1.2- success of New frontier Flashcards
(39 cards)
Reasons for limitation
1- Lacked a strong mandate from the electorate : his margin of victory over Nixon had been one of the smallest ever in a presidential election
2- Major problems in winning support in the US congress for his reforms and many of the ‘high priority aspects of the new frontier such as tax reform, federal aid to schools, and health insurance died in congressional committees
3- Republican opposition - Helped block many of his proposals which were either rejected , watered-down or were extensions of other existing programmes
What were some of Kennedys most important successes passed by and what were they?
CEEO and peace corps passed by Presidential executive order rather than congress
After Kennedy’s death who implemented many of the stalled proposals?
Lyndon Johnson thanks to his political skill and large Democrat majorities in both houses of congress
5 legislations under Major legislative initiatives Policy area 1
Medicare School assistance bill Department of Urban affairs Civil rights legislation Tax reform
What was Medicare?
JFK’s planned to increase social security taxes by 0/25% to help pay for Medicare for poor and elderly
Did the medicare act go as planned?
The house ways and means committee,
Chairman Wilbur mills a southern democrat
killed of the measure by not discussing it enough in 1963
What was the school assistance bill? and when?
how much did JFK ask for?
FEB 1961
improve education
asked for 2.3 billion over 3 years to help make new schools and raise salaries for teachers
The positive result of the school assistance bill? and why was it limited
Able to get the higher educational facilities to act passed in 1963, which gave $145 million in grants for graduate schools in sciences , languages, and engineering
Ultimately limited
- Roman Catholic bishops opposed
- excluded church-run schools
- defeated in the house of representatives
What was the department of urban affairs? and how did it fail?
aimed to halt the urban decline
repeatedly rejected in congress during 1961-62
What was the civil rights legislation and how did it fail?
-end jim crow laws in south
- stuck in congress at the time of Kennedy’s death in November 1963
- Howard smith a democrat and pro-segregationist form Virginia, indicated his intention to keep the bill bottled up
What was Tax reform and why did it fail?
- proposed tax cuts to stimulate the economy and encourage further consumer spending
- AUG 1963, the house ways and means committee voted a tax bill out of committee
Legislation under policy area 2 ? and why was it the key topic of debate? and what was done under Kennedy’s gov?
Environmentalism
1963- Udall’s book ‘Quiet Crisis’ warned of the danger of pollution and threats to USA’s resources = legitimized environmental concerns
Udall got 3.85 million acres of land for the national park service
and was responsible for 6 national monuments and 20 historical sites
left a legacy = establishment of national parks that are still protected by government
Legislation under policy area 3
Peace corps
send Americans in 46 developing countries
w 5000 volunteers
prevent communism
improved international US image
legislation under policy area 4
space program
Further, develop NASA
JFK requested $7 -9 billion for the programme over the next 5 years
stimulated further research and development
58% of Americans supported this programme
legislation under policy area 5
civil rights
legislation under policy area 6
social justice
When was Kennedy able to increase the minimum wage for low-paid workers? and by how much?
May 1961
$1 an hour to $2
How many people did the increase in minimum wage cover?
3.6 million
Importance of Carl Vinson in minimum wage?
Ensured certain groups of workers were excluded
Who did not (JOB) benefit from the increase in the minimum wage? and how many?
350,000 poorly paid workers, including 150,000 laundry workers work worked in hospitals schools, and other large institutions
What race were most low-skilled low-paid workers?
Black Americans
What act successfully provided job training for poorly educated?
Development and training act 1962
How many states applied for funding under the Development and training act? how many trainees ?
40 states
12,500 trainees on 351 approved programs
Failure of Development and training act 1962
little impact on unemployment as it mainly subsidized officials and private interests who provided the training rather than greatly decreasing the number of unemployed
