1960s Timeline

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Aug 15, 2021

President Kennedy Attends Mass on Day of Feast of the Assumption

Aug. 15, 1961 - President Kennedy attended the noon mass today at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington. Today is the Feast of the...

Aug 10, 2021

Vice President Johnson Would Exercise Duties of President if Kennedy Incapacitated

Aug. 10, 1961 - President Kennedy disclosed today that he had made an agreement that Vice President Johnson would exercise the rights and...

Aug 1, 2021

McNamara Says Bomb Shelters Could Save 15 Million American Lives

Aug. 1, 1961 - Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara said today that 50 million usable shelter spaces could provide a "Spartan" minimum...

Jul 31, 2021

President Kennedy Empowered by Congress to Call 250,000 Reservists

July 31, 1961 - A resounding 403-to-2 vote of approval in the House completed today Congressional action to empower President Kennedy to...

Jul 29, 2021

President Kennedy Takes Caroline and Friends to Candy Store in Massachusetts

July 29, 1961 - President Kennedy took his daughter, Caroline, and ten of her cousins and playmates to a neighborhood store in Hyannis...

Jul 29, 2021

Truman: Soviets Are Bluffing, "Scared to Death of Red China"

July 29, 1961 - Former President Harry S. Truman, who won his own Berlin showdown in 1948-9, said today the Soviet Union was bluffing in...

Jul 28, 2021

President Kennedy Joins First Lady on her 32nd Birthday

July 28, 1961 - President Kennedy joined his wife in Hyannis Port, Mass., today to help celebrate her 32nd birthday. Pierre Salinger,...

Jul 28, 2021

Senate Approves Kennedy's Request for More Weapons and Troops for Berlin

July 28, 1961 - The Senate approved overwhelmingly today President Kennedy's request for more weapons and troops to cope with Soviet...

Jul 27, 2021

President Kennedy's Civil Defense Goals Announced

July 27, 1961 - President Kennedy's immediate Civil Defense goal is to provide fallout shelters in existing buildings for 25 percent of...

Jul 26, 2021

After Kennedy Speech, Draft-Age Americans Make Inquiries

July 26, 1961 - President Kennedy's call for an increase in military manpower touched off a sharp increase in inquiries from the nation's...

Jul 26, 2021

Financier Bernard Baruch Says U.S. Will Manage Berlin Crisis, Praises Kennedy

July 26, 1961 - Bernard M. Baruch, financier and friend of Presidents, said today that the U.S. had "all the resources to do all the...

Jul 26, 2021

Kennedy Administration Wants Home Alarms for National Emergencies

July 26, 1961 - The Kennedy Administration asked Congress today for $10 million to put into operation a home buzzer system that would...

Jul 26, 2021

President Kennedy Asks for Nation's Prayers in Meeting Soviet "World-Wide Threat"

July 26, 1961 - President Kennedy asked last night for an overall increase in the nation's military preparedness to meet a Soviet threat...

Jul 24, 2021

RFK Bids Americans to Focus on Physical Fitness

July 24, 1961 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy said today there had been a lot of talk but little action to improve the physical...

Jul 24, 2021

U.E. Baughman, Secret Service Chief, to Retire

July 24, 1961 - U.E. Baughman (pictured), chief of the U.S. Secret Service, plans to retire next month. Mr. Baughman has served in the...

Jul 20, 2021

President Kennedy Emphasizes Civil Defense, Will Address Nation Tuesday

July 20, 1961 - President Kennedy today put the Pentagon in charge of a greatly increased program to protect American civilians against...

Jul 19, 2021

Congress Backs Kennedy's Space Goal: the Moon before 1970

July 19, 1961 - President Kennedy's sharp acceleration of the race for the moon won resounding approval today from a Senate-House...

Jul 14, 2021

Goldwater Charges Kennedy Administration with "Drifting"

July 14, 1961 - Senator Barry Goldwater charged the Kennedy Administration today with supporting a foreign policy of "drifting,"...

Jul 13, 2021

Foreign Students Rush President Kennedy in Virtual Stampede

July 13, 1961 - About 1,800 enthusiastic foreign-exchange students turned a White House visit into a virtual stampede this morning. A...

Jul 12, 2021

NAACP Has Praise and Criticism for President Kennedy

July 12, 1961 - Members of the NAACP called on President Kennedy today to praise and criticize his actions on civil rights. Bishop...