John F. Kennedy
- Ran against Vice-President Richard Nixon
- First presidential televised debates took place
- Many say this helped JFK win the election
- Eisenhower also would not support/promote Nixon in his campaign
- Kennedy's Presidential accomplishments:
- Said "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
- Cold War issues dominated his presidency and foreign policy
- Berlin Wall was built in 1961
- Bay of Pigs Invasion which dealt with Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1961
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Issued the Alliance for Progress with Latin America to make sure they didn't turn to communism
- Kennedy increased the number of helicopters, military advisors and undeclared U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam
- The CIA helped the new Ba'ath Party government overthrow Communists in Iraq. This new party systematically murdered large numbers of Iraq's educated elite--killings in which Saddam Hussein himself is said to have been a part of
- Signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963
- The New Frontier was basically Kennedy's New Deal
- Promised federal funding for:
- 1. Education
- 2. Medical care for the elderly
- 3. Economic aid to rural regions
- 4. Government intervention to halt the recession
- 5. End racial discrimination
- Peace Corps was established in 1961 where Americans volunteer to help underdeveloped nations in areas such as education, farming, health care, and construction
- Signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, a federal law aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex
Comments