Deck 38: The Stormy Sixties

Question 1

In a speech at American University in 1963, President Kennedy recommended a policy of ____ toward the Soviet Union.

A) flexible response
B) massive retaliation
C) peaceful coexistence
D) aggressive confrontation
E) containment

Answer 1

peaceful coexistence

Question 2

In the early 1960s, French President Charles de Gaulle

A) proposed a multinational nuclear force under NATO control.
B) sought closer ties with Britain.
C) favored an economically and militarily united "Atlantic Community."
D) worked to weaken American influence in European affairs.
E) defended the French empire in Africa and Vietnam.

Answer 2

worked to weaken American influence in European affairs.

Question 3

When he took office in 1961, President Kennedy chose to try to stimulate the sluggish economy through

A) a massive foreign-aid program.
B) large-scale government spending programs.
C) a substantial tax cut.
D) reducing expenditures on the space program.
E) lowering interest rates.

Answer 3

a substantial tax cut.

Question 4

When the Soviet Union attempted to install nuclear weapons in Cuba, President Kennedy ordered

A) the installation of nuclear weapons in Turkey.
B) surgical air strikes against the missile sites.
C) the invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.
D) resumption of atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons.
E) a naval quarantine of that island nation.

Question 5

While it seemed sane and rational, John F. Kennedy's doctrine of flexible response contained some lethal logic because it

A) depended on potentially rogue forces like the Green Berets.
B) required reliance on corrupt or dictatorial allies.
C) failed to provide a mechanism for the progressive use of force.
D) made the strategy useless outside Europe.
E) lowered the level at which diplomacy would give way to shooting.

Question 6

John Kennedy first joined hands with the civil rights movement when he

A) sent federal marshals to protect the Freedom Riders.
B) ordered the FBI to remove the wiretap from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s phone.
C) secured passage of the Voting Rights Act.
D) journeyed south to support the registration of black voters.
E) ordered the immediate desegregation of schools.

Question 7

Regular American military forces first entered Vietnam in order to

A) set the stage for an invasion of North Vietnam.
B) assist in planning a coup against Ngo Dinh Diem.
C) foster political stability and prevent Ngo Dinh Diem's regime from falling to the communists.
D) keep South Vietnam from falling to the communists until after the 1964 election.
E) promote democratic reforms in South Vietnam.

Question 8

John F. Kennedy's strategy of "flexible response"

A) updated John Foster Dulles's doctrine of massive retaliation for use in East Asia.
B) was developed during his successful confrontation with steel industry executives.
C) called for a variety of military options that could be matched to the scope and importance of a crisis.
D) focused on naval power and large aircraft carriers.
E) proposed substituting guerilla warfare for nuclear weapons.

Question 9

John F. Kennedy initially moved very slowly in the area of racial justice because he

A) did not support civil rights.
B) needed the support of southern legislators to pass his economic and social legislation.
C) had received little support from African Americans in his campaign.
D) believed that the states, not the federal government, should take the lead in this area.
E) was suspicious of Martin Luther King.

Question 10

The youngest member of President John Kennedy's generally youthful cabinet was

A) Attorney General Robert Kennedy.
B) Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.
C) Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon.
D) Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
E) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Robert Weaver.

Question 11

President Kennedy ordered hundreds of federal marshals and thousands of federal troops to force the racial integration of

A) Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
B) Louisiana State University.
C) the lunch counters of Greensboro, North Carolina.
D) the businesses of Birmingham, Alabama.
E) the University of Mississippi.

Question 12

In his televised speech of June 1963, President John F. Kennedy defined the civil rights issue as

A) a threat to America's image and interests abroad.
B) a distraction from his focus on the economy and national defense.
C) a practical problem that required practical solutions.
D) a moral crisis that demanded all Americans' national concern and action.
E) a political problem being manipulated by militants on both sides.

Question 13

Which one of the following is least related to the other four?

A) Tet
B) Bay of Pigs
C) Pleiku
D) Gulf of Tonkin
E) Operation Rolling Thunder

Question 14

President Kennedy's alleged assassin was

A) Jack Ruby.
B) Lee Harvey Oswald.
C) Medgar Evers.
D) James Earl Ray.
E) an agent of Fidel Castro.

Question 15

President Kennedy seriously considered American intervention in a civil war between communists and non-communists in

A) China.
B) Guatemala.
C) Indonesia.
D) Korea.
E) Laos.

Question 16

The 1960s would bring all of the following except

A) a sexual revolution.
B) an end to the feminist revolution.
C) a civil rights revolution.
D) the emergence of a "youth culture."
E) a devastating war in Vietnam.

Question 17

At the time of his death, President John Kennedy

A) had not yet committed himself on the issues of civil rights and poverty.
B) was on the verge of passing major civil rights and antipoverty legislation.
C) had inspired much idealism but achieved few tangible goals.
D) was hailed for his practical accomplishments more than his vision.
E) was locked in a bitter confrontation with conservatives in Congress.

