Kennedy and Johnson Domestic Policy AIM: Were the “New Frontier” and “Great Society” logical successors to the “New Deal”?
I. The Kennedy Administration A. Election of 1960: JFK v. Richard Nixon
Closest presidential election since 1888 303-219 electoral but winning margin 118,574 votes out of 68 million cast “In Chicago we tell our people, to vote early and vote often.” Mayor Daly
B. Inaugural Address 1. “The Torch has been passed to a new generation.” 2. Appoints his “brain trust” a. Robert McNamara – Defense Secretary b. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith c. Robert Kennedy – Attorney General
3. “Camelot”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCtselIX4yg
The New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises — it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them. Acceptance Speech as the Democratic presidential nominee (15 July 1960)
C. Domestic Agenda “The New Frontier” 1. Manpower and Development and Training Act
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1963
2. Space Program
3. Medical Retardation and Health Centers Act Rosemary Kennedy
4. The Peace Corps.
5. Civil Rights Belatedly grasped the moral and emotional significance of the movement. 1963-pushes for comprehensive civil rights legislation Blocked by Southern Democrats
6. Assassination of JFK
II. Johnson Administration “I am a Roosevelt New Dealer. As a matter of fact…Kennedy was a little too conservative to suit my taste.”
A. The Great Society 1. Civil Rights Act (1964) Voting Rights Act (1965)
24th Amendment- Bans “poll taxes” Civil Rights Act (1968)
2. “War on Poverty” Economic Opportunities Act (1964) Appalachian Development Act (1965
Demonstration Cities Act (1966)
“Medicare Act” (1965)
3. Education Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965) Higher Education Act (1965)
4. Immigration Act (1965)
Were the “New Frontier” and “Great Society” logical successors to the “New Deal”?
III. Summary “America a Welfare State” B. Government too big????