The New Frontier

1. The New Frontier Chapter 20-2

2. The Promise of Progress • President Kennedy set out to transform his broad vision of progress into what he called the New Frontier • Kennedy had difficulty turning his vision into reality, however • He offered Congress proposals to provide Medical Care for the aged, rebuild blighted cities, and aid education, but he couldn’t gather enough votes • In his efforts to push his domestic reform measures through Congress, Kennedy showed little skill • Since he had been elected by the slimmest of margins, he lacked a popular mandate-a clear indication that voters approved of his plans • As a result, he often tried to play it safe politically

3. Stimulating the Economy • One domestic problem that Kennedy team tackled was the economy • During the campaign, Kennedy had criticized the Eisenhower administration for failing to stimulate economic growth • Kennedy’s advisers pushed for the use of deficit spending • Kennedy’s administration believed that stimulating economic growth depended on increased government spending and lower taxes, even if it meant that the government spent more than it took in • As a result many of the proposals Kennedy sent to Congress in 1961 called for increased spending

4. Addressing Poverty a Broad • Where the first campaign promises Kennedy fulfilled as a creation of the Peace Corps, a program a volunteer assistance to the developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America • Despite many reservations, the Peace Corps became a huge success • By 1968, more than 35,000 volunteers of all ages had served in 60 nations around the world • A second foreign aid program, the Alliance for Progress, offered economic and technical assistance to Latin American countries • Between 1961 and 1969, the United States invested almost $12 billion in Latin America, in part to deter these countries from picking up Fidel Castro’s revolutionary ideas

5. Race to the Moon • On April 12, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the first human in space • Kennedy saw this is a challenge and decided that America would surpass the Soviets by landing a man on the Moon • Within a year the United States had not only duplicated the Soviet feat, but also put a communications satellite, Telstar, into space • Meanwhile, NASA had began to construct new launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and a mission control center in Houston, Texas • Seven years later, on July 20, 1969, the United States would achieve its goal of a man on the move

6. Addressing Domestic Problems • While progress is being made on the new frontiers of space exploration, and international aid, many Americans suffered at home • The issue of poverty struck some 50 million Americans as a scrape by each year on less than $1000 a person • In addition the poverty Kennedy was forced to deal with the idea of segregation • Throughout the south, demonstrators raised their voices to what would become some of the most controversial civil rights battles of the 1960s • By 1963, Kennedy began to focus more closely on these and other issues at home • He would instruct the Justice Dept. to investigate racial injustices in the south and declare a national assault on the causes of poverty • In addition to a percent Congress of a sweeping civil rights bill and a proposal to cut taxes by over $10 billion

7. Tragedy in Dallas • By the fall of 1963 Kennedy had begun to lose popularity due to his support of civil rights issues • In November he would take a trip to Dallas in an effort to mend relations with the states Democratic leaders • This would be his last trip as he would be assassinated while traveling to a luncheon with supporters • Vice President Lyndon Johnson was now President

8. Four Days in November • In the days that followed the assassination one lone gunman would be charged with the death of President Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald • Oswald had a suspicions past as he had a dishonorable discharge from the Marine Corps, had lived in the Soviet Union, & had supported the Castro regime in Cuba • Just two days after the assassination Oswald was being transferred between jails when a Dallas nightclub owner, Jack Ruby, gunned him down • The next day the President would be laid to rest at Arlington Commentary

9. Unanswered Questions • The bizarre chain of events made many to believe that Oswald was part of a conspiracy to kill the President, not a lone gunman • In 1963, the Warren Commission investigated & concluded that in fact Oswald did act alone • In 1979 a reinvestigation was conducted & found that Oswald was part of a conspiracy & that he was one of two shooters • Reasons for the assassination have ranged from a plot backed Castro, to another backed by the Russians, to our own CIA • In the end Americans came to learn that even through our darkest times our government can withstand even the gravest actions