J F K

Life before he became President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in 1917 into a wealthy Catholic American family, who were originally from Ireland. In 1941 John (also known as Jack) joined the American navy and went off to fight in World War Two.

Jack rescued a nearly drowned crewman with bad burns, using a makeshift raft built from pieces of the boat. Jack swam while towing the burned crewman for four hours dragging him to a nearby island… One night Kennedys boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer, killing two of the 13 crewmen.

The men lived on coconut milk and rainwater until they eventually made contact with friendly natives. Jack carved a rescue message into a coconut husk which made its way back to the Navy and Kennedy and his fellow crewman were rescued. Kennedy received the Purple Heart medal for extraordinary bravery.

After the war, John F Kennedy, 29, is elected to Congress in 1946.

Kennedy becomes President At age 43, he is the youngest man and the first Roman Catholic ever elected President, winning by one of the smallest margins of victory, only 115,000 popular votes. Lyndon B. Johnson, 51, is his Vice-president.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Democrat) takes the oath of office and becomes the 35th President of the United States of America, January 20, In his Inaugural Address (first speech as President) he said: "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

Domestic Policies Kennedys New Frontier In his acceptance speech as Democratic Candidate in 1960 John F. Kennedy promised the American people a New Frontier. We stand at the edge of a New Frontier – the frontier of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. It will deal with unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. - Kennedy

So JFK called his domestic program [his policies for inside the US – i.e. not foreign policies] the New Frontier. The New Frontier Policy aimed for: 1.A strong economy 2.Less poverty in America 3. Civil rights - calling for new civil rights legislation 4. Human rights – to encourage Americans to help developing nations

What did JFK achieve regarding domestic policy? The fact that Kennedy had won the election by a very narrow margin meant that he lacked a reliable majority of support in Congress [parliament], which he needed in order to get his policies [ideas] voted into actual laws [or legislation]. So most of his domestic policies did not become laws, but some did….. 1. Economic expansion He made $900m available to help create jobs He massively increased spending on space technology He cut income tax to give people more spending money and thus to stimulate the economy 2. Reducing poverty He made more money available to help the elderly and unemployed He made loans available to help those in inner cities to improve their houses He increased the minimum wage from $1 to $1.25 See your Walsh textbook p391 for details

What did JFK achieve regarding domestic policy? 3. Civil Rights When people demanding racial equality gained more support in , Kennedy then reacted by speaking out for black rights and trying to introduce civil rights legislation; many white Congressmen were against JFKs proposals. JFK made high level black appointments – judges and government officials JFK sent 23,000 troops to protect James Meredith so that he could study at the University of Mississippi without being attacked by racists 4. Human rights One of Kennedy's most popular achievements was the Peace Corps, a volunteer organization that brought education and skills to developing countries of the world by sending Americans to overseas to help in poor nations.

What did Kennedy achieve regarding domestic policy? At the time of his assassination in November 1963, however, the following all remained blocked by Congress [i.e. the House of representatives and the Senate]: - more tax cuts - federal aid [i.e. money from the national government in Washington DC] for education and Medicare [medical care for the elderly] - proposed civil rights laws

Why did Congress vote against JFKs proposals? - many white Congressmen, especially from the south, were against JFKs civil rights proposals, including representatives from Kennedys own political party, the Democrats - many Congressmen thought that Kennedy was too young, too radical and too Catholic It was left to his successor, President Johnson, to push this legislation through the more compliant [willing to go along with] congresses of 1964 and See your Walsh textbook p for more details on JFKs domestic policies