John F. Kennedy Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Presidency (1961–1963)== {{Main|Presidency of John F. Kennedy}} {{For timeline|Timeline of the John F. Kennedy presidency}} [[File:Jfk inauguration.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[Earl Warren]] administers the [[oath of office of the President of the United States|presidential oath of office]] to Kennedy at [[United States Capitol|the Capitol]], January 20, 1961.]] Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president at noon on January 20, 1961. In [[Inaugural address of John F. Kennedy|his inaugural address]], he spoke of the need for all Americans to be active citizens: "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country." He asked the nations of the world to join to fight what he called the "common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself."<ref name="JFKlibrary.org Inaugural Address">{{cite web|title=Inaugural Address |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations/Inaugural-Address.aspx |date=January 20, 1961 |first=John F. |last=Kennedy |publisher=[[John F. Kennedy Library|John F. Kennedy Presidential Library]] |access-date=February 22, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111193541/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations/Inaugural-Address.aspx |archive-date=January 11, 2012 }}</ref> He added: <blockquote>All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin." In closing, he expanded on his desire for greater internationalism: "Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.<ref name="JFKlibrary.org Inaugural Address"/></blockquote> The address reflected Kennedy's confidence that his administration would chart a historically significant course in both domestic policy and foreign affairs. The contrast between this optimistic vision and the pressures of managing daily political realities would be one of the main tensions of the early years of his administration.{{sfn|Kempe|2011|p=52}} Kennedy scrapped the decision-making structure of Eisenhower,{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=22}} preferring an organizational structure of a wheel with all the spokes leading to the president; he was willing to make the increased number of quick decisions required in such an environment.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=23, 25}} Though the cabinet remained important, Kennedy generally relied more on his staffers within the [[Executive Office of the President of the United States|Executive Office]].{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=31–32, 35}} In spite of concerns over [[nepotism]], Kennedy's father insisted that Robert Kennedy become [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]], and the younger Kennedy became the "assistant president" who advised on all major issues.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bobby Kennedy: Is He the 'Assistant President'?|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/06/05/bobby-kennedy-is-he-the-assistant-president|publisher=U.S. News & World Report|date=February 19, 1962|access-date=January 25, 2024|archive-date=September 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915234045/http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/06/05/bobby-kennedy-is-he-the-assistant-president|url-status=live}}</ref> ===Foreign policy=== {{main|Foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration}} [[File:US President John Kennedy Presidential Trips.PNG|thumb|upright=1.5|Foreign trips of Kennedy during his presidency]] ====Cold War and flexible response==== Kennedy's foreign policy was dominated by American confrontations with the Soviet Union, manifested by proxy contests in the global state of tension known as the [[Cold War]]. Like his predecessors, Kennedy adopted the policy of [[containment]] to stop the spread of communism.{{Sfn|Herring|2008|pp=704–705}} Fearful of the possibility of [[nuclear war]], Kennedy implemented a defense strategy known as [[flexible response]]. This strategy relied on multiple options for responding to the Soviet Union, discouraged [[massive retaliation]], and encouraged [[mutual deterrence]].{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=76–77}}<ref>{{cite web |title=1961–1968: The Presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/foreword |website=U.S. Department of State |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=February 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216105026/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/foreword |url-status=live }}</ref> In contrast to Eisenhower's warning about the perils of the [[military-industrial complex]], Kennedy focused on rearmament. From 1961 to 1964 the number of [[nuclear weapons]] increased by 50 percent, as did the number of [[B-52]] bombers to deliver them.<ref>Stephen G Rabe, "John F. Kennedy" in Timothy J Lynch, ed., "The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History" (2013) 1:610–615.</ref> In January 1961, [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Soviet Premier]] [[Nikita Khrushchev]] declared his support for [[wars of national liberation]]. Kennedy interpreted this step as a direct threat to the "free world."<ref>{{cite book | last = Larres| first = Klaus|author2=Ann Lane|title =The Cold War: the essential readings| publisher = Wiley-Blackwell|year = 2001| page = 103| isbn = 978-0-631-20706-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Schlight |first1=John |title=A War Too Long: The USAF in Southeast Asia 1961-1975 |url=https://media.defense.gov/2010/May/25/2001330271/-1/-1/0/a_war_too_long.pdf |website=U.S. Department of Defense |access-date=27 January 2024 |archive-date=January 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127154428/https://media.defense.gov/2010/May/25/2001330271/-1/-1/0/a_war_too_long.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> ====Decolonization and the Congo Crisis==== [[File:President John F. Kennedy Greets Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula of the Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|President Kennedy with Congolese Prime Minister [[Cyrille Adoula]] in 1962]] Between 1960 and 1963, [[List of sovereign states by date of formation|twenty-four countries]] gained independence as the process of [[decolonization]] continued. Kennedy set out to woo the leaders and people of the "[[Third World]]," expanding economic aid and appointing knowledgeable ambassadors.{{Sfn|Herring|2008|pp=711–712}} His administration established the [[Food for Peace]] program and the [[Peace Corps]] to provide aid to [[developing countries]]. The Food for Peace program became a central element in American foreign policy, and eventually helped many countries to develop their economies and become commercial import customers.<ref>Robert G. Lewis, "What Food Crisis?: Global Hunger and Farmers' Woes." ''World Policy Journal'' 25.1 (2008): 29–35. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40210191 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109103541/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40210191 |date=January 9, 2020 }}</ref> During the election campaign, Kennedy attacked the Eisenhower administration for losing ground on the African continent,<ref>Michael O'Brien, ''John F. Kennedy: A biography'' (2005) pp. 867–68.</ref> and stressed that the U.S. should be on the side of anti-colonialism and self-determination.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |title=John F. Kennedy and African Independence |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/john-f-kennedy-and-african-independence |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112061214/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/john-f-kennedy-and-african-independence |url-status=live }}{{PD-notice}}</ref> Kennedy considered the [[Congo Crisis]] to be among the most important foreign policy issues facing his presidency, and he supported a [[United Nations Operation in the Congo|UN operation]] that prevented the secession of [[State of Katanga|Katanga]].{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=239–242}} [[Moïse Tshombe]], leader of Katanga, declared its independence from the Congo and the Soviet Union responded by sending weapons and technicians to underwrite their struggle.