The Kennedy Administration

A Roman Catholic of Irish descent, John F. Kennedy (JFK) was born on May 29, 1917. He joined the Navy in 1943, after graduating from Harvard, and he came back from World War II to pursue a career in politics. He was first Democratic Congressman and later a Senator of Massachusetts before he ran for President in the election of 1960. His victory over Republican candidate is largely credited to his superior performance in televised presidential debates. Kennedy appealed to Americans because he presented a young, fresh face to national politics.

In office, JFK his wife, Jacqueline, and his children ushered the White House into a new era, termed the “Camelot Years” for its vibrancy. The first family invited prominent writers, artists, and scientists to the White House, and JFK filled his cabinet with “the best and the brightest”. He even filled the Attorney General position with his brother, Robert Kennedy, whose relationship to the president added to his power.

JFK’s military policy revolved around the theory of “flexible response,” which involved preparing for a non-nuclear war as opposed to practicing brinkmanship. Unfortunately, Kennedy inherited poor relations between the US and communist Cuba, which had become increasingly strained during the Eisenhower administration. Kennedy authorized an invasion of Cuba which had been planned by Eisenhower and involved Cuban exiles to land in the Bay of Pigs and to spur a counterrevolutionary movement in Cuba in the hopes of overthrowing Castro. This operation, however, went horribly wrong, and it gave JFK and the entire country a bad public image. Later, when the administration learned that USSR’s Khrushchev was sending nuclear missiles to Cuba, Kennedy prepared for a quarantine and possible invasion of Cuba. With the world on the brink of nuclear war, Khrushchev and Kennedy worked out an agreement: Kennedy would not invade Cuba if Khrushchev would not send Cuba missiles.

As a policymaker, JFK was a supporter of civil rights. Among his domestic accomplishments were the creation of the Peace Corp, the foundation of the Alliance for Progress, increased funding for defense, an increase in the minimum wage, and a boost in the economy through deficit spending. However, some of his domestic reform ideas, which included civil rights legislation, space exploration, and scientific programs, encountered some resistance in Congress. Nonetheless, his goal of putting a man on the moon was eventually achieved, though he would never live to see it happen. On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. The assassin, later found to be Lee Harvey Oswald, shot the president while he was driving in his presidential convertible car, and led the country into a new age under the leadership of Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson.