1960s Timeline

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2 hours ago

FDR Jr. Takes Oath as Undersecretary of Commerce

Mar. 26, 1963 - With President and Mrs. Kennedy looking on, Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. took the oath of office today as Undersecretary of Commerce. The ceremony took place in the White House Cabinet Room before a crowd of friends, relatives, and members of Congress. Mr. Kennedy said he was delighted to welcome Mr. Roosevelt and his family back to the White House and commented that the Undersecretary came from a family distinguished for public service. Mr. Roosevelt replied tha

1 day ago

SNCC Office Set Afire in Mississippi

Mar. 25, 1963 - Fire damaged the Greenwood, Mississippi office of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee late last night. A committee official charged the fire had been set in retaliation for the voter registration drive the organization is conducting among Negroes. Sam Block (second from left), 23-year-old field secretary for the committee, said four Negroes had spotted two white men running away from the area just before the fire was discovered. No one was in the off

2 days ago

President Attends Mass at Camp David

Mar. 24, 1963 - Bright, pleasant weather lured President Kennedy out of doors today at Camp David, where he is spending the weekend. After attending 11:00 a.m. Mass at the Marine-guarded Presidential retreat near Thurmont, Maryland, Mr. Kennedy took a ride around the base. The Rev. John J. McAnulty said the Mass in the recreation hall at Camp David. The priest visits Camp David weekly for one Mass for Navy and Marine personnel. The recreation hall is within walking distance o

2 days ago

South Vietnamese Government Rebuts Sen. Mansfield’s Report

Mar. 24, 1963 - The South Vietnamese Government today denounced as an unfounded insult a report of a bipartisan U.S. Senate group headed by Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield criticizing the pace with which South Vietnam is moving toward democracy. The report, made in Washington Feb. 24, urged a reassessment of security needs in southeast Asia and an orderly reduction of U.S. grant aid of all kinds except to South Vietnam, where American armed forces are helping the Govern

3 days ago

President Kennedy Pushes Tax Cut

Mar. 23, 1963 - President Kennedy told the nation today the unemployment rate will climb “steadily and swiftly” to 7% — even without a recession — unless taxes are cut to speed economic growth. Mr. Kennedy flew to Chicago for ceremonies marking the formal dedication of O’Hare International Airport, the aerial crossroads of America and the busiest airport in the world. Mr. Kennedy told his airport audience the U.S. plans to develop airliners capable of traveling 3 times the sp

3 days ago

Rep. Adam Clayton Powell: Boycott NAACP

Mar. 23, 1963 - Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Harlem Democrat, today called for a Negro boycott of the NAACP on the grounds the organization has whites in high positions. Powell told some 2,500 persons attending a “human rights crusade rally” in Harlem that Negroes should boycott all Negro racial-political organizations “not totally controlled by us.” “Anything we get,” the Negro congressman said, “we will have to fight for, to seize for ourselves. We will invade the wh

3 days ago

Defense Department Prepares To Deploy Intercontinental Missiles

Mar. 23, 1963 - Without fanfare, in fact with as much secrecy as possible, the Defense Department is preparing to deploy at U.S. bases 54 intercontinental missiles of the “doomsday” variety. Many experts think civilization would not survive if they were ever used against Russia. In terms of megatonnage — millions of tons of TNT equivalent — the missiles may pack only a fourth as much power as Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s vaunted 100-megaton bomb. But experts said today

3 days ago

Goldwater: Vice Presidency Not For Me

Mar. 23, 1963 - Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) says he does not want to be Vice President because “I would rather be a live Senator than sort of a backwoods, background man in the Vice President’s chair.” Goldwater, in a guest appearance on the Jack Paar show, was clearly referring to Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and then he said so explicitly. “I watched what happened to one of the strongest men in the country in the short space of two years,” said Goldwater. “Johnson w

5 days ago

Highlights from President Kennedy’s Press Conference

Mar. 21, 1963 - Following are some highlights from President Kennedy’s news conference this evening: Latin America — Mr. Kennedy returned from his meeting with Central American presidents in Costa Rica “with increased confidence that we will continue to live in a hemisphere of independent, firm, and faithful friends.” Test Ban — He offered no new reasons to hope for agreement with the Soviet Union on ending nuclear tests. But he reiterated our interest in an agreement, predic

5 days ago

JFK Reports on Cuban Situation

Mar. 21, 1963 - President Kennedy declared today that 3,000 Soviet troops have been removed from Cuba in recent weeks but added that he hopes more will be withdrawn by the end of the month. He reported on the Cuban situation at a press conference one day after his return from a meeting in Costa Rica with presidents of five Central American countries and Panama. “We are waiting to see whether more will be withdrawn, as we would hope they would be,” the President said. “The mon

