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Two Crises in the Middle East: Cyprus, 1964 and the Six-Day War, 1967

Jonathan Colman

in The Foreign Policy of Lyndon B. Johnson: The United States and the World, 1963-69

This chapter considers two crises in the Middle East. During the 1964 crisis, there was the chance that Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, might end up fighting one another over the ethnically ... More

This chapter considers two crises in the Middle East. During the 1964 crisis, there was the chance that Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, might end up fighting one another over the ethnically divided island of Cyprus. Washington, seeking to put a lid on the crisis, attempted to mediate, and at one point suggested to Ankara that the United States would abandon its NATO commitments to defend a fellow member should Turkey end up in a war with the Soviet Union, which was providing tentative backing for Cyprus under its Greek Cypriot leader. Further south, the United States' relations with Egypt under President Nasser, who was strengthening his ties with Moscow, deteriorated while US bonds with Israel grew closer. Both developments stemmed from intensifying Egyptian hostility towards Israel and were also consistent with Johnson' s pro-Israeli outlook.Less

Head Start’s Early Years

Edward Zigler and Sally J. Styfco

in The Hidden History of Head Start

This chapter focuses on the early years of the Head Start program. As Head Start moved from the drawing board to the set-up phase, it very quickly brought out the best in Americans. Head Start's huge ... More

This chapter focuses on the early years of the Head Start program. As Head Start moved from the drawing board to the set-up phase, it very quickly brought out the best in Americans. Head Start's huge popularity was ignited by President and Lady Bird Johnson. Alleviating poverty was close to the president's emotional core, since he had lived among the poor as a boy, and his own family later fell on hard times so he had to work his way through college. The First Lady had a special place in her heart for children and adopted Head Start with the zeal of a missionary. Neither the planning committee nor decision makers anticipated the immense popularity of Head Start. No one came close to predicting that 560,000 children would be enrolled in the first summer.Less

Vietnam: Going to War, 1963–5

Jonathan Colman

in The Foreign Policy of Lyndon B. Johnson: The United States and the World, 1963-69

This chapter explores the escalation of the American commitment under President Johnson from 1963 to 1965. It notes key developments such as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in the summer of 1964, the ... More

This chapter explores the escalation of the American commitment under President Johnson from 1963 to 1965. It notes key developments such as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in the summer of 1964, the initiation of a bombing campaign in Vietnam in February 1965, and the introduction of American combat troops throughout South Vietnam a few months later. It presents an account of the various influences, potential or actual, upon the White House. These include concerns with international credibility; the ‘domino theory’; the role of advisers; public opinion in the United States; the role of allies; the regime in Saigon; and the Sino-Soviet dimension to policymaking. Johnson escalated the US commitment in Vietnam with deep foreboding and reticence and only after seeking a range of opinions from both inside and outside the Administration. Cold War anxieties about the United States' international credibility were the main motivation for intervention.Less

NATO Nuclear Sharing and Troop Offset

Jonathan Colman

in The Foreign Policy of Lyndon B. Johnson: The United States and the World, 1963-69

This chapter explores two challenges to NATO connected with the Federal Republic of Germany. One of the challenges was to give the FRG a greater say in the Alliance's nuclear affairs. This question ... More

This chapter explores two challenges to NATO connected with the Federal Republic of Germany. One of the challenges was to give the FRG a greater say in the Alliance's nuclear affairs. This question found expression in the Multilateral Force (MLF), an ambitious American scheme for a nuclear-equipped NATO fleet operating under a US veto. The second issue is the question of the Bonn government's ‘offset’ of the foreign exchange costs for American troops in the FRG. The American troops issue was related to the nuclear question, because those troops were part of an implicit bargain to prevent, among other things, Bonn from pursuing nationalistic policies that might include seeking an independent nuclear capability. A series of ‘trilateral’ negotiations led to a satisfactory if short-term offset formula. President Johnson made a significant personal contribution to resolving both the MLF and the offset questions.Less

Dollars and Gold: Monetary and Trade Policy

Jonathan Colman

in The Foreign Policy of Lyndon B. Johnson: The United States and the World, 1963-69

