Space Race ---- On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the first human in space. Kennedy saw this as a challenge and decided that America would surpass the Soviets by sending a man to the moon. In less than a month the United States had duplicated the Soviet feat. Later that year, a communications satellite called Telstar relayed live television pictures across the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Europe. Meanwhile, America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had begun to construct new launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and a mission control center in Houston, Texas. America’s pride and prestige were restored. Speaking before a crowd at Houston’s Rice University, Kennedy expressed the spirit of “the space race.”Seven years later, on July 20, 1969, the U.S. would achieve its goal. An excited nation watched with bated breath as U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon. As a result of the space program, universities expanded their science programs. The huge federal funding for research and development gave rise to new industries and new technologies, many of which could be used in business and industry and also in new consumer goods. Space- and defense-related industries sprang up in the Southern and Western states, which grew rapidly.

MLK/SCLC/I Have A Dream-- After the bus boycott ended, King joined with ministers and civil rights leaders in 1957 to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Its purpose was “to carry on nonviolent crusades against the evils of second-class citizenship.” Using African-American churches as a base, the SCLC planned to stage protests and demonstrations throughout the South. The leaders hoped to build a movement from the grassroots up and to win the support of ordinary African Americans of all ages. King, president of the SCLC, used the power of his voice and ideas to fuel the movement’s momentum. The nuts and bolts of organizing the SCLC was handled by its first director, Ella Baker, the granddaughter of slaves. While with the NAACP, Baker had served as national field secretary, traveling over 16,000 miles throughout the South. From 1957 to 1960, Baker used her contacts to set up branches of the SCLC in Southern cities. In April 1960, Baker helped students at Shaw University, an African-American university in Raleigh, North Carolina, to organize a national protest group, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, pronounced “snick” for short. It had been six years since the Brown decision, and many college students viewed the pace of change as too slow. Although these students risked a great deal—losing college scholarships, being expelled from college, being physically harmed—they were determined to challenge the system. SNCC hoped to harness the energy of these student protesters; it would soon create one of the most important student activist movements in the nation’s history. On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people—including about 75,000 whites—converged on the nation’s capital. They assembled on the grassy lawn of the Washington Monument and marched to the Lincoln Memorial. There, people listened to speakers demand the immediate passage of the civil rights bill. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., appeared, the crowd exploded in applause. In his now famous speech, “I Have a Dream,” he appealed for peace and racial harmony

Presidential Election of 1960--- One event in the fall determined the course of the election. Kennedy and Nixon took part in the first televised debate between presidential candidates. On September 26, 1960, 70 million TV viewers watched the two articulate and knowledgeable candidates debating issues. Nixon, an expert on foreign policy, had agreed to the forum in hopes of exposing Kennedy’s inexperience. However, Kennedy had been coached by television producers, and he looked and spoke better than Nixon. Kennedy’s success in the debate launched a new era in American politics: the television age. As journalist Russell Baker, who covered the Nixon campaign, said, “That night, image replaced the printed word as the natural language of politics.”

Peace Corps--- One of the first campaign promises Kennedy fulfilled was the creation of the Peace Corps, a program of volunteer assistance to the developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Critics in the United States called the program “Kennedy’s Kiddie Korps” because many volunteers were just out of college. Some foreign observers questioned whether Americans could understand other cultures. Despite these reservations, the Peace Corps became a huge success. People of all ages and backgrounds signed up to work as agricultural advisers, teachers, or health aides or to do whatever work the host country needed. By 1968, more than 35,000 volunteers had served in 60 nations around the world.

Alliance for Progress---- A second foreign aid program, the Alliance for Progress, offered economic and technical assistance to Latin American countries. Between 1961 and 1969, the United States invested almost. $12 billion in Latin America, in part to deter these countries from picking up Fidel Castro’s revolutionary ideas. While the money brought some development to the region, it didn’t bring fundamental reforms.

McNamara-- secretary of defense sent american troops to vietnam  in March of 1965, that is precisely what the president did. Working closely with his foreign-policy advisers, particularly Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Secretary of State Dean Rusk, President Johnson began dispatching tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers to fight in Vietnam. Some Americans viewed Johnson’s decision as contradictory to his position during the presidential campaign.

