Civil Rights and presidential elections
Question 1
After ascending to power in 1961, President J.F. Kennedy formulated the Kennedy Doctrine, a foreign policy blueprint that was aimed to contain the influence of communism around the globe, especially in Latin America. The Kennedy administration foreign policy was always premised on the expansion of the military and using military intervention to contain the spread of communism in the areas perceived to be within the sphere of influence of the US. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion is one of the examples of the Kennedy administration’s attempts to contain communism globally. On the other hand, domestically, President Kennedy promoted civil rights movements that he termed as moral and various social movements in different ways. In June 1963, in his address to the nation, President Kennedy announced that he was sending civil rights bill to the Congress. Such announcement gave birth to the formulation and enactment of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 that ended racial segregation in various areas in the US society. The law would also mark the beginning of several civil rights laws that followed.
Question 2
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movements, under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jnr, devised strategies that were based on non-violent civil disobedience. The policy was typified by acts such as protests and boycotts, marches, sit-ins, voter registration drives, and freedom rides. The strategy was to curb any antagonism with law enforcement and create economic sabotage through boycotts and sit-ins to propel the government to address their concerns. Again, the achievements of the civil rights include, the abolition of the Jim Crow law, abolition of poll taxes and literacy tests that impeded the voting of the African Americans from voting, prompted the laws that expanded employment and housing and the formulation of the Civil Acts Rights in 1964. The main division that emerged from the Civil Rights movement was anchored on the strategies that were used to agitate for these rights. While Martin Luther King opted for non-violent and civil disobedience, Malcolm X and his faction rooted for an eye-for-eye approach in response to the violence that was meted on the protestors.
Question 3
Through the formation of the Office of Economic Opportunity and the subsequent formulation of the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964, President Johnson’ War on Poverty was initiated to help the poor break the poverty cycle. The Act was premised on the need to help these underprivileged people further their skills, find work, and develop their job skills. The Great Society Initiative, as it was commonly known, achieved multiple fetes. The initiative established the Medicare to cater for healthcare expenses to the elderly, prompted the enactment of the Voting Rights Act that banned all discriminatory voting methods against the African Americans, and saw the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that effectively provided funding to public schools in America. Some achievements include reduction of environmental degradation, expansion of houses through the Omnibus Housing Act, and raised the standards for the safety of the consumer products were prioritized.
Question 4
The main motivation of the escalation of the Vietnam war by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson stemmed from the long-simmering perceptions that communist China would expand its influence in Vietnam if the US did nothing. As one of the foreign policies of these administrations, the military intervention in Vietnam was to reduce the advancements made by the communist insurgents that were supported by the leadership of Northern Vietnam and China. The sporadic attacks of these insurgents that wanted to indoctrinate the communist ideals in Vietnam and the attacks on the US warships prompted the Johnson administration to get involved in a full-scale war with Vietnam. Therefore, these administrations engagement in the war was political and aimed at containing the communist influence on new states in Asia.
Question Five
In the 1968 US presidential elections, Richard Nixon ran on a platform that was premised on the maintenance of law and order in American town and cities and providing effective leadership during the Vietnam War. During the election period, there was mass rioting in most towns in the US, an aspect that was immensely fanned by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jnr. The riots in most American cities and towns descended to violence and disruption of the day-to-day lives of the American people. Nixon used this aspect as a campaign tool and promised to restore law and order in all ways possible. Again, the Vietnam War had taken a toll in the American society and economy. Nixon’s opposition to the war coupled with the prolonged war made him appeal to voters who were affected by the war, hence his election.