invade Cuba.
• one end result was the greater realization of how dangerous direct US - USSR confrontation
• JFK secretly assured Kruschev that US would withdrawal missiles form turkey

Vietnam

Jfk and his advisors revised massive retaliation

--- Jfk said we cant just go bomb vietnam when they provoke us

-Instead he wanted a variety of methods to deal with it known as Flexible Response

JFK sent advisory groups

1. the green berets to train the south vietnamese police force
2. MSU students also helped wwith the struggling economy

but when conditions didnt improve - Diem was ousted in a coup that ended in his murder

Kennedy and CIvil Rights

- kennedy had slim majority of loyals in congress

- FBI began tracking MLK jr. because of possible links to communist party

• African Americans become impatient & take the matters "sitting down"

-1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina black college students staged a sit-in in a public resteraunt demanding service

Freedom Rides

-- 1961, white and black activists from (CORE) and the (SNCC) as well began to board interstate buses to protest segregation on the buses and in the terminals

• it was greeted w/ violence
• ppl. were hauled off the buses- some buses were torched---- some hauled off and beaten
• JFK sent federal troops to help the freedom riders

Nov. 1962, JFK issues an order to eliminate racial discrimination in financial housing businesses

-- Birmingham Police

• used fire hoses and police dogs to break up protesters

--JFK however called for nat'l commitment to end discrimination

• called for ban on discrimination in all public facilities& housing & guaranteeing the vote to millions of blacks
• 1963 MLK jr. led march on washington w/ 200,000 ppl. right behind him

-- marchers were there to encourage congress to pass JFK's laws ( MLK jr. makes his " i have a dream speech

• JFK also supported the elimination of gender discrimination

But in Nov. 1963, JFK is assassinated in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswalt-- oswalt was later shot by Jack Ruby before he could testify

Lyndon B. Johnson and Chapter 29

-LBJ urged passing of JFK's civil rights legislation

-1964 LBJ declares " war on poverty"