Chapter 9- the presidential election of 1960 Flashcards
Who was JFK?
He was the son of an Irish catholic businessman, Kennedy would serve in ww2, he would be elected to the House of Representatives in 1947, the senate in 53.
What was the significance of the election result?
This would be the closest result as only 0.17% of the vote would separate Kennedy and Nixon, there would also the independent candidate of Harry F Byrd, who would win 116, 248 votes. The final opinion poll of Kennedy before the election would be 51%, this would be reflected in the votes at 50.1%.
Though it would be difficult for Kennedy to pass progressive policy through and there would be a large number of people who would not have voted for him.
What would be the strengths of Kennedy?
He would have been a war hero
He would be young
He would have 13 years of experience in congress
He had strong support from Northern Democrats and Catholics
He would choose LBJ to be his VP, who would have a large amount of experience
He would appeal to African American voters.
His fathers wealth and political connection would help his campaign.
What would be the strengths of Nixon?
He would have 13 years of experience in congress this would include his 8 years as VP
He would be Anti C
He would have large of experience of fp
He would have a non-privilege background
He would want to campaign in every state
He would choose Henry Cabot Lodge, a former senator to be vp
He would have string support from California which would be his home state.
What would the weaknesses of Kennedy be?
His Catholicism would threaten to derail his campaign in the Bible Belt, he would speak to Protestant minis in Houston and would promise for the separation for church and state to take place, however it is believed that his religious beliefs would cost him 1.5 million votes.
Nixon would use his typical methods to attack the opponent he would attack the so called inexperience of Kennedy.
Kennedy would make the attempt to indicate that Nixon and Eisenhower had failed in foreign policy, which would lead to a missile gap, though this would later be proven to be untrue and Nixon would be a skilled politician when it came to foreign policy.
Why did Kennedy win?
He would ring the wife of MLK, this would be significant as Kennedy would take the black vote by 70:30. There could also be the televised debate, he would wear a suit that would be designed to make him stand out, Nixon would be recovering from a knee injury and he would have gotten the flu due to a tireless campaign. It would be decided, especially by those that would watch on TV that Kennedy would win the first debate, though it was thought that Nixon would have a narrow win in the first one.
Kennedy would say that it would be the TV that would turn the tide. He would also have political broadcast that would say things like Kennedy for me and he would have a range of merchandise.
However, they would be accusations of voter fraud and in Texas, Nixon would be challenged to challenge the results.
What were the personalities of the administration?
Sargent shriver, he was a lawyer, he would be the driving force behind the peace corps, he would serve under LBJ, he would be a key architect on the war on poverty, he would be ambassador to France from 1968-70, he would also run as VP for the bid of George McGovern.
Robert McNamara, he would be the president of ford, he would also teach accountancy at Harvard he would also have a role as the head of the department of defence. He would also work under LBJ.
Dean Rusk, he would be Secretary of State under Kennedy and Johnson, he would have a fractious relationship with Kennedy who felt that the state department offered little.
LBJ, he would have been in congress for 24 years before Kennedy would choose him. After Kennedy would be assassinated, Johnson would focus on poverty but the Vietnam would affect this.
Bobby Kennedy, he would run the campaign for JFK, he would serve both him and Johnson as attorney general,
McGoerge Bundy, he would be a former intelligence officer in ww2 and he would also be a professor of government at Harvard. He would serve as the national security advisor, he would also be involved in the CMC and the BOP, he would also advocate for the US involvement in Vietnam.
what were the key ideas behind the are frontier?
he would see himself as someone who would want to dominate the global stage, though he would make promises to AA people he would also want to follow in the legacy of FDR.
what were the key policies of the new frontier with regards to the economy?
Economy- he would instruct all federal agencies to speed up their own construction projects and he would also introduce a new housing act that would created 420,000 new jobs. The increase MW would give people $175 million more wages. $200 million would be spent on extra welfare benefits which would help 750,000 children. There would also be $780 million in increased employments benefits that would help 3 million Americans. Kennedy would also cut both corporate and individual taxes.
workers- 1962 executive order which would provide federal employees with collective bargaining rights, there would also be the 1962 contract work hours and safety standards act which would establish standards for working hours and safety. there would also be the 1961 fair labor and standards act. This would would help protect young people from underpaid jobs and there would 2 million peoples salaries that would be protected under the act.
housing- $3,19 billion would be spent with a focus on middle and low income families, urban renewal grants would double and 100,000 new homes and would be constructed.
what would be the key aspects of the new frontier with regards to society?
welfare- ss benefits would be increased by 20% and there would be the School Lunch Act which would provide free lunches and free milk for school children. the food stamp programme would be launched and this would feed 250,000 people. there would also be federal retirement benefits. this would also cover children in foster care and the disabled. This would allow the benefits system to cover 5 million more Americans.
health- medicare which was designed for the elderly would be introduced along with the funding for nursing homes and migrant workers. Millions of children would be vaccinated through the Social Security Act of 1963 and there would be focus placed on those with needs. there would also be the food, drug and cosmetic act of 1963 which would tighten regulations of drugs. There would also be the 1963 passed a mental health act, this would help to halve the number of people in hospital.
Education- a third of new frontier legislation would have an educational aspect which would also have increases on vocational training. The educational act of 1963 would have an expansion of scholarships and student loans. there would also be the educational television facilities act . There would also be grants that would be given to new facilities.
environment- Kennedy would pass the clean air act of 1963 this would expand the national park system. He would also double the funding for the prevention of water pollution.
women’s rights- Kennedy would establish the presidential commission on the status of women in 1961 and he would invite Eleanor Roosevelt to chair it. The report called the the American Woman would be released and would highlight the discrimination that women would face. it would reccomend things such as paid maternity leave. in 1963 the Equal Pay Act would be signed.
Civil Rights- a Civil Rights Bill would be introduced in 1963 a voter education project would be launched in 1962 the CEEO would also be established. The ICC would also be forced to desegregate interstate travel.
the space race- an extra $9 billion would be given to NASA.
why would Kennedy face more challenged than FDR?
foreign policy concerns for example Cuba.
he would be a first time president that would have a close victory.
He would be a northern democrat and he would not want to split his party.
the executive also lacked key figures.
his team of advisors would also be fustrated with the slow pace of change.
What were the economic and legislative challenges that Kennedy would face?
when Kennedy would enter office he would do so in the midst of a recession and business bankruptcies would reach their highest since the 1930’s. incomes had decreased by 25% by 1961 and 5.5 million Americans would be looking for work.
Kennedy and his advisors would be able to fine tune the economy and by the end of Kennedys first year the economy had improved.
with regards to his new frontier Kennedy would lack the support that he would need, he wouldn’t be able ti pass medicare, southern democrats would also not want to have a department for urban affairs because there was a belief that JFK would appoint the first AA secretary. There would not be any new major legislation that would be passed during his presidency.
he would deal the recession by not increasing taxes which would highlight how he would not be following the typical democrat way, this would be proven to be effective.
People would also criticise who Kennedy would have in his cabinet, they would be considered young and inexperienced, this would be evident with Cuba.
what would be the key aspects of the new frontier?
space and science, ignorance and prejudice, JFK would have 70% of the AA vote, peace and war, poverty and surplus.
how was Kennedy viewed in pubic?
he would be idolised and was presented to be a family man.
what would be the significance of the new frontier speech?
25th July 1960
JFK would want to focus on solving a society that would be divided around poverty, 25% of people would be living in poverty.
There would also have been the U2 spy plane and the increasing pressure from the SCLC.
There would also be an increased focus on women’s rights.