<ref name="auto1"/> On October 2, 1962, Kennedy signed United Nations bond issue bill to ensure U.S. assistance in financing UN peacekeeping operations in the Congo and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |title=Remarks on signing U.N. Loan Bill, 2 October 1962 |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKPOF/040/JFKPOF-040-031 |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119222114/https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKPOF/040/JFKPOF-040-031 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[File:Kennedy greeting Peace Corps volunteers, 1961.jpg|thumb| Kennedy greets [[Peace Corps]] volunteers on August 28, 1961]] ====Peace Corps==== {{main|Peace Corps}} In one of his first presidential acts, Kennedy signed [[Executive Order]] 10924 that officially started the [[Peace Corps]]. He named his brother-in-law, [[Sargent Shriver]], as its first director.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=338–339}} Through this program, Americans volunteered to help developing countries in fields like education, farming, health care, and construction.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Peace Corps: Traveling The World To Live, Work, And Learn |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/education/teachers/curricular-resources/the-peace-corps-traveling-the-world-to-live-work-and-learn |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=31 January 2024 |archive-date=January 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131223635/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/education/teachers/curricular-resources/the-peace-corps-traveling-the-world-to-live-work-and-learn |url-status=live }}</ref> Kennedy believed that countries that received Peace Corps volunteers were less likely to succumb to a communist revolution.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kennedy's Global Challenges |url=https://www.ushistory.org/us/56c.asp |website=U.S. History: From Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium. |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119222120/https://www.ushistory.org/us/56c.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Tanganyika (1961–1964)|Tanganyika]] (present-day [[Tanzania]]) and [[Ghana]] were the first countries to participate.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peace Corps |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/peace-corps |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=January 27, 2024 |archive-date=December 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202085121/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/peace-corps |url-status=live }}</ref> The organization grew to 5,000 members by March 1963 and 10,000 the year after.{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=606–607}} Since 1961, over 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, representing 139 countries.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Meisler | first1 = Stanley | title = When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and Its First Fifty Years | publisher = Beacon Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-8070-5049-1 | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780807050491 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/fast-facts/| title = Peace Corps, Fast Facts | access-date = August 2, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802133017/https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/fast-facts/ | archive-date=August 2, 2016}}</ref> ====Vienna Summit and the Berlin Wall==== {{see also|Vienna summit|Berlin Crisis of 1961}} Kennedy anxiously anticipated a summit with Nikita Khrushchev. The proceedings for the summit got off to a problematic start when Kennedy reacted aggressively to a routine Khrushchev speech on Cold War confrontation in early 1961. The speech was intended for domestic audiences in the Soviet Union, but Kennedy interpreted it as a personal challenge. His mistake helped raise tensions going into the [[Vienna summit]].{{sfn|Kempe|2011|pp=76–78}} The summit would cover several topics, but both leaders knew that the most contentious issue would be [[Berlin]], which had been divided in two with the start of the Cold War. The enclave of [[West Berlin]] lay within Soviet-allied [[East Germany]], but was supported by the U.S. and other Western powers. The Soviets wanted to reunify Berlin under the control of East Germany, partly due to the large number of East Germans who had fled to West Berlin.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=74, 77–78}} [[File:John Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev 1961.jpg|thumb|left|Kennedy meeting with [[Soviet Premier]] [[Nikita Khrushchev]] in [[Vienna]] in June 1961]] On June 4, 1961, Kennedy met with Khrushchev in Vienna and left the meeting angry and disappointed that he had allowed the premier to bully him, despite the warnings he had received. Khrushchev, for his part, was impressed with the president's intelligence but thought him weak. Kennedy did succeed in conveying the bottom line to Khrushchev on the most sensitive issue before them, a proposed treaty between Moscow and [[East Berlin]]. He made it clear that any treaty interfering with U.S. access rights in West Berlin would be regarded as an act of war.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=161–171}} Shortly after Kennedy returned home, the Soviet Union announced its plan to sign a treaty with East Berlin, abrogating any third-party occupation rights in either sector of the city. Kennedy assumed that his only option was to prepare the country for nuclear war, which he thought had a one-in-five chance of occurring.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=175}} In the weeks immediately following the summit, more than 20,000 people [[Republikflucht|fled from East Berlin]] to the western sector, reacting to statements from the Soviet Union. Kennedy began intensive meetings on the Berlin issue, where [[Dean Acheson]] took the lead in recommending a military buildup alongside NATO allies.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=185}} In a July 1961 speech, Kennedy announced his decision to add $3.25 billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|3.25|1961|r=2}} billion in {{Inflation-year|US}}) to the defense budget, along with over 200,000 additional troops, stating that an attack on West Berlin would be taken as an attack on the U.S. The speech received an 85% approval rating.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=201}} A month later, both the Soviet Union and East Berlin began blocking any further passage of East Germans into West Berlin and erected [[barbed-wire]] fences, which were quickly upgraded to the [[Berlin Wall]]. Kennedy acquiesced to the wall, though he sent Vice President Johnson to West Berlin to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the enclave's defense. In the following months, in a sign of rising Cold War tensions, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union ended a moratorium on nuclear weapon testing.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=85–86}} A brief stand-off between U.S. and Soviet tanks occurred at [[Checkpoint Charlie]] in October following a dispute over free movement of Allied personnel. The [[Berlin Crisis of 1961|crisis]] was defused largely through a backchannel communication the Kennedy administration had set up with Soviet spy [[Georgi Bolshakov]].{{sfn|Kempe|2011|pp=[https://archive.org/details/berlin1961kenned0000kemp/page/478 478–479]}} In remarks to his aides on the Berlin Wall, Kennedy noted that "it's not a very nice solution, but a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Updegrove |first1=Mark K. |title=Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency |date=2022 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |page=118}}</ref> ====Bay of Pigs Invasion==== {{main|Bay of Pigs Invasion}} [[File:JFK Brigade 2506 meeting.jpg|thumb|President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy greet members of the [[Brigade 2506|2506 Cuban Invasion Brigade]] at Miami's [[Miami Orange Bowl|Orange Bowl]]; {{ca|December 29, 1962}}.]] The Eisenhower administration had created a plan to overthrow [[Fidel Castro]]'s regime though an invasion of Cuba by a counter-revolutionary insurgency composed of U.S.-trained, anti-Castro [[Cuban exile]]s{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=233, 238}}{{sfn|Gleijeses|1995}} led by [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] paramilitary officers.