Chapter 29 Vocabulary

Robert F. Kennedy - younger brother of JFK who entered public life as U.S. Attorney General
during the Kennedy Administration. Later elected senator from New York
Robert S. McNamara - Businessman turned secretary of defense from 1961-1968, he was the
author of the "flexible response" doctrine
Charles de Gaulle - French general and statesman who became very popular during World War
II as the leader of the Free French forces in exile
Barry Goldwater - Republican contender against LBJ for presidency; platform included lessening
federal involvement, therefore opposing Civil Rights Act of 1964; lost by largest margin in
history
Stokely Carmichael - a black civil rights activist in the 1960's, leader of the SNCC, urged giving
up peaceful demonstrations and pursuing black power
Hubert Humphrey - democratic nominee for the presidency in the election of 1968. He was LBJ's
vice president, and was supportive of his Vietnam policies
Richard Nixon - Elected President in 1968 and 1972 representing the Republican party,
responsible for getting the United States out of the Vietnam War by using "Vietnamization"
War on Poverty - Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in his 1964 State of the Union
address
Great Society - A domestic program in the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson that
instituted federally sponsored social welfare programs
Tonkin Gulf Resolution -  joint resolution of the U.S. Congress passed on August 7, 1964 in
direct response to a minor naval engagement known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident
24th Amendment - Poll taxes prohibited. The right to vote cannot be denied based on the paying
or non-paying of a poll tax
Operation Rolling Thunder - Launched by President Johnson, a massive air bombarbment of
North Vietnam, in April of 1965
Tet Offensive - coordinated attack on American and South Vietnamese troops in early 1968 by
Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops
Counterculture - a culture with lifestyles and values opposed to those of the established culture;
"hippies" who accepted drugs and sexuality and lived unconnected to the past
Medicare - health care for the aged, a federally administered system of health insurance available
to persons aged 65 and over
Black Power - emphasized racial pride and the creation of black political and cultural institutions
to nurture and promote black collective interests, advance black values, and
secure black autonomy
National Organization for Women (NOW) – largest feminist organization in the United States,
called for equal employment opportunity and equal pay for women
Watergate - A scandal involving an illegal break-in at the Democratic National Committee
offices in 1972 by members of President Nixon's reelection campaign staff
Pentagon Papers - Top-secret documents, published by The New York Times in 1971, that
showed the blunders and deceptions that led the United States into the Vietnam War.
Chapter 29 Notes
Great Society:
Progressive expansion
-Biggest since New Deal
“war on poverty”
OEO
-Network of federal programs to attack poverty and social issues faced by
Americans
Neighborhood youth corps
-Work for 2 million young people
-Low paying jobs, dead end
Job corps
-Gives vocational training for people that need it
-Manufacturing, welding, etc.
-Some jobs are obsolete with new technologies coming out
VISTA
-Volunteers in Service to America
-Domestic version of Peace Corps
-Community service
Community Action Plan (CAP)
-Urban areas are experiencing plight
-People are now leaving to go to suburbs
-Helps people in poor communities to mobilize
-Give them a voice politically
Medicare            
-Established in 1965
-Healthcare for elderly
-Social medicine
Expanded social security benefits
Look at page 1062
***spending on social welfare jumped***
-Departure from what other presidents were doing
-From foreign to domestic
Great Society only did a fraction of what it was meant to do
-Sometimes aid didn’t go to where it belonged
-Spent too much money  & time on the war
1968:
Vietnam war officially becomes unpopular
-Majority opposes it
Tet offensive
-Lunar new year for Vietnamese
-Vietcong launch offensive to strike urban areas in South Vietnam
-US succeeded by…
-We stopped it convincingly
-US failed by…
-Civilian casualties are very high
 -US citizens are against it
-No advances
-Credibility gap is shattered
Claimed that the war was pretty much over
Media shows people in despair, fighting, etc
-US military asks Congress for more troops
-They deny
1968 election
-LBJ starts running
-Doesn’t do well in primaries
-Decides not to run again
-Robert Kennedy
-Appeared to be a strong candidate
-Progressive
-Attorney general
-Against Vietcong
Goes against LBJ
-Assassinated
Sirhan Sirhan
-Eugene McCarthy
-Popular amongst youth
-Anti-war
-Once delegates saw that Robert Kennedy wasn’t there, LBJ gone…
Hubert Humphrey
Democratic party divided
Nixon Presidency:
Southern strategy
-Democratic party split over Vietnam
-LBJ takes blame
-Johnson signs Civil Rights Act of 1964
-“delivered South to Republicans for a very long time”
-Sunbelt communities
-Modern agricultural techniques
-Southern and Midwestern
-Richard Nixon doesn’t win the deep south
-George Wallace wins in 5 states
13% of popular votes
-“just and honorable peace in Asia” –Nixon
-Wins presidency
-Henry Kissinger
-Part of the national security council
-Wins Nobel Peace Prize
-Advises Nixon that US needs to look strong
Can’t afford a loss in Vietnam
-“stabilize Vietnam then leave”
 -Majority of Americans feel like it was a mistake to send troops to
Vietnam
-Summer 1969
-Nixon withdraws 60,000 troops
-One final attempt to win the war
Take it to Cambodia and Laos
-Cut off supply lines
US doesn’t support this
-Protesting
-Senate outlaws use of military in Cambodia
-Doesn’t pass in House of Representatives
-Nixon can still put his plan into action
-Advance into Laos was a failure
-Guerrilla tactics
-Nixon pulls troops out
-Nixon sends Kissinger to start a treaty with Vietnam
-Cease-fire
South Vietnam doesn’t want to sign this
March 1973
-US troops leave
-$150 billion
-Objective was a failure
1975
-North Vietnamese take over South Vietnam
War crimes
-Murdering civilians
-Raping and beating civilians
-Happened more than once
American soldiers take bad reputation with them when they come home
-“baby killers”
Nixon & China
-Détente with China
-US sees China as a good trader
-Ease tensions between the USSR and US
-Pros:
-Opens up an opportunity
-Eases Cold War tensions
-SALT
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
US and USSR moving towards peace
-Cons:
-Fighting Communism in Vietnam but keeping peace with Communism in
China
-Double dipping
-Nationalist Government in Taiwan
They rely on us
 US has less relations with them
Watergate
-Nixon considered imperial president
-Uses wiretaps and CIA
-Pentagon Papers
-“deceiving American public” about operations in Vietnam
-Nixon tries to bar Pentagon papers from getting to the NY times
-They do anyway
-Age of dirty tricks
-Readddd
-Committee to Reelect the President