New Frontier---- Kennedy set out to transform his broad vision of progress into what he called the New Frontier. “We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier,” Kennedy had announced upon accepting the nomination for president. He called on Americans to be “new pioneers” and explore “uncharted areas of science and space, . . . unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus.” Kennedy had difficulty turning his vision into reality, however. He offered Congress proposals to provide medical care for the aged, rebuild blighted urban areas, and aid education, but he couldn’t gather enough votes. Kennedy faced the same conservative coalition of Republicans and Southern Democrats that had blocked Truman’s Fair Deal, and he showed little skill in pushing his domestic reform measures through Congress. Since Kennedy had been elected by the slimmest of margins, he lacked a popular mandate—a clear indication that voters approved of his plans. As a result, he often tried to play it safe politically. Nevertheless, Kennedy did persuade Congress to enact measures to boost the economy, build the national defense, provide international aid, and fund a massive space program.

Freedom Rides---  In 1961, James Peck, a white civil rights activist, joined other CORE members on a historic bus trip across the South. The two-bus trip would test the Supreme Court decisions banning segregated seating on interstate bus routes and segregated facilities in bus terminals. Peck and other freedom riders hoped to provoke a violent reaction that would convince the Kennedy administration to enforce the law

James Meredith(refer to 29.2 )--.In September 1962, Air Force veteran James Meredith won a federal court case that allowed him to enroll in the all-white University of Mississippi, nicknamed Ole Miss. But when Meredith arrived on campus, he faced Governor Ross Barnett, who refused to let him register as a student.later the President Kennedy ordered federal marshals to escort Meredith to the registrar’s office. Barnett responded with a heated radio appeal: “I call on every Mississippian to keep his faith and courage. We will never surrender.” The broadcast turned out white demonstrators by the thousands. On the night of September 30, riots broke out on campus, resulting in two deaths. It took thousands of soldiers, 200 arrests, and 15 hours to stop the rioters. In the months that followed, federal officials accompanied Meredith to class and protected his parents from nightriders who shot up their house.

Cuban Missile Crisis-- Castro had a powerful ally in Moscow: Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who promised to defend Cuba with Soviet arms. During the summer of 1962, the flow to Cuba of Soviet weapons—including nuclear missiles—increased greatly. President Kennedy responded with a warning that America would not tolerate offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba. Then, on October 14, photographs taken by American planes revealed Soviet missile bases in Cuba—and some contained missiles ready to launch. They could reach U.S. cities in minutes. On October 22, Kennedy informed an anxious nation of the existence of Soviet missile sites in Cuba and of his plans to remove them. He made it clear that any missile attack from Cuba would trigger an all-out attack on the Soviet Union For the next six days, the world faced the terrifying possibility of nuclear war. In the Atlantic Ocean, Soviet ships—presumably carrying more missiles—headed toward Cuba, while the U.S. Navy prepared to quarantine Cuba and prevent the ships from coming within 500 miles of it. In Florida, 100,000 troops waited—the largest invasion force ever assembled in the United States. C. Douglas Dillon, Kennedy’s secretary of the treasury and a veteran of nuclear diplomacy, recalled those tension-filled days of October.  The first break in the crisis occurred when the Soviet ships stopped suddenly to avoid a confrontation at sea. Secretary of State Dean Rusk said, “We are eyeball to eyeball, and the other fellow just blinked.” A few days later, Khrushchev offered to remove the missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba. The United States also secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey. The leaders agreed, and the crisis ended. “For a moment, the world had stood still,” Robert Kennedy wrote years later, “and now it was going around again.”

Bay of Pigs--- In March 1960, President Eisenhower gave the CIA permission to secretly train Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba. The CIA and the exiles hoped it would trigger a mass uprising that would overthrow Castro. Kennedy learned of the plan only nine days after his election. Although he had doubts, he approved it. On the night of April 17, 1961, some 1,300 to 1,500 Cuban exiles supported by the U.S. military landed on the island’s southern coast at Bahia de Cochinos, the Bay of Pigs. Nothing went as planned. An air strike had failed to knock out the Cuban air force, although the CIA reported that it had succeeded. A small advance group sent to distract Castro’s forces never reached shore. When the main commando unit landed, it faced 25,000 Cuban troops backed up by Soviet tanks and jet aircraft. Some of the invading exiles were killed, others imprisoned. The Cuban media sensationalized the defeat of “North American mercenaries.” One United States commentator observed that Americans “look like fools to our friends, rascals to our enemies, and incompetents to the rest.” The disaster left Kennedy embarrassed. Publicly, he accepted blame for the fiasco. Privately, he asked, “How could that crowd at the CIA and the Pentagon be this wrong. Kennedy negotiated with Castro for the release of surviving commandos and paid a ransom of $53 million in food and medical supplies. In a speech in Miami, he promised exiles that they would one day return to a “free Havana.” Although Kennedy warned that he would resist further Communist expansion in the Western Hemisphere, Castro defiantly welcomed further Soviet aid.