This chapter examines Johnson's contribution to the foreign economic policies of the United States. It outlines the international monetary regime of the 1960s and then explores the chronic US balance ... More

This chapter examines Johnson's contribution to the foreign economic policies of the United States. It outlines the international monetary regime of the 1960s and then explores the chronic US balance of payments deficit, due in large part to defence spending in Europe and Asia. It assesses the economic crisis of 1967–8, which arose initially from the devaluation of sterling and left the dollar exposed to speculative attack. The Johnson Administration exploited continued American influence and succeeded in the establishment of a two-tier gold market and the creation of a new international currency known as Special Drawing Rights (SDR). This chapter also covers the Administration's successful effort to liberalise trade among the developed countries through the Kennedy Round of tariff negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).Less

Introduction

Jonathan Colman

in The Foreign Policy of Lyndon B. Johnson: The United States and the World, 1963-69

This chapter notes that this book provides the most sympathetic general account to date of President Lyndon Johnson's foreign policies. It argues that the escalation of the US commitment in Vietnam ... More

This chapter notes that this book provides the most sympathetic general account to date of President Lyndon Johnson's foreign policies. It argues that the escalation of the US commitment in Vietnam was a rational and well-considered policy, although the war could have been waged more effectively even in the context of avoiding Chinese and Soviet intervention. There were some missteps on other issues, but overall Johnson handled American foreign and economic policy very capably, confounding the traditional image of him as maladroit in the realm of diplomacy and in keeping with the revisionist trend in historiography. Above all, Johnson dealt with successive challenges to the NATO alliance in a skilled and intelligent manner, leaving it politically stronger when he left office in 1969 than it had been in 1963.Less

Conclusion

Jonathan Colman

in The Foreign Policy of Lyndon B. Johnson: The United States and the World, 1963-69

This chapter provides a summary of the preceding chapters and considers additional issues such as the nature of the international environment in the 1960s, the impact of Vietnam on US foreign policy ... More

This chapter provides a summary of the preceding chapters and considers additional issues such as the nature of the international environment in the 1960s, the impact of Vietnam on US foreign policy in other parts of the world, and how far President Johnson's foreign policy skills came to evolve. The failure to prosecute the war in Vietnam more effectively shows that Johnson's aptitude as a military commander was limited, but his general record of success in foreign and economic affairs demonstrates that his skills in the diplomatic realm were more formidable than is generally assumed. He had the acumen, in what amounted to his greatest success, to deal with the challenges to NATO in ways that left the alliance more unified in 1969 than it had been in 1963.Less

Possession and Dispossession

René Hayden

in Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861–1867: Series 3, Volume 2: Land and Labor, 1866-1867

This chapter considers issues relating to possessions at the end of the Civil War. After the Civil War, former slaves and Northerners both expected some redistribution of the defeated rebels ... More

This chapter considers issues relating to possessions at the end of the Civil War. After the Civil War, former slaves and Northerners both expected some redistribution of the defeated rebels property. By the end of 1865, however, the amnesty and pardon policies of President Andrew Johnson had fatally undermined such possibilities. Restoration of property to former Confederates, not its conveyance to former slaves, became the order of the day. The policy may have been settled, but its execution remained problematic wherever federal authorities had established ex-slaves on abandoned or confiscated property.Less

Making Headway?

Scott Kaufman

in Project Plowshare: The Peaceful Use of Nuclear Explosives in Cold War America

This chapter analyzes how President Johnson and President Robles of Panama reached agreement on three treaties related to the Panama Canal. The first two detailed arrangements for the neutrality, ... More

This chapter analyzes how President Johnson and President Robles of Panama reached agreement on three treaties related to the Panama Canal. The first two detailed arrangements for the neutrality, defense, and operation of the existing lock waterway. The third treaty permitted Washington to build a sea-level waterway in Panama. Since the US government selected Panama for such a canal, Panama had the right to reject the use of the atom as a means of construction, and to extend said construction. This was good news to the AEC, since an extension of the Canal Commission's reporting deadline meant more time for the AEC to complete the experiments it believed necessary to demonstrate whether nuclear excavation of a canal was possible. While the Panama Canal treaties still required ratification, they formalized the determination by both countries for a sea-level waterway—possibly built with the help of the atom—become a reality.Less