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=69–73}} Kennedy had campaigned on a hardline stance against Castro, and when presented with the plan that had been developed under the Eisenhower administration, he enthusiastically adopted it regardless of the risk of inflaming tensions with the Soviet Union.<ref name="fiftyyearslater">{{cite news|title=50 Years Later: Learning From The Bay Of Pigs|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/04/17/135444482/50-years-later-learning-from-the-bay-of-pigs|access-date=September 1, 2016|publisher=NPR|date=April 17, 2011|archive-date=November 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101111423/https://www.npr.org/2011/04/17/135444482/50-years-later-learning-from-the-bay-of-pigs|url-status=live}}</ref> Kennedy approved the final invasion plan on April 4, 1961.<ref>Quesada, Alejandro de (2009). ''The Bay of Pigs: Cuba 1961''. Elite series #166. Illustrated by Stephen Walsh. Osprey Publishing. p. 17.</ref> On April 15, 1961, eight CIA-supplied [[Douglas A-26 Invader|B-26]] bombers left Nicaragua to bomb Cuban airfields. The bombers missed many of their targets, leaving most of Castro's air force intact.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Bay of Pigs |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/the-bay-of-pigs |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=February 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223162426/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/the-bay-of-pigs |url-status=live }} {{PD-notice}}</ref> On April 17, the 1,500 U.S.-trained Cuban exile invasion force, known as [[Brigade 2506]], landed at beaches along the [[Bay of Pigs]] and immediately came under heavy fire.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=71, 673}} The goal was to spark a widespread popular uprising against Castro, but no such uprising occurred.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=68–69}} No U.S. air support was provided.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Voss |first1=Michael |title=Bay of Pigs: The 'perfect failure' of Cuba invasion |work=BBC News |date=April 14, 2011 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-13066561 |access-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-date=December 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218143923/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-13066561 |url-status=live }}</ref> The invading force was defeated within two days by the [[Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces]];<ref>{{cite web |title=The Bay of Pigs Invasion and its Aftermath, April 1961–October 1962 |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/bay-of-pigs#:~:text=Launched%20from%20Guatemala%2C%20the%20attack,the%20direct%20command%20of%20Castro. |website=U.S. Department of State |access-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-date=August 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823123217/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/bay-of-pigs#:~:text=Launched%20from%20Guatemala%2C%20the%20attack,the%20direct%20command%20of%20Castro. |url-status=live }}</ref> 114 were killed and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release of the 1,189 survivors.<ref>{{cite web |title=In Echo Park Many Local Cubans Celebrate Death Of Former President Fidel Castro |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/in-echo-park-many-local-cubans-celebrate-death-of-former-president-fidel-castro/ |website=CBS News |date=November 26, 2016 |access-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126173920/https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/in-echo-park-many-local-cubans-celebrate-death-of-former-president-fidel-castro/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After twenty months, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for a ransom of $53 million worth of food and medicine.{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=268–294, 838–839}} The incident made Castro wary of the U.S. and led him to believe that another invasion would take place.<ref>[[Jean Edward Smith]], "Bay of Pigs: The Unanswered Questions", ''The Nation'', April 13, 1964.</ref> Biographer [[Richard Reeves (American writer)|Richard Reeves]] said that Kennedy focused primarily on the political repercussions of the plan rather than military considerations. When it proved unsuccessful, he was convinced that the plan was a setup to make him look bad.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=95–97}} He took responsibility for the failure, saying, "We got a big kick in the leg and we deserved it. But maybe we'll learn something from it."{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=290, 295}} Kennedy's approval ratings climbed afterwards, helped in part by the vocal support given to him by Nixon and Eisenhower.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=370–371}} He appointed Robert Kennedy to help lead a committee to examine the causes of the failure.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hayes|first=Matthew A.|date=2019|title=Robert Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis: A Reassertion of Robert Kennedy's Role as the President's 'Indispensable Partner' in the Successful Resolution of the Crisis|journal=History|language=en|volume=104|issue=361|pages=473–503|doi=10.1111/1468-229X.12815|s2cid=164907501|issn=1468-229X|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10075581/1/Hayes_%20Robert%20Kennedy%20and%20the%20Cuban%20Missile%20Crisis%20Final%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf|access-date=March 31, 2024|archive-date=December 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227173632/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10075581/1/Hayes_%20Robert%20Kennedy%20and%20the%20Cuban%20Missile%20Crisis%20Final%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The Kennedy administration [[United States embargo against Cuba|banned all Cuban imports]] and convinced the [[Organization of American States]] (OAS) to expel Cuba.{{Sfn|Herring|2008|pp=707–708}} ====Operation Mongoose==== In late 1961, the White House formed the Special Group (Augmented), headed by Robert Kennedy and including [[Edward Lansdale]], Secretary [[Robert McNamara]], and others. The group's objective—to overthrow Castro via espionage, sabotage, and other covert tactics—was never pursued.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=264}} In November 1961, he authorized [[Operation Mongoose]].<ref name="eu.usatoday.com">{{cite web |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/30/u-s-planned-261-000-troop-invasion-force-cuba-newly-released-documents-show/813376001/ |title=U.S. planned massive Cuba invasion force, the kidnapping of Cuban officials |work=USA Today |date=October 30, 2017 |access-date=April 15, 2019 |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412004346/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/30/u-s-planned-261-000-troop-invasion-force-cuba-newly-released-documents-show/813376001/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In March 1962, Kennedy rejected [[Operation Northwoods]], proposals for [[false flag]] attacks against American military and civilian targets,<ref name="1962USJCOS">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/1962USJointChiefsOfStaffOperationNorthwoodsUnclassifiedDocument/page/n11|title=1962 US Joint Chiefs Of Staff Operation Northwoods Unclassified Document Bolsheviks NWO|date=1962|website=Internet Archive}}</ref> and blaming them on the Cuban government to gain approval for a war against Cuba. However, the administration continued to plan for an invasion of Cuba in the summer of 1962.<ref name="eu.usatoday.com"/> ====Cuban Missile Crisis==== {{main|Cuban Missile Crisis}} [[File:President Kennedy - signing Cuba Quarantine Proclamation.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|Kennedy signs the [[Cuban Missile Crisis|Proclamation for Interdiction of the Delivery of Offensive Weapons to Cuba]] in the Oval Office; {{ca|October 23, 1962}}.]] In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs invasion, Khrushchev increased economic and military assistance to Cuba.