JFK and domestic affairs:
The New Frontier
For homework:
 Carefully read each of these slides. This presentation is
designed to take you through the domestic, social, and
economic landscape of the brief (but extraordinarily
important) Presidency of John F. Kennedy.
 Take a look at your Enduring Vision, p. 961-966 if you
need clarification. These five pages cover many of the
same things seen here.
 Depending on timing, you will either watch the youtube
clips found on some of these slides for homework or in
class, and will receive a video guide for most of them.
Pay attention to what is said in class and noted on the
website.
The New Frontier
 “We stand at the edge of a New Frontier- the frontier
of unfulfilled hopes and dreams, a frontier of
unknown opportunities and beliefs in peril. Beyond
that frontier are uncharted areas of science and
space, unsolved problems of peace and war,
unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice,
unanswered questions of poverty and surplus.”
-JFK’s 1960 acceptance speech at the
Democratic National Convention
JFK’s cabinet and advisors: “The Best
and the Brightest”
 JFK’s cabinet was populated by
many young, Ivy Leagueeducated men
 Bobby Kennedy: 35 yr. old
Attorney General
 Robert McNamara: Defense
Secretary
 Dean Rusk: Secretary of State
 McGeorge Bundy: National
Security Advisor
 Ted Sorensen: speechwriter
 Pierre Salinger: Press Secretary
The Kennedy Economy
 There was a brief economic slowdown at the end
of the Eisenhower administration
 Economic growth doubles: 5.5% yearly from
1961-63!
 Unemployment decreases dramatically
 Only 1.3% inflation rate on average
 Longest uninterrupted period of growth in
American history- all the way through 1966! (the
record until President Clinton)
The Reality of JFK’s First Term
“There’s no sense in raising hell and then
not being successful.” -JFK
JFK defeated Richard Nixon in 1960 in closest
election since 1888 (less than 1%)
Congress was dominated by Republicans and
Southern Democrats; it was difficult for JFK
to get much done!
Modest achievements?
 Minimum wage raised to $1.25
 Housing Act of 1961: created the Department of Housing
and Urban Development; $4.9 billion for urban renewal,
mass transit, and housing
 Federal support for the disabled and mentally ill:
http://news.scotsman.com/johnfkennedy/JFKs-sister-diesafter-60.2593460.jp
 Equal Pay Act, 1963: gender equality in pay
 Clean Air Act, 1963: tougher air pollution standards
 Proposed many other plans for Medicare, education, etc.
but few were passed
Space… the final frontier
 $25 billion invested in the Apollo project
 "First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the
goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and
returning him back safely to the earth. No single space project in this
period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the
long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or
expensive to accomplish.”
 "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 civil rights revolution continues
 JFK concentrated more on enforcing existing civil rights
laws than passing new ones (through Attorney General
Bobby Kennedy)
 He appointed record numbers of African Americans to
federal government posts, but also appointed racist
federal judges in the South
 Stalled until 1962 on his campaign pledge to end federal
housing segregation
 Kennedy's political strategy was to delay sending a civil
rights bill to Congress until his second term
The following slides…
Watch only the specific segment of
each of these videos from YouTube.
 For homework on Monday night, watch
the clip on slide 11 and use the video
sheet provided to you.
The Freedom Rides



Click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAmt
_XKBBAM
26:03-54:51
The story of James Meredith



Click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a32
Uc1oP7s
31:50-54:43
The Birmingham Campaign, 1963



Click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ7k4
wMdV5g
21:19-42:42
JFK’s civil rights address to the nation: June 11,
1963


http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speech
es/jfkcivilrights.htm
We will read this in class.
The murder of Medgar Evers: June 12, 1963


We will look at this in class:
http://www.biography.com/articles/Medg
ar-Evers-9542324
The March on Washington



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ7k4
wMdV5g
42:43-end
We will watch this in class, too.
16th Street Baptist Church bombling; 4 Little Girls
murdered; September 15, 1963

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story
.php?storyId=1431932
This concludes…
… our brief look at the domestic, social,
political, and economic aspects of JFK’s
time in office. Next week we will
examine his role in The Cold War and of
course, most famously, his tragic
assassination.