JFK’s New Frontier

1. JFK’s New Frontier But, it was not the 1st time TV influenced politics… • 1960 election – Nixon vs. Kennedy was 1st to use TV debates: • Nixon much better known but TV debates helped swing undecided voters towards JFK • Marked beginning of TV dominance in politics • Image & appearance became essential traits for candidates Eisenhower used TV to campaign in 1952 & 1956 McCarthy was destroyed by TV in the Army-Senate hearings Nixon used to TV to defend himself in the “Checkers” speech TN Senator Kefauver used TV to investigate organized crime

2. JFK’s New Frontier • JFK admin reflected youth, energy, & sharp break from DDE • JFK promised New Frontier: • Domestic reforms in education, health care, civil rights • Foreign policy based on defeating USSR & winning Cold War JFK era often referred to as “Camelot”

3. JFK’s New Frontier Extension of Social Security… An increase in the minimum wage • New Frontier promised a return of FDR-era liberal policies: • Cons in Congress opposed JFK’s social reforms in ed & health care • Congress did help the poor • Modernization of industry, gov spending, & major tax cut in 1963 stimulated economy & created jobs …unemployment benefits… Increased funds for public housing …and med ins for elderly all shot down by Congress

4. JFK’s New Frontier • Long-lasting effect of JFK era was strengthening the presidency: • DDE left many decisions to staff, but JFK demanded direct control • JFK transferred most decision making power from the cabinet to his personal White House staff JFK referred to his staff as the “the best & the brightest”

5. Kennedy Intensifies the Cold War

6. Kennedy Intensifies the Cold War • US foreign policy & containing Communism was JFK’s top priority: • Believed DDE compromised when Cold War could have been won • Aimed to close the “missile gap” & increase US defenses • Tried to solve issues in Berlin, Vietnam, & Cuba “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival & success of liberty. We will do this & more.” —JFK’s inaugural address

7. Flexible Response JFK was convinced that USSR had more missiles, but US did – 600 B-52s, 2 Polaris subs, 2000 warheads • JFK shifted from “mutual assured destruction” to “flexible response” • Capable of responding to a variety of future problems •  nuclear arsenal to create “1st strike” capability • Increased army & air force • Expanded covert operations & created Green Berets To combat Communism & help underdeveloped countries, JFK created the Peace Corps & the Alliance for Progress

8. The Space Race The Apollo Program • JFK hoped to avoid another Sputnik-type embarrassment • Hoped to beat USSR to the moon: • Expanded NASA & announced that US would get to the moon by 1970 • US landed a man on moon in 1969

9. Crisis over Berlin • 1st confrontation w/USSR came in Berlin: • Khrushchev upset with the exodus of skilled workers from GDR to FRG • USSR threatened to remove all US influence from W Berlin, but settled on building Berlin Wall in 1961

10. “Ich bin ein Berliner” —JFK, 1963

14. Containment in Vietnam • Communist leader Ho Chi Minh gained popularity in N & S Vietnam • US aided unpopular S Vietnamese leader Ngo Dihn Diem • Diem proved oppressive; JFK okayed coup against Diem in 1963 “Strongly in our mind is what happened in China at the end of World War II, where China was lost. We don’t want that.” —JFK

15. Vietnam Viet Minh are Vietnamese communists in North Vietnam Viet Cong are Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam

16. Monk Quang Duc protested Diem’s treatment of Buddhists

17. Containing Castro: Bay of Pigs • 1959: Fidel Castro took Cuba &developed ties with USSR • DDE administration (using the CIA) had been training Cuban exiles for an invasion & overthrow of Castro • 1961: JFK gave OK for the CIA to initiate Bay of Pigs invasion

18. Invasion called for US air support but JFK canceled air strike; without air support, Castro squashed invasion JFK took responsibility for Bay of Pigs, but did not apologize for attempt

19. Cuban Missile Crisis • To protect Cuba from another US invasion, USSR began secret build-up of nuclear missiles • Oct 14, 1962: U-2 spy plane discovered Cuban missile camps • How would the U.S. respond? 24 medium-range & 18 short range ICBMs JFK chose to “quarantine” Cuba to keep new missiles out & invasion of Cuba if USSR did not remove its nukes Immediate air strike? Full-scale invasion? Diplomacy: trade nukes in Cuba for nukes in Turkey? Naval blockade to keep warheads out?

20. Kennedy announced a quarantine (blockade) to keep more missiles out & demanded that the Soviets remove the missiles already in Cuba The Cuban Missile Crisis "We are eyeball to eyeball, and the other fellow just blinked." —Sec of State, Dean Rusk

21. Cuban Missile Crisis • Standoff ended when USSR removed its missiles & US vowed never to invade Cuba • Impact of the crisis: • PoliticalvictoryforJFK • “Hot line” for US-USSR communications • Convinced both sides to move from confrontation to negotiation And…U.S. removal of nuclear weapons in Turkey “Our most basic common link is the fact that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. We are all mortal.” —JFK

22. "Let Us Continue" • 11/22/63 Dallas: JFK assassinated • VP Lyndon Johnson now president: • LBJ was a master politician with a reputation for getting results • LBJ promised to continue Kennedy's liberal agenda • LBJ ultimately exceeded JFK’s record on providing economic & racial equality LBJ helped push through the greatest array of liberal legislation in U.S. history (“Great Society”), surpassing FDR’s New Deal

23. Americans were stunned this rapid succession of events

24. The Zapruder Film