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=203–205}} The Soviet Union planned to allocate in Cuba 49 [[medium-range ballistic missile]]s, 32 [[intermediate-range ballistic missile]]s, 49 light [[Ilyushin Il-28|Il-28]] bombers and about 100 [[Tactical nuclear weapon|tactical nuclear weapons]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Giglio| first =James|author2=Stephen G. Rabe|title =Debating the Kennedy presidency| url = https://archive.org/details/debatingkennedyp00gigl_480| url-access = limited| publisher = Rowman & Littlefield|year = 2003| page = [https://archive.org/details/debatingkennedyp00gigl_480/page/n45 39]| isbn = 978-0-7425-0834-7}}</ref> The Kennedy administration viewed the growing [[Cuba–Soviet Union relations|Cuba-Soviet alliance]] with alarm, fearing that it could eventually pose a threat to the U.S.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=113–114}} On October 14, 1962, CIA [[Lockheed U-2|U-2]] spy planes [[Aerial reconnaissance#Cold War|took photographs]] of the Soviets' construction of intermediate-range ballistic missile sites in Cuba. The photos were shown to Kennedy on October 16; a consensus was reached that the missiles were offensive in nature and posed an immediate nuclear threat.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=345}} Kennedy faced a dilemma: if the U.S. attacked the sites, it might lead to nuclear war with the Soviet Union, but if the U.S. did nothing, it would be faced with the increased threat from close-range nuclear weapons (positioned approximately 90 mi (140 km) away from the Florida coast).<ref>{{cite web |title=President John F. Kennedy - Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 |url=https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/eyewitness/html.php?section=26#:~:text=On%20October%2016%2C%201962%2C%20President,come%20on%20very%20short%20notice. |website=National Archives |access-date=30 January 2024 |archive-date=September 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928100637/https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/eyewitness/html.php?section=26#:~:text=On%20October%2016%2C%201962%2C%20President,come%20on%20very%20short%20notice. |url-status=live }}</ref> The U.S. would also appear to the world as less committed to the defense of the Western Hemisphere. On a personal level, Kennedy needed to show resolve in reaction to Khrushchev, especially after the Vienna summit.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=245}} To deal with the crisis, he formed an ad-hoc body of key advisers, later known as [[EXCOMM]], that met secretly between October 16 and 28.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=207–208}} More than a third of [[U.S. National Security Council]] (NSC) members favored an unannounced air assault on the missile sites, but some saw this as "[[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] in reverse."{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=387}} There was some concern from the international community (asked in confidence) that the assault plan was an overreaction given that Eisenhower had placed [[PGM-19 Jupiter]] missiles in Italy and Turkey in 1958. It also could not be assured that the assault would be 100% effective.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=388}} In concurrence with a majority vote of the NSC, Kennedy decided on a [[naval blockade]] (or "quarantine"). On October 22, after privately informing the cabinet and leading members of Congress about the situation, Kennedy announced the naval blockade on national television and warned that U.S. forces would seize "offensive weapons and associated materiel" that Soviet vessels might attempt to deliver to Cuba.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=389}} [[File:President confers with Attorney General. Attorney General Kennedy, President Kennedy. White House, West Wing Collonade. - NARA - 194239.jpg|thumb|Kennedy confers with Attorney General [[Robert Kennedy]]; {{ca|October 1962}}.]] The U.S. Navy would stop and inspect all Soviet ships arriving off Cuba, beginning October 24. Several Soviet ships approached the blockade line, but they stopped or reversed course.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|p=220}} The OAS gave unanimous support to the removal of the missiles. Kennedy exchanged two sets of letters with Khrushchev, to no avail.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=390}} UN Secretary General [[U Thant]] requested both parties to reverse their decisions and enter a cooling-off period. Khrushchev agreed, but Kennedy did not.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=403}} Kennedy managed to preserve restraint when a Soviet missile unauthorizedly downed a U.S. Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over Cuba, killing pilot [[Rudolf Anderson]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The World on the Brink: John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis |url=https://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct27/ |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-date=November 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124154618/https://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct27/ |url-status=live }}</ref> At the president's direction, Robert Kennedy privately informed Soviet Ambassador [[Anatoly Dobrynin]] that the U.S. would remove the Jupiter missiles from Turkey "within a short time after this crisis was over."{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=225–226}} On October 28, Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the missile sites, subject to UN inspections.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=426}} The U.S. publicly promised never to invade Cuba and privately agreed to remove its Jupiter missiles from Italy and Turkey, which were by then obsolete and had been supplanted by submarines equipped with [[UGM-27 Polaris]] missiles.{{sfn|Kenney|2000|pp=184–186}} In the aftermath, a [[Moscow–Washington hotline]] was established to ensure clear communications between the leaders of the two countries.{{Sfn|Herring|2008|p=723}} This crisis brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any point before or after, but "the humanity" of Khrushchev and Kennedy prevailed.{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=189}} The crisis improved the image of American willpower and the president's credibility. Kennedy's approval rating increased from 66% to 77% immediately thereafter.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=425}} ====Latin America and communism==== {{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy#Latin America}} {{see also|Alliance for Progress}} [[File:Alliance for Progress in Venezuela 1961.jpg|thumb|Kennedy in December 1961 promoting the [[Alliance for Progress]] with Venezuelan President [[Rómulo Betancourt]]]] Believing that "those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable,"<ref>JFK's "Address on the First Anniversary of the Alliance for Progress", White House reception for diplomatic cors of the Latin American republics, March 13, 1962. ''Public Papers of the Presidents'' – John F. Kennedy (1962), p. 223.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/4730892.1962.001|title=John F. Kennedy: 1962 : containing the public messages, speeches, and statements of the president, January 20 to December 31, 1962.|last=Kennedy|first=John F. (John Fitzgerald)|date=2005|access-date=December 29, 2018|archive-date=March 31, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331040145/https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ppotpus;idno=4730892.1962.001|url-status=live}}</ref> Kennedy sought to contain the perceived threat of communism in Latin America by establishing the [[Alliance for Progress]], which sent aid to some countries and sought greater [[human rights]] standards in the region.{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=788, 789}} In response to Kennedy's plea, Congress voted for an initial grant of $500 million in May 1961.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Glass |first1=Andrew |title=JFK proposes an Alliance for Progress for Latin America, March 13, 1961 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/13/jfk-proposes-an-alliance-for-progress-for-latin-america-march-13-1961-1214880 |website=Politico |date=March 13, 2019 |access-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126175004/https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/13/jfk-proposes-an-alliance-for-progress-for-latin-america-march-13-1961-1214880 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Alliance for Progress supported the construction of housing, schools, airports, hospitals, clinics and water-purification projects as well as the distribution of free textbooks to students.