This Photo was taken of President Kennedy it was entitled “The Loneliest Job”

Do you believe the job of president can be lonely? If so, why and if not, why not?

THE NEW FRONTIER AND THE GREAT SOCIETY

KENNEDY AND NIXON

• The Democratic nominee for president in 1960 was a young Massachusetts senator named John Kennedy

• He promised to “get America moving again”

• Kennedy had a well-organized campaign and was handsome and charismatic

Senator Kennedy, 1958

KENNEDY

• Was Catholic• This concerned people, we had never had

a Catholic President• Came from a wealthy and influential

Massachusetts family• Promised to boost economy • Put an end to the spread of Communism• Argued that we had a “missile gap” with

armament with the Soviets

REPUBLICAN OPPONENT: RICHARD NIXON

• The Republicans nominated Richard Nixon, Ike’s Vice-President

• The candidates agreed on many domestic and foreign policy issues

• Two factors helped put Kennedy over the top: T.V. and Civil Rights

Nixon hoped to ride the coattails of the popular

President

NIXON

• Was a Quaker• Was a Californian from a financially struggling

family• Promised to boost the economy and put a stop

the spread of Communism• Felt however that things were “on track” did not

need be melded with• That he had more experience in the executive

office, as having served as vice president

TELEVISED DEBATE AFFECTS VOTE

• On September 26, 1960, Kennedy and Nixon took part in the first televised debate between presidential candidates

• Kennedy looked and spoke better than Nixon• Journalist Russell Baker said, “That night, image replaced

the printed word as the national language of politics”

JFK: CONFIDENT, AT EASE DURING DEBATES

• Television changed everything!

• Television had become so central to people's lives that many observers blamed Nixon's loss to John F. Kennedy on his poor appearance in the televised presidential debates

• Think about how we view our own politicians ability to speak…

JFK: CONFIDENT, AT EASE DURING DEBATES

• Following the first major debate the media began to focus on the appearance of the candidates

• JFK looked cool, collected, presidential

• Nixon, according to one observer, resembled a "sinister chipmunk"

• It was even questioned if the Democrats has supplied Nixon’s makeup!

JFK’S OTHER EDGE: CIVIL RIGHTS

• A second major event of the campaign took place in October, 1960

• Police arrested Martin Luther King for conducting a “Sit-In” at a lunch counter in Georgia

• King was sentenced to hard labor

Sit-Ins were non-violent protests over the policy of whites-only lunch counters in the South

JFK, NIXON REACT DIFFERENTLY TO KING ARREST

• While the Eisenhower Administration refused to intervene, JFK phoned King’s wife and his brother, Robert Kennedy, worked for King’s release

• The incident captured the attention of the African-American community, whose votes JFK would carry in key states

King Kennedy

KENNEDY WINS CLOSE ELECTION

CLOSEST ELECTION SINCE 1884

• Kennedy won the election by fewer than 119,000 votes

• Nixon dominated the west, while Kennedy won the south and the east coast

JFKRMN

“ASK NOT . . .” In his

inaugural address, JFK uttered this famous challenge: “Ask not what your country can do for you --- ask what you can do for your country”

Delivered Friday, January 20, 1961

KENNEDY INNAGURATION REACTION ACTIVITY

• We are going to be viewing the Kennedy inauguration speech

• You will be assigned a role to play as you view this speech.

• You need answer the questions given to you from the point of view of your role

THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST

• JFK surrounded himself with what one journalist described as the “best and the brightest” available talent

• Of all of his elite advisors who filled Kennedy’s inner circle, he relied most on his 35-year-old brother Robert, whom he appointed attorney general

RFK was John’s closest friend and advisor

THE CAMELOT YEARS• During his term in

office, JFK and his beautiful young wife, Jacqueline, invited many artists and celebrities to the White House

• The press loved the Kennedy charm and JFK appeared frequently on T.V.

• The Kennedys were considered American “Royalty” (hence “Camelot” reference)

THE KENNEDY MYSTIQUE• The first family

fascinated the American public

• For example, after learning that JFK could read 1,600 words a minute, thousands enrolled in speed-reading courses

• Jackie, too, captivated the nation with her eye for fashion and culture

THE NEW FRONTIER

• Kennedy initiated his vision in a program he called:

• “The New Frontier”• The economy• education, • medical care for the

elderly and the poor, • space exploration were all

part of his vision• He would soon find that

transforming lofty ideals into legislation was no easy task

THE PEACE CORPS

• One of the first programs launched by JFK was the Peace Corps

• The Peace Corps is a volunteer program to assist developing nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America

• The Peace Corps has become a huge success

Strengthening the Economy

• To create jobs, he used deficit spending

• He convinced Congress to invest in defense and space exploration

• He also worked with business to cut costs

• He sought to see tax rate cuts

WOMENS RIGHTS

• He created the Presidential Commission on the status of Women's Rights

Looked for:• gender

discrimination • equal

employment and pay

KENNEDY ADDRESSES INNER CITY BLIGHT AND RACISM

• In 1963, Kennedy called for “a national assault on the causes of poverty”

• He also ordered his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy to investigate racial injustice in the South

• Finally, he presented Congress with a sweeping civil rights bill and a sweeping tax cut bill to spur the economy

THE SUPREME COURT • During the Kennedy years

the Supreme court took an active role in social issue

• In 1953, Eisenhower had appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren, a popular governor of California

• The Warren Court took an activist stance and help shape the nation’s policies

THE SUPREME COURT

• Reapportionment or the way the states draw up political districts

• The move from small towns to large cities had shifted America’s population centers

• The Warren Court shifted power from the rural areas to urban areas, which did contain more liberal voters

• Also boosted the political power of African Americans and Hispanics

THE SUPREME COURT

• Due Process means that the law may not treat individuals unfairly, arbitrarily, or unreasonably

• In Gideon v. Wainwright the court ruled that a defendant had the right to a lawyer regardless of ability to pay

• Miranda v. Arizona• Required that authorities immediately give suspects a

warning of their rights• Today we know this as your Miranda rights.

THE SUPREME COURT

• Engel v. Vitale • States could not compose

official prayers to recited in state public schools

• Upheld the idea of separation of church and state

• Abington School District v. Schempp

• Ruled against state-mandated Bible readings

• Griswold v. Connecticut • Ruled against prohibiting sale

of birth control

THE SUPREME COURT

• The Warren Court, “has brought about more change than most Congresses and most Presidents.”

• Had shaped social change with:

• Political impacts• Social impacts• Away from the arena of the

courts, it would now be Kennedy’s turn to shape the country’s foreign affairs during a time of rising Cold War tensions

KENNEDY OVERVIEW

• You need to review your notes and complete the worksheet on President Kennedy