John F. Kennedy

====Economy====
{{See also|Recession of 1960–1961|Kennedy Slide of 1962}}
[[File:JFK delivers State of the Union Address, 14 January 1963.jpg|thumb|President Kennedy delivers his State of the Union Address; {{ca|January 14, 1963}}.]]
Kennedy ended a period of tight fiscal policies, loosening monetary policy to keep [[interest rate]]s down and to encourage growth of the economy.{{sfn|Frum|2000|p=293}} He presided over the first government budget to top the $100&nbsp;billion mark, in 1962, and his first budget in 1961 resulted in the nation's first non-war, non-recession [[Government budget deficit|deficit]].{{sfn|Frum|2000|p=324}} The economy, which had been through two recessions in three years and was in one when Kennedy took office, accelerated notably throughout his administration. Despite low [[inflation]] and interest rates, the [[GDP]] had grown by an average of only 2.2% per annum during the Eisenhower administration (scarcely more than population growth at the time), and it had declined by 1% during Eisenhower's last twelve months in office.<ref name="Bureau of Economic Analysis">{{cite web | url = https://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=6&ViewSeries=NO&Java=no&Request3Place=N&3Place=N&FromView=YES&Freq=Qtr&FirstYear=1953&LastYear=1964&3Place=N&Update=Update&JavaBox=no | title = BEA: Quarterly GDP figures by sector, 1953–1964 | publisher = United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis | access-date = February 23, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120306070717/http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=6&ViewSeries=NO&Java=no&Request3Place=N&3Place=N&FromView=YES&Freq=Qtr&FirstYear=1953&LastYear=1964&3Place=N&Update=Update&JavaBox=no | archive-date = March 6, 2012 | url-status=dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref>

The economy turned around and prospered during Kennedy's presidency. The GDP expanded by an average of 5.5% from early 1961 to late 1963,<ref name="Bureau of Economic Analysis" /> while inflation remained steady at around 1% and unemployment eased.<ref name="GDP 1913 to 2002">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/statab/hist/HS-36.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050511134314/http://www.census.gov/statab/hist/HS-36.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 11, 2005 |title=Consumer and Gross Domestic Price Indices: 1913 to 2002 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |year=2003 |access-date=February 23, 2012 }}</ref> Industrial production rose by 15% and motor vehicle sales increased by 40%.<ref name="Statistical Abstract 1964">{{cite web | url = http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1964-01.pdf | title = Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1964 | publisher = U.S. Department of Commerce | date = July 1964 | access-date = March 28, 2010 | archive-date = May 17, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200517120228/https://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1964-01.pdf?sec_ak_reference=18.1860fea5.1589716948.d31603e | url-status = live }}</ref> This sustained rate of growth in GDP and industry continued until around 1969.<ref name="Bureau of Economic Analysis" />

Kennedy was proud that his Labor Department helped keep wages steady in the steel industry, but was outraged in April 1962 when [[Roger Blough]], the president of [[U.S. Steel]], quietly informed Kennedy that his company would raise prices.{{sfn|Parmet|1983|p=238}} In response, Attorney General Robert Kennedy began a [[price-fixing]] investigation against U.S. Steel, and President Kennedy convinced other steel companies to rescind their price increases until finally even U.S. Steel, isolated and in danger of being undersold, agreed to rescind its own price increase.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=130–134}} An editorial in ''The New York Times'' praised Kennedy's actions and stated that the steel industry's price increase "imperil[ed] the economic welfare of the country by inviting a tidal wave of inflation."<ref name="NY Times 1962">{{cite news | title = Inflation in Steel | date = April 12, 1962 | work = [[The New York Times]] | url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00615FD3F5C117B93C0A8178FD85F468685F9 | access-date = February 24, 2012 | archive-date = March 31, 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240331040143/https://www.nytimes.com/1962/04/12/archives/inflation-in-steel.html | url-status = live }}</ref> Nevertheless, the administration's Bureau of Budget reported the price increase would have caused a net gain for the GDP as well as a net budget surplus.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=300}} The stock market, which had steadily declined since Kennedy's election in 1960, dropped 10% shortly after the administration's action on the steel industry took place.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=318–320}}