The American Presidents and Western Traditions

1. John F. Kennedy
The American Presidents and
Western Tradition
Max Willman
6/29/16

2. 35th President of
the United
States
January 20, 1961 – November
22, 1963
Vice President: Lyndon B.
Johnson
Preceded by: Dwight D.
Eisenhower
Succeeded by: Lyndon B.
Johnson

3. Presidency (1961-1963)
- Confidence in his
administration to have
an impact in both
domestic policy and
foreign affairs.
- Faced adversity when
managing political
realities at home and
abroad
- “Domestic policy can
only defeat us; foreign
policy can kill us.”

4. Foreign Policy
- Dominated by American confrontations
with Soviet Union
- When the USSR announced its intention
to sign a treaty with East Berlin, Kennedy
felt he needed to prepare for nuclear war
- Cuba and the Bay of Pigs Invasion
- April 17th, 1961
- Plan to overthrown the Fidel Castro
regime in Cuba
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- October 14th, 1962
- Information was received that
intermediate-range ballistic missile sites
were being built in Cuba

5. Domestic Policy
- The “New Frontier”
- Federal funding for eductaion, medical care
for the elderly, economic aid to rural areas,
and government intervention to halt the
recession
- End racial discrimination
- Civil Rights
- Supported racial integration and civil rights
- In his first State of the Union Address in
January of 1961, he said, “The denial of
constitutional rights to some of our fellow
Americans on account of race - at the ballot
box and elsewhere - disturbs the national
conscience, and subjects us to the charge of
world opinion that our democracy is not
equal to the high promise of our heritage."
- Economy
- Loosened monetary policies to keep interest
rates down
- GDP expanded by an average of 5.5% from
1961-1963

6. Inaugural Address
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=P1PbQlVMp98
- January 20th, 1961
- Washington, D.C.
- Urges American citizens to partake in
public service
- “Ask not what your country can do for
you, but what you can do for your
country.”

7. Relationship with
Eisenhower
- Initially, there was a bit of hostility and
lack of respect between Eisenhower and
JFK. Eisenhower believed he was too
young to be taken serious as a
presidential candidate. Eisenhower felt it
was his own greatest defeat when
Kennedy won the 1960 election.
- Kennedy had already made an effort with
his other predecessors, Truman and
Hoover, and were on good terms with
them. It took some time, but eventually
he gained the respect from Eisenhower
and he supported Kennedy in the
blacklash that would come from the
invasion of the Bay of Pigs

8. Works Cited
"1961-01-20 Inaugural Address." Inaugural Address, 20 January 1961.
N.p., n.d. Web. 29 June 2016.
Driscoll, Molly, and Monitor Contributor. "'The Presidents' Club': 10
Stories about Relationships between American Presidents." The
Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Apr.
2012. Web. 29 June 2016.
"Miller Center." John F. Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower-. N.p., n.d.
Web. 29 June 2016.
United States. National Park Service. "President Eisenhower's Top 5
Most Disliked Contemporaries." National Parks Service. U.S.
Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 29 June 2016.