KENNEDY: DOMESTIC POLICY

Question 1

1960 election factors

Answer 1

• Joseph Kennedy had supported appeasement of the Nazi, accused of trying to buy the presidency, used his money and influence
• Nixon had no rapport with journalists while Kennedy was charming
• Anti-Catholicism remained strong - he reminded them that he had fought in WW2
• Anxiety about his youth - turned it to his advantage – exploited contrast with the elderly Eisenhower, suggested dynamism

Question 2

Eisenhower and Nixon

Answer 2

Eisenhower wasn’t helpful to Nixon:
* Preoccuied defending his presidential record against Kennedy
* Ignored Nixon’s warning tha huge spending cuts would lead to a recssion and damage his campaign
* Refused to refute Kennedy’s clain of a missile gap - left Nixon looking weak
* Damaged Nixon’s claim of his experience in governing, which was central to his campaign

Question 3

Televised debates

Answer 3

• Kennedy’s charm, confidence and appearance presented, compared to Nixon’s discomfort and ill apperance due to his recent infection - 90 of US households had a TV
• Nixon was exhausted from campaigning all 50 states
• Kennedy interceded when King was coviected for participatung in a sit-in - though Kin declined to endorse him, he won 70% of the African-American vote

Question 4

Kennedy’s aims

Answer 4

• ‘science and space’
• ‘peace and war’
• ‘ignorance and prejudice’
• ‘poverty and surplus’

Question 5

Government priorities

Answer 5

• He wasn’t originally interested in poverty and suprlus
• Only supported legislation that would help his predominantly working class Boston constituents
• Cared more later as he needed to emphasisie it to gain higher office; he promoted it in his election campaign
• He preferred foreign affairs as he was more interested in them

Question 6

Personalities

Answer 6

• Surrounded himself with brilliant minds with little experience governing
• Known as the Irish Mafia - e.g. Lawrence O’Brien (legislative liaison), Robert McNamara (vital in Vietnam)
• Bobby Kennedy became Attorney General, despite not pracitising law
• Johnson had a better grasp of congressional politicas but Kennedy didn’t want to seem reliant
• Kennedy would hold mettings in informal settings, like family holiday homes, and hold BBQs – not all government member were invited - somethime Secretary of State
• Dean Rusk was left out, lack of cooperation between departments

Question 7

Poverty

Answer 7

• Area Development Act 1961 - granted $394 million to extend employment opportunites, created 26,000 jobs and training programmes benefitted 15,000 - 5 million Americans remained unemployed and Congress refused to reauthorise it in 1963
• Used his executive powers to focus federal purchasing power and construction projects on areas of high unemployment
• Food and Agriculture Act 1962 gave federal subsidies to farmers - rural poverty persisted despite administartion efforts
• Social security benefits increased by 20%

Question 8

Workers

Answer 8

• Manpower Development and Training Act 1962 - aimed to train workers who were unemployed because of Technology
• 351 programmes for 12,600 trainees - mainly subsidised officals who provided training rather than decreasing unemployment
• Minimum Wage Act raised minimum wahe to $1,25/hour - additional 36 million workers covered, but not 1/2 million of the poorer, including 150,000 laundry workers (mostly black women)
• Interstate highway was extended, providing jobs in construction industry
• Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards 1962 established standards for working hours and safety

Question 9

Housing

Answer 9

• Omnibus Housing Act 1961 granted %5 billion for the extension of existing programmes (urban renewal, public housing)

Question 10

Education

Answer 10

• Extended school lunch and milk programmes to 700,000 more children and 85,000 more facilities, as well as piloting a food stamp programme that fed 240,000 for $22 million a year

Question 11

Other

Answer 11

• Clean Air Act 1963, expanded national park system, doubled funding for prevention of water pollution
• Food, Drug and Cosmeti Act 1963 tightened federal regulations on theraputic drugs
• Equal Pay Act 1963 allowed 171,000 women to reclaim pay
• Discrimination in public housing was prohibited
• Interstate Commerce Commission was forced to desegregate interstate travel
• Additional $9 billion to NASA to put a man on the moon

Question 12

Legislative failures

Answer 12

• Expanded existing programs rather than creating new legislation - lack of originality
• No major new domestic legislation was passed during his presedency

Blocked Bills included:
* Federal financial aid for elementary/secondary education (1961)
* Senior citizen health card (1963)
* Civil rights bill to end Jim Crow (remained stuck in congress)
* Tax cuts to stimulate economy

• At least put poverty and surplus on the national agenda

Question 13

Economic prosperity

Answer 13

• Remained world’s most prosperous nation
• GNP expanaded 20%, industrial production by 22%, and personal income 15% frequent slowdowns
• Unemployment on list of major concerns
• Kennedy employed and talked to leading academics, includng John Kenneth Galbraith, which encouraged him to make pverty a major issue

Question 14

Racial and ethnic poverty

Answer 14

• 20% of poor Americans were disproportionately from three ethnic minorities: African-Americans, Hispanic Americans & Native Americans
• Johnson felt this was large-scale unused potential
• Large American cities were changing: characterised by large ghettos with black crowded into low-quality housing and lacking access to good facilities, white flight led to urban decay, city councils tore down black neighbourhoods and replaced them with commercial buildings/expensive housing for whites
• Kennedy tried to alleviate the black housing shortage, but was prevented by congress
• Difficult to escape ghettos, especially with inreasing automation
• Decreasing jobs for the unskilled