1. Kennedy’s Thousand Days
Chapter 27
Section (1 &) 2
The New Frontier & the Great Society
Riddlebarger

2. The Great Debates Legacy of this debate?
Legacy of this debate?

3. Kennedy Becomes President
Contrasting candidates
JFK: from wealthy, political family in Massachusetts.
Nixon: self-made from small town in S. California
Same age but JFK creates image of youth: America’s future
Nixon seen as the past: IKE’s VP

4. Kennedy’s Foreign Policy
“What kind of peace do we seek? Not a [peace] enforced on the world by American weapons of war…not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women…For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”
June 10, 1963
Programs to help poorer nations
Peace Corps
Trained and sent volunteers to Africa, Asia & Latin American nations
2 years service in advisory/aid roles
Education, health care, agriculture
Increased goodwill towards U.S.
Continues build-up of weapons (w/flexibilty)
27.1

5. New Frontier JFK emphasized this with his “New Frontier” campaign
Claims US is falling behind Soviets; poor not realizing US prosperity.
Nixon defends IKE
Catholic effect
Election is one of closest in US history

6. 1960 Election Results
Harry Byrd wasn’t even on the ballot; Southern problem for JFK
Electoral:
JFK: 303
Nixon: 219
Byrd: 15
*less than 120,000 popular votes separate the candidates out of 69 million

7. Kennedy’s New Frontier: Image & Reality
Use of media to portray image of young, active president
Reality was lots of health issues.
Young, beautiful wife and 2 young kids shape image.
Jackie Kennedy
Politically, JFK finds lots of opposition in Congress to his idea
Was successful raising min. wage & helping poor areas.

8. Space Program Space program will come to symbolize New Frontier
April 1961: Soviets put 1st man in space & orbits earth
1st satellite in orbit too: Sputnik
Less than year later, U.S. responds with orbit of Earth: John Glenn
Soviet leader says them beating us shows communist superiority

9. Kennedy’s Response US will put a man on the moon
“This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single project …will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space…But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon…it will be an entire nation.”
- May 25, 1961
Kennedy’s Response
US will put a man on the moon
Funding for unmanned space exploration

10. The Warren Court
During Kennedy presidency, a number of Supreme Court rulings shape American society
Earl Warren, is Chief Justice of the Court
Rulings extend individual rights & freedoms:
Free lawyers for poor
Search & seizure at local levels
Religious freedom/sep. of church & state
State district voting lines

11. The Kennedy Assassination
As 1964 neared, JFK is thinking about his re-election
Trying to build Southern support, he travels to Dallas, TX in November of 1963
He road through the city in an open motorcade.

12. Zapruder Film

13. Aftermath Kennedy was fatally wounded LBJ sworn in hours later
Shocks the nation & the world
Many will remember that moment for years.
Lee Harvey Oswald arrested within hours
Shot 2 days later by Jack Ruby

14. “The legacy of hope died with him
“The legacy of hope died with him. You never had that same sense again that we were moving forward.”
Helen Thomas: White House Press Correspondent

15. Warren Report Chief Justice Warren appointed to investigate
Concluded no conspiracy; lone gunman
Great efforts to build a lasting legacy for JFK
Funeral; Burial at Arlington
Kennedy had built better relations with Soviets and established the Peace Corps
A program that trained and sent volunteers to poor nations to serve as educators, health care workers, agricultural advisors and other jobs.
Much work still to be done at home but now up to LBJ.