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JFK Elected as the 35th President of the U.S.
Kennedy was the youngest man elected president, and he represented the greatness of the youth of American society. -
JFK Issues His Inaugural Address
He spoke of the need for all Americans to be active citizens, famously saying, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." He asked the nations of the world to join together to fight what he called the "common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself". -
Alan Shepard Becomes the First American in Space
Shepard piloted the Freedom 7 mission and became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space. -
JFK Speaks at Rice University on the Space Race
He stated, "No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space. ... We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviets had secretly been installing military bases, including nuclear weapons, on Cuba. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of the island that intensified the crisis and brought the US and the USSR to the brink of nuclear war. In the compromise, the Soviets agreed to withdraw their nuclear missiles from Cuba, in exchange for a secret agreement by Kennedy pledging to withdraw similar American missiles from Turkey, and guaranteeing that the US will not move against the Castro regime. -
JFK Issues His "Ich bin ein Berliner" Speech
Kennedy gave a public speech in West Berlin reiterating the American commitment to Germany and criticizing communism. He was met with an ecstatic response from a massive audience. Kennedy used the construction of the Berlin Wall as an example of the failures of communism: "Freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect. But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us." -
JFK Assassinated
President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, while on a political trip to Texas to smooth over frictions in the Democratic Party between liberals Ralph Yarborough and Don Yarborough (no relation) and conservative John Connally. He was shot once in the throat, once in the upper back, with the fatal shot hitting him in the head by Lee Harvey Oswald. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Also known as the USS Maddox Incident, is the name given to two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. The destroyer USS Maddox, while performing a signals intelligence patrol, engaged three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats. A sea battle resulted. The outcome of this incident was the passage by Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Enacted
It gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of "conventional'' military force in Southeast Asia. Specifically, the resolution authorized the President to do whatever necessary in order to assist "any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty". This included involving armed forces. -
Malcolm X Assasinated
Malcolm X was preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom when a man rushed forward and shot him once in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun; two other men charged the stage firing semi-automatic handguns. -
The Tet Offensive Begins
One of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, launched by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against the forces of South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies. It was a campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian commands and control centers throughout South Vietnam. US and South Vietnamese won a tactical victory, but it resulted in North Vietnamese propaganda, political, and strategic victory. -
Robert Kennedy Assassinated
Sirhan Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian, opened fire with a .22-caliber revolver. Kennedy was hit three times and five other people also were wounded. Sirhan said that he felt betrayed by Kennedy's support for Israel in the June 1967 Six-Day War, which had begun exactly one year before the assassination. -
1968 Democratic National Convention
Held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, the purpose of the convention was to select a new presidential nominee to run as the Democratic Party's candidate for the office. The convention was held during a year of violence, political turbulence, and civil unrest, particularly riots in more than 100 cities. -
Apollo 11 Lands on the Moon
Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, became the first to step onto the lunar surface on July 21. A third member of the mission, Michael Collins, piloted the command spacecraft alone in lunar orbit until Armstrong and Aldrin returned to it just under a day later for the trip back to Earth. It was the culminating point of the Space Race.