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Alliance for Progress |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/alliance-for-progress |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112173320/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/alliance-for-progress |url-status=live }}{{PD-notice}}</ref> However, the program did not meet many of its goals. Massive land reform was not achieved; populations more than kept pace with gains in health and welfare; and according to one study, only 2 percent of economic growth in 1960s Latin America directly benefited the poor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alliance for Progress |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alliance-for-Progress |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118175215/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alliance-for-Progress |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Alliance for Progress and Peace Corps, 1961–1969 |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/alliance-for-progress |website=United States Department of State |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118180616/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/alliance-for-progress |url-status=live }}</ref> U.S. presidents after Kennedy were less supportive of the program and by 1973, the permanent committee established to implement the Alliance was disbanded by the OAS.<ref name="auto"/> The Eisenhower administration, through the CIA, had begun formulating plans to assassinate Castro in Cuba and [[Rafael Trujillo]] in the [[Dominican Republic]]. When Kennedy took office, he privately instructed the CIA that any plan must include [[plausible deniability]] by the U.S. His public position was in opposition.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=140–142}} In June 1961, the Dominican Republic's leader was assassinated; in the days following, Undersecretary of State [[Chester Bowles]] led a cautious reaction by the nation. Robert Kennedy, who saw an opportunity for the U.S., called Bowles "a gutless bastard" to his face.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=152}} ====Laos==== {{see also|Laotian Civil War}} After the election, Eisenhower emphasized to Kennedy that the communist threat in Southeast Asia required priority; Eisenhower considered [[Laos]] to be "the cork in the bottle" in regards to the regional threat.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=75}} In March 1961, Kennedy voiced a change in policy from supporting a "free" Laos to a "neutral" Laos, indicating privately that [[Vietnam]] should be deemed America's tripwire for communism's spread in the area.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=75}} Though he was unwilling to commit U.S. forces to a major military intervention in Laos, Kennedy did approve [[CIA activities in Laos|CIA activities]] designed to defeat Communist insurgents through bombing raids and the recruitment of the [[Hmong people]].{{sfn|Patterson|1996|p=498}} ====Vietnam==== {{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy#Vietnam}} {{see also|Vietnam War}} [[File:Press Conference, State Department Auditorium, JFKWHP-ST-C100-1-61.jpg|thumb|Kennedy speaking in a televised press conference on the situation in Southeast Asia, {{ca|March 23, 1961}}]] During his presidency, Kennedy continued policies that provided political, economic, and military support to the [[South Vietnam]]ese government.{{sfn|Dunnigan|Nofi|1999|p=257}} Vietnam had been divided into a communist North Vietnam and a non-communist South Vietnam after the [[1954 Geneva Conference]], but Kennedy escalated American involvement in Vietnam in 1961 by financing the [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam|South Vietnam army]], increasing the number of U.S. [[military advisors]] above the levels of the Eisenhower administration, and authorizing U.S. helicopter units to provide support to South Vietnamese forces.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=256–261}} On January 18, 1962, Kennedy formally authorized escalated involvement when he signed the National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) – "Subversive Insurgency (War of Liberation)."{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=281}} [[Operation Ranch Hand]], a large-scale aerial defoliation effort using the herbicide [[Agent Orange]], began on the roadsides of South Vietnam to combat [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla defendants]].{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=259}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/agent-orange-cambodia-laos-vietnam/591412/ | title=The U.S.'s Toxic Agent Orange Legacy | publisher=The Atlantic | date=July 20, 2019 | access-date=May 13, 2023 | first=Charles | last=Dunst | archive-date=October 14, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014202833/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/agent-orange-cambodia-laos-vietnam/591412/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Though Kennedy provided support for South Vietnam throughout his tenure, Vietnam remained a secondary issue for the Kennedy administration until 1963.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=256–257}} On September 2, Kennedy declared in an interview with [[Walter Cronkite]] of [[CBS News|CBS]]: <blockquote>In the final analysis, it is their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisers, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam, against the Communists... But I don't agree with those who say we should withdraw. That would be a great mistake... [The United States] made this effort to defend Europe. Now Europe is quite secure. We also have to participate—we may not like it—in the defense of Asia.<ref>{{cite web |title=50. Interview With the President |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v04/d50 |website=U.S. Department of State |access-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112050354/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v04/d50 |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote> Kennedy increasingly soured on the president of South Vietnam, [[Ngo Dinh Diem]], whose violent [[Buddhist crisis|crackdown on Buddhist practices]] galvanized opposition to his leadership. In August 1963, [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]] replaced [[Frederick Nolting]] as the U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam. Days after his arrival in South Vietnam, Lodge reported that several South Vietnamese generals sought the assent of the U.S. government to their plan of removing Diem from power. The Kennedy administration was split regarding not just the removal of Diem, but also their assessment of the military situation and the proper U.S. role in the country. Without the full support of the U.S., General [[Dương Văn Minh]] ("Big Minh") called off the potential coup. On November 1, 1963, a junta of senior military officers [[1963 South Vietnamese coup|executed Diem]] and his influential brother, [[Ngô Đình Nhu]].{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=262–268}} By November 1963, there were 16,000 American military personnel in South Vietnam, up from Eisenhower's 900 advisors;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/conscientiousobjection/OverviewVietnamWar.htm |title=Vietnam War |publisher=Swarthmore College Peace Collection |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803124531/http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/conscientiousobjection/OverviewVietnamWar.htm |archive-date=August 3, 2016 }}</ref> more than one hundred Americans had been killed in action.