North Carolina Rejoins the Union

Mark L. Bradley

in Bluecoats and Tar Heels: Soldiers and Civilians in Reconstruction North Carolina

The Republicans attempted to gain control of Raleigh's and Washington, D.C.'s political affairs after the first year of Congressional Reconstruction in February 1868. The constitutional convention ... More

The Republicans attempted to gain control of Raleigh's and Washington, D.C.'s political affairs after the first year of Congressional Reconstruction in February 1868. The constitutional convention which was dominated by Republicans established the foundation for biracial democracy while President Andrew Johnson was voted by the U.S. House of Representatives to undergo impeachment since Congressional Republicans believed that Johnson would obstruct the Reconstruction policy. Various southern states including North Carolina were able to ratify new constitutions and bring new Republican governments into office. This chapter demonstrates how North Carolina was able to rejoin the Union after Military Reconstruction.Less

The Contradictions of Leonid Brezhnev, March–October 1973

Craig Daigle

in The Limits of Detente: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1969-1973

This chapter focuses on Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev, perceived as a little more than an “apparatchik,” a Communist party man, who was an able administrator and bureaucrat but who lacked ... More

This chapter focuses on Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev, perceived as a little more than an “apparatchik,” a Communist party man, who was an able administrator and bureaucrat but who lacked a strong personality that would make possible effective and dynamic leadership. In fact, few outside observers believed that he would emerge as Khrushchev's successor. For most of his first years in power, Brezhnev worked quietly behind the walls of the Kremlin supervising the military industrial complex and outer space projects in an effort to achieve strategic arms parity with the United States, while the role of leading Soviet statesman fell to Premier Alexei Kosygin. It was Kosygin who helped broker the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in 1965, avoiding a major war on the subcontinent, and two years later met with President Johnson at Glassboro, New Jersey, in the wake of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.Less

Taking on Mission Impossible

Mark L. Bradley

in Bluecoats and Tar Heels: Soldiers and Civilians in Reconstruction North Carolina

Albion W. Tourgée's novel A Fool's Errand attempted to shed light on how the postwar Reconstruction in the South experienced failure. The northern Reconstruction policy was attributed with a certain ... More

Albion W. Tourgée's novel A Fool's Errand attempted to shed light on how the postwar Reconstruction in the South experienced failure. The northern Reconstruction policy was attributed with a certain degree of moderation. President Andrew Johnson's proposed Reconstruction plan proved to be more compassionate as the southern states had to repeal their secession ordinances, reject their war debt, and ratify the Thirteenth Amendment that ended slavery to rejoin the Union. Along with the pardon that was granted to anyone who applied, the president attempted to restore confiscated southern areas to their owners. While this action turned down the hopes of receiving aid from the federal government, the livelihood of former slaves were still determined by their former masters. This chapter illustrates the effects of presidential Reconstruction on ex-Confederates, particularly to those in North Carolina.Less

The Influence and Zeal of Woman: Ladies' Memorial Associations during Radical Reconstruction, 1867–1870

Caroline E. Janney

in Burying the Dead but Not the Past: Ladies' Memorial Associations and the Lost Cause

This chapter discusses the series of Reconstruction Acts passed by Congress in March of 1867, prompted by former Confederate soldiers parading through the streets, the southern press's tirade against ... More

This chapter discusses the series of Reconstruction Acts passed by Congress in March of 1867, prompted by former Confederate soldiers parading through the streets, the southern press's tirade against Reconstruction policies, southern whites' treatment of freedmen, and President Andrew Johnson's moderate policies toward the South. The first of the acts stipulated the terms by which the southern states might reenter the Union. Each of the eleven Confederate states, excluding Tennessee, would be required to write a new constitution that provided for manhood suffrage, to approve the new constitution by a majority of voters, and to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. Equally important, the act divided the region into five military districts, whose commanders could use the army to protect life and property.Less

