John F. Kennedy
35th President
The Election
Party: Democrat
Competitor: Richard Nixon (Republican)
- One of the closest elections in American history
- First leader to be born in the 20th century
- Kennedy was catholic, and no catholic had been elected at the time
- Kennedy won 49.7% of the popular vote and Nixon won 49.5% of the popular vote
- Kennedy had 303 electoral votes and Nixon had 219 electoral votes
- Campaign Issues/Topics: Communism and Separation of Church & State
The New Frontier
What was the "New Frontier"?
- Campaign program advocated by Kennedy in the 1960 election
- Promised to revitalize the stagnant economy and enact reform legislation in education, health care, and civil rights
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Kennedy inspired high expectations, especially among the young
- His challenge of a New Frontier quickened patriotic pulses
- The New Frontier did not expand quickly... medical and educational bills remained stalled in Congress
- Helped negotiate a noninflationary wage agreement in the steel industry of 1962
- Wanted to aid America in its economic losses due to Eisenhower's years
- Kennedy promoted a multibillion-dollar project to land an American on the moon
- "Ask what not your country can do for you: ask what you can do for your country"
The Cold War
- A buildup of conventional troops and weapons to allow a nation to fight a limited war without using nuclear weapons
- Defense strategy implemented by Kennedy in 1961
- Address the Kennedy administration's skepticism of Dwight Eisenhower's New Look and its policy of Massive Retaliation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Kennedy was a fervent believer in containing communism
- Made it clear that he would follow the former policy of Eisenhower and support the government of Diem in South Vietnam
- Supported the "Domino Theory"
- Convinced that if South Vietnam fell to communism, other states would also as a consequence
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cuban Missile Crisis (ID):
-October 1962 - American U-2 spy plan photographed Soviet nuclear missiles being built on Cuba
-Met in secret with advisors
-Decided to place a naval blockade (ring of ships) around cuba
-"Quarantine" to prevent Soviets from bringing in more supplies
-Incident where Soviet missiles were
-American attempt to overthrow the newly established communist government in Cuba by training and sending cuban rebels
-Ended in a disaster due to the lack of support by Americans
-Embarrassment for US and led to Castro pleading for Soviet aid
The Cold War: Construction of the Berlin Wall
- Made of concrete and barbed wire
- Prevent East Germans from escaping to West Berlin
- One of the most visible signs of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain
- Berlin wall was constructed as a barrier during the 1961 Berlin Crisis
- Berlin Crisis of 1961 was the last major politico-military European incident of the Cold War about Berlin
- JFK and Kruschev met in the Vienna summit on June 4th, 1961
- Kennedy conveyed US acceptance to the permanent division of berlin
Civil Rights
- JFK gained the black population's vote when he promised to pass civil rights legislation
- in 1960, groups of Freedom Riders spread out across the South to end segregation
- Kennedy family and Martin Luther King Jr. (ID) had a good relationship
- SNCC & other civil rights groups inaugurated a Voter Education Project to register the South's historically disfranchised blacks
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (ID)
- Outlawed segregation of public accommodations
- Established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce the law- Made the federal government responsible for finding instances of discrimination
- Made illegal discrimination based on race, religion, ethnic origin, or gender
- Did not effectively address problems with voting rights
His Assassination
- Dealy Plaza, Dallas, Texas
- Shot by a sniper while traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor Connally, and Connally's wife Nellie
- Assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald (ID), acting alone
- Jack Ruby killed Oswald before he could stand trial