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-statistics|title=Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics|date=August 15, 2016|website=National Archives|access-date=January 30, 2024|archive-date=May 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526173917/https://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-statistics|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Track the rapid escalation of the Vietnam War under Pres. John F. Kennedy's administration |url=https://www.britannica.com/video/78017/John-F-Kennedy-number-Vietnam-Perspective-military |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=30 January 2024 |archive-date=January 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130021951/https://www.britannica.com/video/78017/John-F-Kennedy-number-Vietnam-Perspective-military |url-status=live }}</ref> In the aftermath of the aborted coup in September 1963, the Kennedy administration reevaluated its policies in South Vietnam. Kennedy rejected the full-scale deployment of ground soldiers but also the total withdrawal of U.S. forces.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=265–266}} Historians disagree on whether the U.S. military presence in Vietnam would have escalated had Kennedy survived and been re-elected in 1964.<ref>{{cite journal | first = Joseph J. | last = Ellis | title = Making Vietnam History | journal = Reviews in American History | volume = 28 | issue = 4 | year = 2000 | pages = 625–629 | doi = 10.1353/rah.2000.0068 | s2cid = 144881388 }}</ref> Fueling the debate are statements made by Secretary of Defense McNamara in the 2003 documentary film ''[[The Fog of War]]'' that Kennedy was strongly considering pulling out of Vietnam after the 1964 election.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1635958_1635999_1634954-5,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628213900/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1635958_1635999_1634954-5,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 28, 2007 | work=Time Magazine | title=Warrior For Peace | date=June 21, 2007 | access-date=March 1, 2012 | first1=David | last1=Talbot}}</ref> Kennedy had signed NSAM 263, dated October 11, which ordered the withdrawal of 1,000 military personnel by the end of the year.<ref name="NSAM 263">{{cite web |url = http://www.jfklancer.com/NSAM263.html |work = JFK Lancer |last = Bundy |first = McGeorge| author-link=McGeorge Bundy |title = National Security Action Memorandum # 263 |date = October 11, 1963 |access-date =February 19, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803124810/http://www.jfklancer.com/NSAM263.html | archive-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref>{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=680}} Such an action would have been a policy reversal, but Kennedy was moving in a less hawkish direction since his acclaimed speech about world peace at [[American University]] on June 10, 1963.<ref name="AmUniv">{{cite web | url=http://www.american.edu/alumni/news/JFK-50th-Anniversary.cfm | title=Marking the 50th Anniversary of JFK's Speech on Campus | publisher=American University | access-date=August 2, 2016 | archive-date=August 19, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819231710/http://www.american.edu/alumni/news/JFK-50th-Anniversary.cfm | url-status=live }}</ref> ====West Berlin speech==== [[File:JFKBerlinSpeech.jpg|thumb|Kennedy delivering his speech in [[West Berlin]]]] In 1963, Germany was enduring a time of particular vulnerability due to Soviet aggression to the east as well as the impending retirement of West German Chancellor [[Adenauer]].{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=534}} At the same time, French President Charles de Gaulle was trying to build a Franco-West German counterweight to the American and Soviet spheres of influence.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=skWRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA96&q=de%2Bgaulle%2Band%2Bgermany%2Beuropean%2Bcounterweight|title=Christian Democracy in Europe Since 19455|isbn=978-1-135-75385-6|last1=Gehler|first1=Michael|last2=Kaiser|first2=Professor of European Studies Wolfram|last3=Kaiser|first3=Wolfram|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724232650/https://books.google.com/books?id=skWRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA96&q=de%2Bgaulle%2Band%2Bgermany%2Beuropean%2Bcounterweight|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4U6yAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA204&q=de%2Bgaulle%2Band%2Bgermany%2Beuropean%2Bcounterweight|title=The Militant Face of Democracy|isbn=978-1-107-03740-3|last1=Geis|first1=Anna|last2=Müller|first2=Harald|last3=Schörnig|first3=Niklas|year=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724232653/https://books.google.com/books?id=4U6yAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA204&q=de%2Bgaulle%2Band%2Bgermany%2Beuropean%2Bcounterweight|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/degaulleworld00kuls|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/degaulleworld00kuls/page/29 29]|quote=de gaulle and germany european counterweight.|title=De Gaulle and the World|publisher=Syracuse University Press|last1=Kulski|first1=W. W|year=1966}}</ref> To Kennedy's eyes, this Franco-German cooperation seemed directed against [[NATO]]'s influence in Europe.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IY3EAo4Tz1wC&pg=PA264&q=de%2Bgaulle%2Bgermany%2Bcounterweight%2Bkennedy|title=Modernity and Power|isbn=978-0-226-58650-2|last1=Ninkovich|first1=Frank|year=1994|publisher=University of Chicago Press|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724232651/https://books.google.com/books?id=IY3EAo4Tz1wC&pg=PA264&q=de+gaulle+germany+counterweight+kennedy|url-status=live}}</ref> To reinforce the U.S. alliance with West Germany, Kennedy travelled to West Germany and West Berlin in June 1963. On June 26, Kennedy toured West Berlin, culminating in a public speech at the city hall in front of hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic Berliners.{{sfn|Daum|2008|pages=125–63}} He reiterated the American commitment to Germany and criticized communism and was met with an ecstatic response from the massive audience.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=624}} Kennedy used the construction of the Berlin Wall as an example of the failures of communism: "Freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect. But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us." The speech is known for its famous phrase ''"[[Ich bin ein Berliner]]"'' ("I am a Berliner").{{sfn|Daum|2008|pages=147–56}} ====Middle East==== {{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy#Middle East}} [[File:Kennedy with Shah of Iran, 1961.jpg|thumb|left|Shah [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] of Iran, Kennedy, and U.S. Defense Secretary [[Robert McNamara]] in the [[Cabinet Room (White House)|White House Cabinet Room]] on April 13, 1962]] Kennedy ended the arms embargo that the Truman and Eisenhower administrations had enforced on [[Israel]] in favor of increased security ties, becoming the founder of the [[Israel–United States military relations|U.S.-Israeli military alliance]]. Describing the protection of Israel as a moral and national commitment, he was the first to introduce the concept of a 'special relationship' between the U.S. and Israel.<ref>{{cite book | title=Balancing Act: US Foreign Policy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict | publisher=Ashgate Publishing | author=Shannon, Vaughn P. | year=2003 | location=Aldershot | page=55 | isbn=0754635910}}</ref> In 1962, the Kennedy administration sold Israel a major weapon system, the [[MIM-23 Hawk|Hawk antiaircraft missile]]. Historians differ as to whether Kennedy pursued security ties with Israel primarily to shore up support with Jewish-American voters, or because of his admiration of the Jewish state.<ref>Zachary K. Goldman, "Ties that bind: John F. Kennedy and the foundations of the American–Israeli alliance: The Cold War and Israel." ''Cold War History'' 9.1 (2009): 23–58, quoting Ben-Zvi on p 25.</ref> In December 1961, [[Abd al-Karim Qasim]]'s Iraqi government passed Public Law 80, which restricted the partially American-controlled [[Iraq Petroleum Company]] (IPC)'s [[concessionary holding]] to those areas in which oil was actually being produced (namely, the fields at [[Az Zubair]] and [[Kirkuk]]), effectively expropriating 99.5% of the IPC concession. British and U.S. officials demanded that the Kennedy administration place pressure on the Qasim regime.