Topic 1 - C4 - Kennedy's New Frontier

Question 1

Who was president JFK?

Answer 1

Wealthy democrat, idealistics, didn’t experience the depression like other presidents did

Question 2

How did govs in the New Deal approach presidency and how did this compare to Eisenhower?

Answer 2

Used excessive gov intervention to alleviate poverty, Eisenhower disliked gov intervention and believed the New Deal made people too dependent on the state but did little to reverse it

Question 3

What did JFK advocate and what did it aim to do?

Answer 3

JFK advocated the New Frontier to meet challenges in science, space, international tensions, ignorance, prejudice, poverty and surplus.

Question 4

What issues did JFK call for legislation on?

Answer 4

• A new department of urban affairs and housing
• Schemes to help the unemployed
• A rise in the minimum wage
• Federal financial aid to education
• Health insurance for the elderly
• Tax cuts to stimulate the economy

Question 5

Why did JFK want a department of urban affairs and housing?

Answer 5

To prevent deterioration of urban areas, 70% of Americans lived in urban areas and JFK wanted adequate housing for them

Question 6

What did the 1961 Area Redevelopment Act do?

Answer 6

Granted $394 mil to extend employment opportunities in states like West Virginia. Created 26,000 jobs and training programmes that benefited 15,000 people

Question 7

What were the downfalls of the 1961 Area Redevelopment Act?

Answer 7

Poorly funded. 5 million remained unemployed across USA. Congress refused the reauthorise the act in 1963.

Question 8

What did the Manpower Development and Training Act (1962) do?

Answer 8

Train and retrain unemployed workers due to technological change - by the end of 1962, 351 programmes were approved to train 12,600 trainees in 40 states. Didn’t really reduce unemployed.

Question 9

What did the Social Security Amendments Act (1961) do?

Answer 9

Expanded benefits for elderly and disabled

Question 10

How did JFK help the poor?

Answer 10

Minimum Wage Act increased minimum wage from $0.25 to $1.25 and covered an extra 3.6 million workers.

Question 11

Who did the Minimum Wage Act fail to cover?

Answer 11

500,000 of the poorest remained uncovered - 150,000 laundry women (many black) because Reps and South Dems refused a 25% raise - didn’t want to help black women

Question 12

What did the Food and Agriculture Act (1961) do?

Answer 12

granted $5 billion for urban renewal, public housing and authorised low interest loans for struggling middle income families.

Question 13

Why was the Food and Agriculture Act not that beneficial?

Answer 13

Congress aimed to get USA out of recession rather than alleviate poverty so the act helped developers, construction unions and democrat candidates for office in the cities rather than the poor.

Question 14

What executive order did JFK pass to help the poor?

Answer 14

Focusing federal funds and construction projects on areas of high unemployment and to the Department of Agriculture to double food distributions to the poor and unemployed

Question 15

What was JFK’s food stamp programme?

Answer 15

Food stamp programme fed 240,000 people at $22 million

Question 16

How did JFK extend Eisenhower’s programmes?

Answer 16

Extended Eisenhower’s free school milk and lunch programmes so 700,000 more children could have hot lunch and 85,000 more schools received fresh milk.

Question 17

What act was rejected in 1961 regarding secondary and elementary school children?

Answer 17

Federal financial aid for elementary and secondary education (rejected 1961)

Question 18

What act was rejected in 1963 regarding the elderly?

Answer 18

Senior citizen healthcare to alleviate poverty as elderly suffered from medical bills (rejected 1963)

Question 19

What act was rejected in 1961 and 1962?

Answer 19

Department of Urban Affairs and Housing to coordinate programs to halt urban decline

Question 20

What act was rejected in 1963 concerning Jim Crow Laws?

Answer 20

Civil rights bill to end Jim Crow Laws in the South

Question 21

What economic act was rejected in 1963?

Answer 21

Tax cuts to stimulate the economy

Question 22

Why did JFK struggle to get acts through congress?

Answer 22

• Congress dominated by reps and south dems
• Congressmen representing rural areas rejected measures to assist black ghettos and urban areas
• JFK disliked the congressional bargaining in which LBJ excelled
• Invasion of communist Cuba in 1961 confirmed JFK’s belief that national security took priority over social and economic reforms

Question 23

Why was it bad for JFK that congress was dominated by republicans and southern democrats?

Answer 23

They opposed federal expenditure and intervention in education and health insurance

Question 24

What % of Americans agreed with JFK that national security took priority over social and economic reforms?

Answer 24

63% of Americans agreed with JFK

Question 25

Why was the peace corps put in place?

Answer 25

Wanted US to deal with poverty and surplus. Established Peace Corps to help improve impoverished countries in Africa and Asia

Question 26

What was involved in the peace corps?

Answer 26

Young volunteers were sent to poorer nations to help them through teaching and technical aid. 1961-1963 44 countries were visited by volunteers

Question 27

How did people criticise the peace corps?

Answer 27

Cynical critics called it the ‘Kiddie Korps’. JFK Insisted that it wasn’t a form of propaganda or ideological conflict but in private he expressed that he hoped it would counter USSR propaganda that depicted USA as selfish

Question 28

What % of Americans approved of the peace corps?

Answer 28

71% of US approved of the Peace Corps.

Question 29

When did the USSR sent their first satellite into space?

Answer 29

1957 October

Question 30

When did US’s satellite fail and what was it nicknamed?

Answer 30

Nov 1957 - US satellite launch failure made worldwide news ‘Flopnik’

Question 31

What success did the USSR have in 1961 and what failure did the US have in 1961?

Answer 31

April 1961 - USSR Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth.

April 1961 - US supported invasion of Cuba failed

Question 32

How did JFK want to restore faith in his leadership?

Answer 32

Spent $40 billion on moon landing. Eventually in 1969 - first US man landed on the moon.