The New Frontier “Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your...

The New Frontier

“Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country.”

~ John F. Kennedy

Early Years

• Born and raised in Massachusetts

• Son of Joe Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald

Irish Catholic

• So what?

Health Problems

• Digestive Problems

• Back Problems

• Skinny

Doesn’t live up to Joe Jr.

After Harvard JFK Joins the Navy• Rejected from Army because of

back problems• Hero in the Solomon Islands

– Rammed by a Japanese Ship– JFK personally rescues 3 men– Receives Navy & Marine Corp. Medal

Early Political Career

• 1946 – House of Rep.

• 1952 – Senator

• 1953 – Marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier

Election of 1960

• Nixon - Kennedy

• A new kind of campaign

• TV

Kennedy 34,220,984 - 49.7%Nixon 34,108,157 – 49.5%

Kennedy frequently appears on television.

1st family fascinates public

• Examples:• Kennedy reads 1600

wpm• Thousands enroll in

speed reading• Millions copy Jackie’s

hairstyle

Stimulating the Economy

• Cut taxes• Deficit spending

Dept. of Defense receives a 20% budget increase

Dept. of Defense receives a 20% budget increase

• Nuclear missiles• Nuclear submarines• Expansion of armed

services

• Nuclear missiles• Nuclear submarines• Expansion of armed

services

Race to the moon

• 1961 Soviets orbit the earth

• 1962 US orbits earth • 1962 TELSTAR (US)

launched – Television satellite

• July 20 1969 – Neil Armstrong walks on the moon

Bay of Pigs

• Castro takes control of Cuba 1959

• Castro allies w/ Soviets• Eisenhower trains

Cuban refugees to fight• Kennedy approves

attack• Disaster• Increases tension

Berlin WallBerlin Wall• Khrushchev wants Western powers out of

Berlin

• Build the wall in 1961

• Keep East Berliners out of West Berlin

• Khrushchev wants Western powers out of Berlin

• Build the wall in 1961

• Keep East Berliners out of West Berlin

Cuban Missile Crisis

• Soviet missiles in Cuba

Cuban Missile Crisis Cont.Terms

• Soviets remove missiles from Cuba

• U.S. promises not to invade Cuba

• U.S. privately agrees to remove missiles from Turkey

Entertainment During JFK Era• Marilyn Monroe

• Alfred Hitchcock

• West Side Story

• Mary Poppins

• Frankie & Annette

Tragedy in Dallas• 60% approval rating• Dallas, typically conservative

Lee Harvey Oswald

• 24 years old

• Ex-marine

• Briefly lived in USSR

• Returned to US

• Supported Castro

• 24 years old

• Ex-marine

• Briefly lived in USSR

• Returned to US

• Supported Castro

November 22nd 1963

• Oswald transferred from one jail to another

• Shot by Jack Ruby• “Murder without

Malice” (Manslaughter)

• 5 Years

election of 1960.asf

Unanswered Questions

• Chief Justice Earl Warren investigates

• Warren Commission• Conclude Oswald

acted alone

• 1979 – Reinvestigated• probably Oswald • maybe a 2nd shooter• but in conspiracy with unknown people

Kennedy - Lincoln Similarities

• Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

• Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

• The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.

• Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

• Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.

• Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln

• Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

• Both were shot in the head.

• Both were assassinated by Southerners.

• Both were succeeded by Southerners.

• Both successors were named Johnson.

• Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.

• Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

• Both assassins were known by their three names.

• Both names are comprised of fifteen letters

• John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839.

• Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939.

• Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.

• Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

• Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.