Kennedy's New Frontier Flashcards
when was JFK president?
1961 - 1963
what issues in social welfare did Kennedy ask for legislation in?
- rise in min wage
- a new department of urban affairs
- federal financial aid to education
- health insurance for the elderly
- tax cuts to stimulate the economy
what measures did he use to help the poor?
social security ammendments act 1961
min wage act 1961
food and agriculture act 1962
food stamp
omnibus housing act 1961
what was the social security ammendmnets act?
1961 - expanded benefits for the elderly and people with disabilities
what was the min wage act?
1961 - raised it from $0.25 to $1.25
what were the problems with the min wage act?
1/2 of the populations poorest was not covered.
what was the food and agriculture act?
1962 - that gave subsidies to farmers in poor rural areas
what was the food stamp?
fed 240,000 people which cost $22 million annually.
what measures were used to aid unemployed or unskilled workers?
- the area redevelopment act 1961
- manpower and training act 1962
what was the area redevelopment act?
1961 - extended employment opportunities to struggling states such as West Virginia - gave $394 million
what was the Manpower and training act?
1962 - to train workers using programmes which were set up to help unskilled workers.
what was the problem with the Area redevelopment act?
1961 - five million across America were still unemployed and congress refused to reauthorise it in 1963, which mean’t there was no more funding
what legislative falliures did kennedy suffer from?
- federal aid to elementry schools was rejected in 1961
- senior citezens health care was rejected in 1963
- department of urban affairs wasn’t created
- civil rights bill stuck in congress at time of death
- tax cuts weren’t implemented
when was the peace corps established?
1961
what was the aim of the peace corps?
to help improve impoverished / developing countries
- as well as reducing chance of war
how did Kennedy describe the peace corps?
an organisation that allowed Americans to fulfil their responsibilities to “world development” and “world peace”
how many volunteered for the peace corps?
thousands
how many countries received aid from the peace corps in 1961-63?
44 developing countries
why were the us beginning to become humiliated by the soviets?
October 1957 the soviets sent a satellite to space “sputnik”
November 1957 the US attempted to send a satellite into space and it failed.
`when did Russian soviet orbit the earth?
April 1961 Gagarin
what was the JFK suggestion to end us humiliations?
1961 he suggested to congress that they were going to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
how much money was spent of Kennedy’s space programme ?
$40 billion
how many people favoured the mood project in 1965?
58% of population
when did the first man land on the mood?
1969 Neil Armstrong - american
what was the omnibus housing act ?
1961 - congress extended $5 billion for the extension of existing program’s such as urban renewal and public housing.
- also authorised low interest rate loans for struggling middle-income families.
why would most historians consider Kennedy’s presidency unimpressive?
- he failed to gain congressional support for his major legislations
- no major new domestic policy was passed during his presidency, much of what congress did pass was not new but just expanded on what was previously there.
what were the reasons for JFK’s legislative defeats?
- congress was dominated by republicans and southern democrats who opposed government expenditure in health and education
- southerners rejected assisting black ghetto’s
what did the Peace corps allow people to do ?
- ## sent thousands of students to give technical aid such as building schools and houses
what did JFK say was NOT the aim of the peace Corps?
- he said it was not a means of propaganda to prevent conflict
- however in private he did hope that it would show America’s values to be superior to soviet values.
what did critics of the peace corps say?
- they reffered to it as the “kiddie corps”
- alot of kids bouncing around the world in Bermuda shorts
how many people approved the peace corps?
71%