5 days ago

President Kennedy Hopes To Visit Berlin Later This Year

Mar. 21, 1963 - President Kennedy said today he hoped to visit Communist-encircled Berlin during his trip to West Germany later this year. The President’s statement at his news conference came at a time when State Department officials were preparing for talks with Russia on the status of the troubled city. The issue of Berlin, which several times has brought the two great nuclear powers to the brink of war, was sidetracked last fall by the Cuban crisis. U.S. diplomats prepari

5 days ago

Castro on Khrushchev: “I Would Have Boxed His Ears”

Mar. 21, 1963 - Premier Fidel Castro (pictured right in 1960) said in an interview published in Paris today that if Premier Khrushchev (left) had come to Cuba after his withdrawal of Soviet missiles last fall, “I would have boxed his ears.” In an interview with the Paris newspaper Le Monde, Premier Castro was critical of Mr. Khrushchev’s action in the missile crisis, declaring “he avoided war, but he did not win the peace.” “He should not have removed his missiles without con

6 days ago

JFK: Soviets Must Leave Cuba

Mar. 20, 1963 - President Kennedy (pictured in Costa Rica with presidents of Central American nations) said today the U.S. could not accept “a yielding up” of Cuban sovereignty to the Russians. He said the Western Hemisphere “can never be secure” until the Soviet Union leaves Cuba, and “indeed it must and will.” The President spoke at the University of Costa Rica at the end of his three-day visit with the heads of six other Latin American governments. White House officials de

7 days ago

President Kennedy Pledges Aid to Central America

Mar. 19, 1963 - President Kennedy tonight pledged the U.S. to aid Central America in its efforts toward economic and social progress and to strengthen the area against subversion by Communist Cuba. The pledge was set forth in a Declaration of Central America, signed by Mr. Kennedy together with the presidents of Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The declaration said representatives of the six Central American nations will meet in April to “p

7 days ago

JFK Polling Well Ahead of Goldwater

Mar. 19, 1963 - President Kennedy runs well ahead of Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) in a nationwide test of the two men’s political appeal. Goldwater’s share of the vote — in a Gallup Poll “trial heat” contest — is somewhat smaller than that polled by New York’s Governor Nelson Rockefeller when he is matched against the highly popular Chief Executive. Those polled were asked: “Suppose the Presidential election were being held today. If Barry Goldwater were the Republican c

Mar 19

President Kennedy Tours Costa Rica

Mar. 19, 1963 - In Costa Rica today, President Kennedy expressed his satisfaction with the beginnings of the Alliance for Progress and the state of political democracy in Latin America. Speaking in the warm afternoon sun at El Bosque, a housing project financed by the Alliance, Mr. Kennedy warned against any temptation to become disheartened “by the immensity” of the task involved in raising the hemisphere’s economic levels and living standards. After his speech, Mr. Kennedy

Mar 18

President Kennedy Welcomed to Costa Rica

Mar. 18, 1963 - President Kennedy was welcomed to Costa Rica today by the largest turnout within Costa Ricans’ memory. He promised that his three-day visit would increase the hemisphere’s capacity to prevent infiltration of Cuban agents, money, and propaganda. Opening his conference with the Presidents of six Latin American countries, Mr. Kennedy declared that “we will build a wall around Cuba — not a wall of mortar or brick or barbed wire, but a wall of dedicated men determi

Mar 17

South Vietnamese Offensive Fails

Mar. 17, 1963 - Another major South Vietnamese Government offensive was described today as a costly failure by U.S. military observers. They said South Vietnamese troops apparently left escape routes open for the Viet Cong to avoid close-in fighting. Despite the reported failure of a 5,000-man assault in the Plain of Reeds south of Saigon, a second sizable operation was launched today against Viet Cong strongholds elsewhere in the Mekong Delta. Several battalions of Governmen

Mar 16

President Kennedy Has Young Pen-Pal

Mar. 16, 1963 - A 10-year-old boy asked President Kennedy about the “little people.” Today the President’s reply (right) was received by Mark Perdue (left) in Fremont, Calif. “This is really a thrill in my heart,” Mark said. “I did not expect it would get through to the President, and he might not have time to read it if it did. But now that he did — I guess I’m the luckiest kid in town.” On March 5, apparently thinking of St. Patrick’s Day, Mark wrote: “Dear President Kenned

Mar 16

President Prepares for Costa Rica Conference

Mar. 16, 1963 - President Kennedy combined a yachting cruise today with homework for his three-day meeting that starts Monday in Costa Rica with the presidents of the six Central American republics. Mr. Kennedy, who flew to Palm Beach yesterday, brought along two large volumes of “position papers” and background data prepared by the State Department and other agencies for the sessions in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital. He studied the volumes while cruising aboard the yacht Ho