John F. Kennedy

====New Frontier====
{{main|New Frontier}}
[[File:Bill Signing- Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962. President Kennedy, Secretary of Labor Arthur Goldberg... - NARA - 194205.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Kennedy signing the [[New Frontier#Unemployment|Manpower Development and Training Act]], March 15, 1962]]

Kennedy called his domestic proposals the "[[New Frontier]]".{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=63–65}} However, Kennedy's small margin of victory in the 1960 election, his lack of deep connections to influential members of Congress, and his administration's focus on foreign policy hindered the passage of New Frontier policies.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=40–41, 100}} 

In 1961, Kennedy prioritized passing five bills: federal assistance for education, medical insurance for the elderly, housing legislation, federal aid to struggling areas, and an increase in the federal minimum wage.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|p=99}} Kennedy's bill to increase the [[minimum wage in the United States|federal minimum wage]] to $1.25 an hour passed in early 1961, but an amendment inserted by conservative leader from Georgia, [[Carl Vinson]], exempted laundry workers from the law.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=102–103}} Kennedy also won passage of the [[Area Redevelopment Administration|Area Redevelopment Act]] and the Housing Act of 1961. The Area Redevelopment Act, a $394 million program, provided federal funding to economically struggling regions (primarily in [[Appalachia]]), while the Housing Act of 1961 provided funds for [[urban renewal]] and [[public housing]] and authorized federal [[mortgage loans]] to those who did not qualify for public housing.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=105–106}} Kennedy proposed a bill providing for $2.3 billion in federal educational aid to the states, with more money going to states with lower [[per capita income]]. Though the Senate passed the education bill, it was defeated in the House by a coalition of Republicans, Southern Democrats, and Catholics.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=103–104}} Kennedy's health insurance bill, which would have paid for hospitalization and nursing costs for the elderly, failed to pass either house of Congress.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=104–105}} A bill that would have established the [[Department of Housing and Urban Development|Department of Urban Affairs and Housing]] was also defeated.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=106–107}}

In 1962, Kennedy won approval of the [[Manpower Development and Training Act]], a three-year program aimed at retraining workers displaced by new technology. Its impact on [[structural unemployment]], however, was minimal.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=105–106}} At the urging of his sister [[Eunice Kennedy Shriver|Eunice]], Kennedy made [[intellectual disabilities]] a priority for his administration. In 1963, Congress passed the [[Community Mental Health Act]], which provided funding to local mental health community centers and research facilities.<ref>{{cite web |title=John F. Kennedy and People with Intellectual Disabilities |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/john-f-kennedy-and-people-with-intellectual-disabilities |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121030950/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/john-f-kennedy-and-people-with-intellectual-disabilities |url-status=live }}{{PD-notice}}</ref>

Trade policy included both domestic and foreign policy. The 1962 [[Trade Expansion Act]] passed Congress by wide majorities. It authorized the president to negotiate tariff reductions on a reciprocal basis of up to 50 percent with the [[European Common Market]].{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=107–109}} The legislation paved the way for the [[Kennedy Round]] of [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]] negotiations, concluding on June 30, 1967, the last day before expiration of the Act.<ref>{{cite journal|first=John B.|last=Rehm|jstor=2196880|title=Developments in the law and institutions of international economic relations: the Kennedy Round of Trade Negotiations|journal=[[The American Journal of International Law]]|publisher=[[American Society of International Law]]|volume=62|issue=2|date=April 1968|pages=403–434|doi=10.2307/2196880}}</ref>