John F. Kennedy Essay

Defeating the popular Richard Nixon in a presidential election is a difficult feat, but if anyone could do it, it would be John F. Kennedy. Kennedy won the presidential election in 1960 and became a popular idol in America. People loved him because of his youth, handsome looks, charisma, heroic achievements in the war, and his fashionable wife Jackie. Aside from these reasons, people admired him for his overall successful domestic and foreign policies. Though he was only in office for a short time, John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier policies and leadership in foreign affairs prove that he was a truly successful president. Kennedy’s New Frontier domestic policies revived a meaning of national purpose and energy in the United States. He was largely very successful in his domestic policies, which included an increase in minimum wage and an expanded Social Security. He also improved funding for public housing and education. His Man Power Restraining Act trained the unemployed, and the Area Redevelopment Act provided funds for depressed Appalachia. Kennedy’s most innovative and influential program was the creation of the Peace Corps, in which thousands of young people went for two years to underdeveloped countries to provide assistance in education, health-care, and agriculture. This program provided young people with opportunities to help the underprivileged. Kennedy also revived the issue of women’s rights. He created the Presidential Commission on Status of Women, headed by Eleanor Roosevelt. It focused on the discrimination felt by women, and it supported day-care programs and education of women. These social domestic policies improved the lives of many Americans and contributed to the successful presidency of John F. Kennedy. Kennedy’s New Frontier also consisted of economic policies. He lowered business taxes and increased foreign trade by lowering U.S. tariffs. Kennedy also intervened in the steel industry to prevent inflation. Furthermore, he expanded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and promised to have an American on the moon by the end of the decade, which there was. Kennedy’s most ongoing achievement was his increase of the executive branch. He gave his White House aids more decision-making power instead of giving it to his cabinet, which in turn gave him more authority. Another reason his presidency was successful is because he surrounded himself with “the best and the brightest,” as he called his aids. His usage of a small group of loyal aids is still used by presidents today, though maybe less skillfully. Kennedy’s success as a president also included his foreign policy,

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