Question 18

The official government investigation of John F. Kennedy's assassination was led by

A) President Lyndon Johnson.
B) FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
C) Attorney General Robert Kennedy.
D) Congressman Gerald R. Ford.
E) Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Question 19

The Alliance for Progress was intended to improve the level of economic well-being in

A) Latin America.
B) Africa.
C) Southeast Asia.
D) Korea, Japan, and the Philippines.
E) Western Europe.

Question 20

The Cuban missile crisis resulted in all of the following except

A) U.S. agreement to abandon the American base at Guantanamo.
B) the removal of Nikita Khrushchev from power in the Soviet Union.
C) a U.S. promise not to invade Cuba.
D) a search by President Kennedy for "peaceful coexistence" with the Soviet Union.
E) withdrawal of U.S. missiles in Turkey.

Question 21

The Watts riot in 1965 symbolized

A) the still-troubled racial situation in the deep South.
B) the rise of the Black Muslim movement in Los Angeles.
C) the more militant and confrontational phase of the civil rights movement.
D) the power of Martin Luther King in the black community.
E) the ineffectiveness of the Voting Rights Act.

Question 22

Voters gave Lyndon Johnson a landslide victory in the 1964 presidential election because of their

A) loyalty to the Kennedy legacy.
B) faith in the Great Society promises.
C) fear of the Republican nominee, Barry Goldwater.
D) trust in Johnson's Vietnam policy.
E) all of these.

Question 23

All of the following were laws or programs associated with Lyndon Johnson's Great Society except

A) the Civil Rights Act.
B) Project Head Start.
C) the Peace Corps.
D) Medicare.
E) the War on Poverty.

Question 24

All of the following prominent leaders of the 1960s died by violent assassination except

A) John F. Kennedy.
B) Malcolm X.
C) Martin Luther King, Jr.
D) George Wallace.
E) Robert F. Kennedy

Question 25

President Johnson proved to be much more successful than President Kennedy at

A) working with Congress.
B) exciting the ideals and spirit of his fellow citizens.
C) reducing America's overseas commitments.
D) gaining the admiration and support of the media.
E) appealing to America's European Allies.

Question 26

By 1972, integrated school classrooms were most common in the

A) Midwest.
B) West.
C) South.
D) North.
E) Southwest.

Question 27

President Johnson called his package of domestic reform proposals

A) the Great Crusade.
B) the Fair Deal.
C) the New Frontier.
D) Morning in America.
E) the Great Society.

Question 28

The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 achieved a major goal of the civil rights movement by

A) overturning the Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson.
B) providing for affirmative action to correct for past discrimination.
C) guaranteeing voting rights for African Americans.
D) banning racial discrimination in most private clubs and neighborhoods.
E) outlawing segregation and discrimination in public accommodations and employment.

Question 29

By the late 1960s, Black Power advocates in the North focused their attention primarily on

A) housing.
B) school integration.
C) voting rights.
D) feminism.
E) economic demands.

Question 30

As a result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,

A) whites left the South in record numbers.
B) centuries of discrimination and oppression ended.
C) whites refused to do business with blacks.
D) black southerners gained new power in the region.
E) the South became strongly Democratic.

Question 31

Martin Luther King's demonstrations in ____ helped spur passage of the Civil Rights Act, and his demonstrations in ____ helped spur passage of the Voting Rights Act.

A) Albany, Georgia; St. Augustine, Florida
B) Montgomery, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee
C) Chicago, Illinois; Washington, D.C.
D) Oxford, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama
E) Birmingham, Alabama; Selma, Alabama

Question 32

Beginning in 1964, the chief goal of the black civil rights movement in the South was to

A) secure the right to vote.
B) end discrimination in housing.
C) gain equality in education.
D) prohibit racial discrimination in employment.
E) integrate social clubs and organizations.

Question 33

Black leaders in the 1960s included ____, an advocate of nonviolent resistance; ____, who favored black separatism; and ____, an advocate of "Black Power."

A) Malcolm X; Stokely Carmichael; Martin Luther King, Jr.
B) Martin Luther King, Jr.; Malcolm X; Stokely Carmichael
C) Martin Luther King, Jr.; Stokely Carmichael; Malcolm X
D) Stokely Carmichael; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Malcolm X
E) Malcolm X; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Stokely Carmichael

Question 34

In the final analysis, Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs

A) did no good at all.
B) actually increased the poverty rate.
C) proved that poverty could not be papered over with greenbacks.
D) won some noteworthy battles against poverty and ignorance.
E) primarily served those who were better off.

Question 35

The common use of poll taxes to inhibit black voters in the South was outlawed by the

A) Civil Rights Act of 1964.
B) Voting Rights Act of 1965.
C) Twenty-Fourth Amendment.
D) War on Poverty.
E) Twenty-Fifth Amendment.

Question 36

"Operation Rolling Thunder" was the code name for

A) the landing of the first combat troops in Vietnam.
B) the plan to invade North Vietnam.
C) President Johnson's plan to send American troops to prevent an alleged communist takeover in the Dominican Republic.
D) the plan to assassinate South Vietnam's president, Ngo Dinh Diem.
E) American bombing raids on North Vietnam.