Lee Harvey Oswald-- Lee Harvey Oswald with the murder. His palm print had been found on the rifle used to kill John F. Kennedy. The 24-year-old Marine had a suspicious past. After receiving a dishonorable discharge, Oswald had briefly lived in the Soviet Union, and he supported Castro.

Jack Ruby---  On Sunday, November 24, as millions watched live television coverage of Oswald being transferred between jails, a nightclub owner named Jack Ruby broke through the crowd and shot and killed Oswald.

James Earl Ray--- H Dr. King seemed to sense that death was near. On April 3, 1968, he addressed a crowd in Memphis, where he had gone to support the city’s striking garbage workers. “I may not get there with you but . . . we as a people will get to the Promised Land.” He added, “I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” The next day as King stood on his hotel balcony, James Earl Ray thrust a high-powered rifle out of a window and squeezed the trigger. King crumpled to the floor.

Warren Commission-- The bizarre chain of events made some people wonder if Oswald was part of a conspiracy. In 1963, the Warren Commission investigated and concluded that Oswald had shot the president while acting on his own. Later, in 1979, a reinvestigation concluded that Oswald was part of a conspiracy. Investigators also said that two persons may have fired at the president. Numerous other people have made investigations. Their explanations have ranged from a plot by anti-Castro Cubans, to a Communist-sponsored attack, to a conspiracy by the CIA. Lee Harvey Oswald with the murder. His palm print had been found on the rifle used to kill John F. Kennedy. The 24-year-old Marine had a suspicious past. After receiving a dishonorable discharge, Oswald had briefly lived in the Soviet Union, and he supported Castro.

Nuclear Test Ban -- The Soviet Union ended all nuclear testing. Nearly forty countries ended aboveground nuclear tests. The United States and the Soviet Union ceased to communicate. The Partial Test Ban Treaty is the abbreviated name of the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, which prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground.

Berlin Crisis-- One goal that had guided Kennedy through the Cuban missile crisis was that of proving to Khruschev his determination to contain communism. All the while, Kennedy was thinking of their recent confrontation over Berlin, which had led to the construction of the Berlin Wall, a concrete wall topped with barbed wire that severed the city in two.

In 1961, Berlin was a city in great turmoil. In the 11 years since the Berlin Airlift, almost 3 million East Germans—20 percent of that country’s population—had fled into West Berlin because it was free from Communist rule. These refugees advertised the failure of East Germany’s Communist government. Their departure also dangerously weakened that country’s economy.

lved. At a summit meeting in Vienna, Austria, in June 1961, he threatened to sign a treaty with East Germany that would enable that country to close all the access roads to West Berlin. When Kennedy refused to give up U.S. access to West Berlin, Khrushchev furiously declared, “I want peace. But, if you want war, that is your problem.” After returning home, Kennedy told the nation in a televised address that Berlin was “the great testing place of Western courage and will.” He pledged “[W]e cannot and will not permit the Communists to drive us out of Berlin.” Kennedy’s determination and America’s superior nuclear striking power prevented Khrushchev from closing the air and land routes between West Berlin and West Germany. Instead, the Soviet premier surprised the world with a shocking decision. Just after midnight on August 13, 1961, East German troops began to unload concrete posts and rolls of barbed wire along the border. Within days, the Berlin Wall was erected, separating East Germany from West Germany. The construction of the Berlin Wall ended the Berlin crisis but further aggravated Cold War tensions. The wall and its armed guards successfully reduced the flow of East German refugees to a tiny trickle, thus solving Khrushchev’s main problem. At the same time, however, the wall became an ugly symbol of Communist oppression.

RFK---- The night King died, Robert F. Kennedy was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. Fearful that King’s death would spark riots, Kennedy’s advisers told him to cancel his appearance in an AfricanAmerican neighborhood in Indianapolis. However, Kennedy attended anyway, making an impassioned plea for nonviolence. Despite Kennedy’s plea, rage over King’s death led to the worst urban rioting in United States history. Over 100 cities exploded in flames. The hardest-hit cities included Baltimore, Chicago, Kansas City, and Washington, D.C. Then in June 1968, Robert Kennedy himself was assassinated by a Jordanian immigrant who was angry over Kennedy’s support of Israel.