The “Rediscovery” of Poverty

Gordon K. Mantler

in Power to the Poor: Black-Brown Coalition and the Fight for Economic Justice, 1960-1974

This chapter focuses on Michael Harrington, a one-time member of the Catholic Worker movement in New York City before converting to socialism in the 1950s. He became “the man who discovered poverty” ... More

This chapter focuses on Michael Harrington, a one-time member of the Catholic Worker movement in New York City before converting to socialism in the 1950s. He became “the man who discovered poverty” in what is one of the most enduring creation myths in modern American history. A poignant piece of social criticism that became a bestseller and political and cultural touchstone, The Other America was read by some of the most powerful people in the nation, even President John F. Kennedy, the story goes. Believing that poverty indeed could be eliminated, federal officials and liberal economists then set forth with what would become the War on Poverty, conceived under Kennedy's administration in 1963 and pursued, although never fully, by President Lyndon Johnson.Less

The Turning Point

Steven K. Green

in The Third Disestablishment: Church, State, and American Culture, 1940-1975

This chapter examines the various events that undermined the public support for church–state separation in the 1960s. It considers the impact of Vatican II, of ecumenism, of the civil rights ... More

This chapter examines the various events that undermined the public support for church–state separation in the 1960s. It considers the impact of Vatican II, of ecumenism, of the civil rights movement, and of federal social welfare and education legislation on Protestant attitudes. All of these events encouraged Protestants and Catholics to find common ground in working for the greater societal good. These events also suggested a model of church-state cooperation rather than one of separation. The chapter then segues to consider the various church–state cases before the Supreme Court between 1968 and 1975 in which the justices began to step back from applying a strict separationist approach to church–state controversies.Less

A Constitution for Mississippi

John Roy Lynch

John Hope Franklin (ed.)

in Reminiscences of an Active Life: The Autobiography of John Roy Lynch

This chapter looks at the creation of a new constitution for Mississippi. The year 1866 was eventful in the history of the country. A bitter war was then going on between Congress and President ... More

This chapter looks at the creation of a new constitution for Mississippi. The year 1866 was eventful in the history of the country. A bitter war was then going on between Congress and President Andrew Johnson over the question of the reconstruction of the states lately in rebellion against the national government. The first election held in Mississippi under the Reconstruction Acts took place in 1867, when delegates to a constitutional convention were elected to frame a new constitution. The Democrats decided to adopt what they declared to be a policy of “masterly inactivity”—that is, to refrain from taking any part in the election and allowing the same to go by default. Of the Republican membership of the Constitutional Convention, a large majority were white men, many of them being natives of the state, and a number of others, though born elsewhere, had been residents of the state for many years preceding the war of the rebellion.Less

Epilogue: Illusions of Emancipation

Joseph P. Reidy

in Illusions of Emancipation: The Pursuit of Freedom and Equality in the Twilight of Slavery

The defeat of the Confederacy destroyed slavery and the slaveholders' quest for an independent nation. The Freedmen's Bureau, established by Congress weeks before the surrender, aimed to construct a ... More

The defeat of the Confederacy destroyed slavery and the slaveholders' quest for an independent nation. The Freedmen's Bureau, established by Congress weeks before the surrender, aimed to construct a system of compensated labor on the ruins of slavery and to identify and protect the rights that freed people needed to function in the new world of freedom. They encountered strong opposition from former slaveholders, which President Andrew Johnson's lenient reconstruction policy appeared to encourage. When Radical Republicans gained the upper hand, they enacted sweeping legislation designed to reconstruct the seceded states on the principle of racial democracy (the Reconstruction Acts) and to safeguard black Americans' civil and political rights (a Civil Rights Act and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments). But by failing to legislate a redistribution of Southern land, the Radicals squelched the freed people's most cherished hope for economic advancement. Although this and other setbacks-including the violent overthrow of Radical Reconstruction in 1876-dampened hopes, the quest for freedom and equality endured.Less