JFK
...n. Winning by a narrow margin in the popular vote, Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic President. His Inaugural address offered the memorable injunction: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." As President, he set out to redeem his campaign pledge to get America moving again. His economic programs launched the country on its longest sustained expansion since World War II; before his death, he focused on poverty and a better nation all together. This plan was named the new frontier; his ideas were used for years to come. Kennedy’s New Frontier program suggested grand reforms, but provided few plans for achieving them. Kennedy had little patience with the details involved in government. He distrusted bureaucracy and believed he could get things done with an executive branch filled with smart, aggressive achievers. He wanted to improve housing, education and health care but he could not get the votes he needed in congress. Kennedy did win an increase in the minimum wage by 25 cents. He also got congress to approve $5 billion in urban renewal programs to rebuild run-down areas of the nation’s cities. His proposals of aid for education and health insurance for the elderly met defeat. The US economy, which had performed splendidly through most of the 1950s, had slowed at the end of the decade. Unemployment was at one of the highest levels since World War II. Under Kennedy the economy moved upward, fueled by heavy federal spending on military and space projects. In 1963 JFK called for a “national assault on the causes of poverty.” Yet he did not offer a strong program to fight poverty. His major economic goal at the time was to cut personal income taxes. He believed that would stimulate the economy and produce more jobs. However the federal government was already spending more than it was taking in. Congress rejected the tax cut. Communism posed some of Kennedy’s biggest challenges. After Kennedy permitted Cuban exiles to attempt an overthrow of Fidel Castro, which ultimately failed, the Soviet Union renewed its campaign against Berlin, resulting in Kennedy increasing U.S. military strength and Moscow erecting Berlin Wall. In 1961, his first year in office, Kennedy was battered by a series of adverse international developments. Inheriting from the previous administration a secret plan to overthrow the Cuban regime of Premier Fidel Castro, Kennedy approved an invasion of Cuba in April by refugees operating with the help of U.S. agencies. The abrupt failure of the invasion at the Bay of Pigs resulted in personal embarrassment for the president. Cold war tensions were further aggravated when the Soviet Union sent the first man into space in April and resumed atmospheric nuclear tests in September. Launching the US into space exploration was one of Kennedy’s top priorities. Kennedy was determined to overtake the Soviets in space. Shortly after taking office, JFK made a daring proposal. “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out,” he said, “of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth” The ...