Question 37

Support for the War on Poverty was partly generated by

A) Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring.
B) Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique.
C) Michael Harrington's book The Other America.
D) John F. Kennedy's American University speech.
E) Martin Luther King's book Where Do We Go From Here?

Question 38

Lyndon Johnson's American military intervention in ____ was widely condemned for its apparent reversion to gunboat diplomacy.

A) Cuba
B) the Dominican Republic
C) Nicaragua
D) Cambodia
E) Lebanon

Question 39

All of the following were the Big Four legislative achievements that crowned LBJ's Great Society except

A) aid to education.
B) medical care for the elderly and indigent.
C) immigration reform.
D) balanced budget amendment.
E) a new voting rights bill.

Question 40

With the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution,

A) the United States declared war on Vietnam.
B) Congress handed the president a blank check to use further force in Vietnam.
C) the military was given the authority to use tactical nuclear weapons.
D) Congress set careful limits on the use of American force in Vietnam.
E) the goals of American military involvement in Vietnam were clear.

Question 41

The consequences of the Cuban missile crisis included

A) a nuclear test-ban treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union.
B) a Vienna summit meeting between President Kennedy and Chairman Khrushchev.
C) the ousting of Nikita Khrushchev from power in the Soviet Union.
D) President Kennedy's call for peaceful coexistence with the Soviet Union.
E) the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

Question 42

The "three P's" that largely explain the cultural upheavals of the 1960s are

A) poverty, political radicalism, and protest against authority.
B) public schools, parietal rules, and parental restrictions.
C) population bulge, protest against Vietnam, and prosperity.
D) patriotism, prowar enthusiasm, and perfectionism.
E) the "pill," pot, and popular rock music.

Question 43

The 1968 Democratic party convention witnessed

A) a long deadlock over the nomination of its presidential candidate.
B) a police riot against antiwar demonstrators outside the convention hall.
C) a walkout by hundreds of southern delegates, who then founded the Independent party.
D) the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy soon after he delivered a speech at the convention.
E) the enthusiastic nomination of Vice President Humphrey.

Question 44

The 1968 Tet offensive resulted in

A) the Viet Cong's takeover of most of South Vietnam's major cities.
B) the dispatching of an additional 200,000 American troops to Vietnam.
C) a tactical defeat for the Viet Cong.
D) a political defeat for the United States.
E) a negotiated settlement of the war.

Question 45

President Kennedy's new military policy of "flexible response" called for a major buildup of

A) nuclear weapons.
B) conventional military forces.
C) air power.
D) antiguerrilla Special Forces units.
E) the navy.

Question 46

Both major-party presidential candidates in 1968 agreed that the United States should

A) negotiate an immediate end to the Vietnam War.
B) withdraw U.S. troops to safe enclaves.
C) withdraw American forces from Vietnam.
D) escalate the bombing of North Vietnam.
E) continue the war in pursuit of an "honorable peace."

Question 47

Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican party's 1964 presidential candidate, opposed

A) the Tennessee Valley Authority.
B) the Social Security system.
C) civil rights legislation.
D) the nuclear test-ban treaty.
E) the federal income tax.

Question 48

President Johnson's legislative program after his election in 1964 included

A) the Medicare health program for the elderly.
B) antipoverty programs.
C) a civil rights act to enforce integration and nondiscrimination.
D) the creation of the Department of Energy.
E) clean air and clean water laws.

Question 49

Political opposition to Johnson's Vietnam policy centered in the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee led by

A) Senator Richard Russell of Georgia.
B) Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.
C) Senator Robert Kennedy of New York.
D) Senator Eugene J. McCarthy of Minnesota.
E) Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona.

Question 50

The most serious blow to Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam policy

A) came with the bombing of Cambodia.
B) occurred when Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigned.
C) was the Tet offensive of 1968.
D) occurred when Senator J. William Fulbright's Foreign Relations Committee held public hearings on the war.
E) came with the revelation that the Tonkin Gulf attacks had been provoked by the United States.

Question 51

Substantial opposition to America's commitment to Vietnam between 1965 and 1968 came from

A) America's European allies.
B) Congress.
C) the American public.
D) many draft registrants.
E) Senators Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy.

Question 52

The site of the first major militant protest on behalf of gay liberation in 1969 was

A) the Mattachine Society headquarters (Los Angeles).
B) Fire Island, New York.
C) Key West, Florida.
D) Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana).
E) the Stonewall Inn (New York City).

Question 53

The skepticism about authority that emerged in the United States during the 1960s

A) was a revolution against Americans' traditional respect for institutional authority.
B) was derived from leftist movements in Europe.
C) touched all institutions except religion.
D) had deep historical roots in American culture.
E) arose from the music and drugs of the time.

Question 54

The third-party candidate for president in 1968 was

A) Robert F. Kennedy.
B) Hubert H. Humphrey.
C) Eugene McCarthy.
D) George Wallace.
E) George McGovern.