The New Frontier

“Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country.”

~ John F. Kennedy

Early Years

• Born and raised in Massachusetts

• Son of Joe Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald

Irish Catholic

• So what?

Health Problems

• Digestive Problems

• Back Problems

• Skinny

Doesn’t live up to Joe Jr.

After Harvard JFK Joins the Navy• Rejected from Army because of

back problems• Hero in the Solomon Islands

– Rammed by a Japanese Ship– JFK personally rescues 3 men– Receives Navy & Marine Corp. Medal

Early Political Career

• 1946 – House of Rep.

• 1952 – Senator

• 1953 – Marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier

Election of 1960

• Nixon - Kennedy

• A new kind of campaign

• TV

Kennedy 34,220,984 - 49.7%Nixon 34,108,157 – 49.5%

Kennedy frequently appears on television.

1st family fascinates public

• Examples:• Kennedy reads 1600

wpm• Thousands enroll in

speed reading• Millions copy Jackie’s

hairstyle

Stimulating the Economy

• Cut taxes• Deficit spending

Dept. of Defense receives a 20% budget increase

Dept. of Defense receives a 20% budget increase

• Nuclear missiles• Nuclear submarines• Expansion of armed

services

• Nuclear missiles• Nuclear submarines• Expansion of armed

services

Race to the moon

• 1961 Soviets orbit the earth

• 1962 US orbits earth • 1962 TELSTAR (US)

launched – Television satellite

• July 20 1969 – Neil Armstrong walks on the moon

Bay of Pigs

• Castro takes control of Cuba 1959

• Castro allies w/ Soviets• Eisenhower trains

Cuban refugees to fight• Kennedy approves

attack• Disaster• Increases tension

Berlin WallBerlin Wall• Khrushchev wants Western powers out of

Berlin

• Build the wall in 1961

• Keep East Berliners out of West Berlin

• Khrushchev wants Western powers out of Berlin

• Build the wall in 1961

• Keep East Berliners out of West Berlin

Cuban Missile Crisis

• Soviet missiles in Cuba

Cuban Missile Crisis Cont.Terms

• Soviets remove missiles from Cuba

• U.S. promises not to invade Cuba

• U.S. privately agrees to remove missiles from Turkey

Entertainment During JFK Era• Marilyn Monroe

• Alfred Hitchcock

• West Side Story

• Mary Poppins

• Frankie & Annette

Tragedy in Dallas• 60% approval rating• Dallas, typically conservative

Lee Harvey Oswald

• 24 years old

• Ex-marine

• Briefly lived in USSR

• Returned to US

• Supported Castro

• 24 years old

• Ex-marine

• Briefly lived in USSR

• Returned to US

• Supported Castro

November 22nd 1963

• Oswald transferred from one jail to another

• Shot by Jack Ruby• “Murder without

Malice” (Manslaughter)

• 5 Years

election of 1960.asf

Unanswered Questions

• Chief Justice Earl Warren investigates

• Warren Commission• Conclude Oswald

acted alone

• 1979 – Reinvestigated• probably Oswald • maybe a 2nd shooter• but in conspiracy with unknown people

Kennedy - Lincoln Similarities

• Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

• Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

• The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.

• Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

• Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.

• Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln

• Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

• Both were shot in the head.

• Both were assassinated by Southerners.

• Both were succeeded by Southerners.

• Both successors were named Johnson.

• Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.

• Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

• Both assassins were known by their three names.

• Both names are comprised of fifteen letters

• John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839.

• Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939.

• Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.

• Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

• Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.