<ref>{{cite book|last=Little|first=Douglas|title=American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East Since 1945|publisher=The [[University of North Carolina Press]]|pages=62}}</ref> In April 1962, the State Department issued new guidelines on Iraq that were intended to increase American influence. Meanwhile, Kennedy instructed the CIA—under the direction of [[Archibald Bulloch Roosevelt Jr.]]—to begin making preparations for a military coup against Qasim.{{sfn|Gibson|2015|pp=43–45}} The anti-imperialist and anti-communist [[Iraqi Ba'ath Party]] overthrew and executed Qasim in [[Ramadan Revolution|a violent coup]] on February 8, 1963. Despite persistent rumors that the CIA orchestrated the coup, declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate that there was no direct American involvement.{{sfn|Gibson|2015|pp=45, 57–58}} The Kennedy administration was pleased with the outcome and ultimately approved a $55-million arms deal for Iraq.{{sfn|Gibson|2015|pp=60–61, 80}} ====Ireland==== [[File:President's Trip to Europe- Motorcade in Dublin. President Kennedy, motorcade, spectators. Dublin, Ireland - NARA - 194227.jpg|thumb|Kennedy's motorcade through [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland on June 28, 1963]] During his four-day visit to his ancestral home of Ireland beginning on June 26, 1963,<ref>{{cite web |title=President John F. Kennedy on His Historic Trip to Ireland |url=http://www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?kennedy-ireland-trip |work=Shapell Manuscript Collection |publisher=Shapell Manuscript Foundation |access-date=November 13, 2013 |archive-date=May 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517120227/https://www.shapell.org/manuscript/kennedy-ireland-trip/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Kennedy accepted a grant of [[Achievement (heraldry)|armorial bearings]] from the [[Chief Herald of Ireland]], received honorary degrees from the [[National University of Ireland]] and [[Trinity College Dublin]], attended a State Dinner in Dublin, and was conferred with the freedom of the towns and cities of Wexford, Cork, Dublin, Galway, and Limerick.{{sfn|Sorensen|1966|p=656}}<ref name="homecoming">{{cite web |url=http://jfkhomecoming.com/timeline/introduction/ |title=Timeline |website=JFKhomecoming |date=2013 |access-date=March 31, 2024 |archive-date=November 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111192717/http://jfkhomecoming.com/timeline/introduction/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He visited the cottage at Dunganstown, near [[New Ross]], County Wexford, where his ancestors had lived before emigrating to America.<ref name="BBC 1963">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/27/newsid_4461000/4461115.stm |title=1963: Warm welcome for JFK in Ireland |access-date=February 23, 2012 |work=[[BBC News]] | date=June 27, 1963 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803125829/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/27/newsid_4461000/4461115.stm |archive-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy was the first foreign leader to address the [[Oireachtas|Houses of the Oireachtas]], the Irish parliament.<ref name="homecoming" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/lPAi7jx2s0i7kePPdJnUXA.aspx |title=Address Before the Irish Parliament in Dublin, June 28, 1963 (Text and audio) |website=[[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]] |date=June 28, 1963 |access-date=July 3, 2013 |archive-date=August 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828040037/https://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/lPAi7jx2s0i7kePPdJnUXA.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1722-john-f-kennedy/ |title=President Kennedy in Ireland (Text and video) |work=[[RTÉ]] Archives |access-date=July 3, 2013 |archive-date=September 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920094442/https://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1722-john-f-kennedy/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Kennedy later told aides that the trip was the best four days of his life.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20234703.html |title=The best four days of JFK's life |first=Ray |last=Ryan |date=June 21, 2013 |newspaper=[[Irish Examiner]] |issn=1393-9564 |location=Cork |language=en-ie |access-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-date=January 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127230759/https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20234703.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ====American University speech==== {{Listen | filename = Jfk American University 4654 06-10-63.ogg | title = ''World Peace'' Speech | description = Speech from [[American University]] by John F. Kennedy, June 10, 1963 (duration 26:47) | format = Ogg }} On June 10, 1963, Kennedy, at the high point of his rhetorical powers,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mufson|first1=Steve|title=Obama will echo Kennedy's American University nuclear speech from 1963|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-will-echo-kennedys-american-university-nuclear-speech-from-1963/2015/08/04/b037d0fe-3ab8-11e5-b3ac-8a79bc44e5e2_story.html|access-date=August 6, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 4, 2015|archive-date=August 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805040413/http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-will-echo-kennedys-american-university-nuclear-speech-from-1963/2015/08/04/b037d0fe-3ab8-11e5-b3ac-8a79bc44e5e2_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> delivered the [[American University speech|commencement address at American University]]. Also known as "A Strategy of Peace", not only did Kennedy outline a plan to curb nuclear arms, but he also "laid out a hopeful, yet realistic route for world peace at a time when the U.S. and Soviet Union faced the potential for an escalating [[nuclear arms race]]."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wang|first1=Joy Y.|title=Obama to follow in John F. Kennedy's historic footsteps|url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-follow-john-f-kennedy-historic-footsteps|agency=MSNBC|access-date=August 6, 2015|date=August 4, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803125334/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-follow-john-f-kennedy-historic-footsteps | archive-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy also announced that the Soviets had expressed a desire to negotiate a nuclear test ban treaty, and that the U.S. had postponed planned atmospheric tests.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=514}} ====Nuclear Test Ban Treaty==== {{main|Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty}} [[File:President Kennedy signs Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, 07 October 1963.jpg|thumb|left|Kennedy signs the [[Partial Test Ban Treaty]], a major milestone in early [[nuclear disarmament]], on October 7, 1963.]] Troubled by the long-term dangers of [[radioactive contamination]] and [[nuclear proliferation]], Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed to negotiate a nuclear test ban treaty, originally conceived in Adlai Stevenson's 1956 presidential campaign.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=552}} In their Vienna summit meeting in June 1961, Khrushchev and Kennedy reached an informal understanding against nuclear testing, but the Soviet Union began testing nuclear weapons that September. In response, the United States conducted tests five days later.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=227}} Shortly afterwards, new U.S. satellites began delivering images that made it clear that the Soviets were substantially behind the U.S. in the arms race.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=229}} Nevertheless, the greater nuclear strength of the U.S. was of little value as long as the Soviet Union perceived itself to be at parity.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=243}} In July 1963, Kennedy sent [[W. Averell Harriman]] to Moscow to negotiate a treaty with the Soviets.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=542}} The introductory sessions included Khrushchev, who later delegated Soviet representation to [[Andrei Gromyko]]. It quickly became clear that a comprehensive test ban would not be implemented, due largely to the reluctance of the Soviets to allow inspections to verify compliance.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=548}} Ultimately, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union were the initial signatories to a limited treaty, which prohibited atomic testing on the ground, in the atmosphere, or underwater, but not underground. The U.S. Senate approved the treaty on September 23, 1963, and Kennedy signed it on October 7, 1963.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nuclear Test Ban Treaty |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/nuclear-test-ban-treaty |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=July 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719110611/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/nuclear-test-ban-treaty |url-status=live }} {{PD-notice}}</ref> France was quick to declare that it was free to continue developing and testing its nuclear defenses.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=550}} ===Domestic policy=== ====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> ====Taxes==== {{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy#Taxes and the Treasury}} [[Walter Heller]], who served as the chairman of the CEA, advocated for a [[Keynesian economics|Keynesian]]-style tax cut designed to help spur economic growth, and Kennedy adopted this policy.{{sfn|Patterson|1996|pp=464–465}} The idea was that a tax cut would stimulate consumer demand, which in turn would lead to higher economic growth, lower unemployment, and increased federal revenues.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|p=125}} To the disappointment of liberals like [[John Kenneth Galbraith]], Kennedy's embrace of the tax cut shifted his administration's focus away from the proposed old-age health insurance program and other domestic expenditures.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=136–137}} In January 1963, Kennedy proposed a tax cut that would reduce the top marginal tax rate from 91 to 65 percent, and lower the corporate tax rate from 52 to 47 percent. The predictions according to the Keynesian model indicated the cuts would decrease income taxes by about $10 billion and corporate taxes by about $3.5 billion. The plan included reforms designed to reduce the impact of [[itemized deduction]]s, as well as provisions to help the elderly and handicapped. Republicans and many Southern Democrats opposed the bill, calling for simultaneous reductions in expenditures, but debate continued throughout 1963.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=139–141}} Three months after Kennedy died, Johnson pushed the plan through Congress. The [[Revenue Act of 1964]] lowered the top individual rate to 70 percent, and the top corporate rate to 48 percent.<ref>{{cite book |title=Why Budgets Matter: Budget Policy and American Politics |last=Ippolito |first=Dennis |year=2004 |publisher=Penn State Press |pages=173–175|isbn=0-271-02260-4}}</ref> ====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 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}} ====Civil rights movement==== {{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy#Civil rights}} {{see also|Civil rights movement}} [[File:Thurgood Marshall 1957-09-17.jpg|thumb|upright|In May 1961, Kennedy appointed [[Thurgood Marshall]] to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|U.S. Court of Appeals]].]] Kennedy verbally supported [[civil rights]] during his 1960 presidential campaign; he telephoned [[Coretta Scott King]], wife of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], who had been jailed while trying to integrate a department store lunch counter. Robert Kennedy called Georgia Governor [[Ernest Vandiver]] and obtained King's release from prison, which drew additional Black support to his brother's candidacy.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=292–293}} Recognizing that conservative Southern Democrats could block legislation, Kennedy did not introduce civil rights legislation on taking office.{{sfn|Brauer|2002|p=487}} He needed their support to pass his economic and foreign policy agendas, and to support his reelection in 1964.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Kennedys and the Civil Rights Movement |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-kennedys-and-civil-rights.htm |website=National Park Service |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=June 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624125056/http://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-kennedys-and-civil-rights.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Kennedy did appoint many Blacks to office, including civil rights attorney [[Thurgood Marshall]] to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|U.S. Court of Appeals]].{{sfn|Brauer|2002|p=490}} Kennedy believed the grassroots movement for civil rights would anger many Southern Whites and make it more difficult to pass civil rights laws in Congress, and he distanced himself from it.{{sfn|Bryant|2006a|pp=60, 66}} As articulated by Robert Kennedy, the administration's early priority was to "keep the president out of this civil rights mess."{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=126}} Civil rights movement participants, mainly those on the front line in the South, viewed Kennedy as lukewarm,{{sfn|Brauer|2002|p=490}} especially concerning the [[Freedom Riders]]. In May 1961, the [[Congress of Racial Equality]], led by [[James Farmer]], organized integrated Freedom Rides to test a Supreme Court case ruling that declared segregation on interstate transportation illegal.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Modern Civil Rights Movement and The Kennedy Administration |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/civil-rights-movement#:~:text=Kennedy%20defined%20the%20civil%20rights,of%20the%20right%20to%20vote. |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=December 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214123155/http://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/civil-rights-movement#:~:text=Kennedy%20defined%20the%20civil%20rights,of%20the%20right%20to%20vote. |url-status=live }}{{PD-notice}}</ref> The Riders were repeatedly met with mob violence, including by federal and state law enforcement officers.{{sfn|Brauer|2002|p=490}} Kennedy assigned [[federal marshal]]s to protect the Riders rather than using federal troops or uncooperative FBI agents.{{sfn|Brauer|2002|p=490}} Kennedy feared sending federal troops would stir up "hated memories of [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]]" among conservative Southern whites.{{sfn|Brauer|2002|p=490}} The Justice Department then petitioned the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] (ICC) to adhere to federal law. By September 1961, the ICC ruled in favor of the petition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hilty |first1=James |title=Robert Kennedy: Brother Protector |date=2000 |publisher=Temple University Press |page=329}}</ref> On March 6, 1961, Kennedy signed [[Executive Order 10925]], which required government contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin."<ref>[[s:Executive Order 10925|wikisource – Executive Order No. 10925]]</ref> It established the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission#Background|President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity]].{{sfn|Patterson|1996|pp=473–475}} In September 1962, [[James Meredith]] enrolled at the all-White [[University of Mississippi]] but was prevented from entering. In response, Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent 400 federal marshals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/chron/2012/093012.htm|title=U.S. Marshals Mark 50th Anniversary of the Integration of 'Ole Miss'|website=www.usmarshals.gov|access-date=April 25, 2020|archive-date=May 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523031013/https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/chron/2012/093012.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Ole Miss riot of 1962]] left two dead and dozens injured, prompting Kennedy to send in 3,000 troops to quell the riot.{{sfn|Bryant|2006a|p=71}} Meredith did finally enroll in class. Kennedy regretted not sending in troops earlier and he began to doubt whether the "evils of Reconstruction" he had been taught or believed were true.{{sfn|Brauer|2002|p=490}} On November 20, 1962, Kennedy signed [[Executive Order 11063]], which prohibited racial discrimination in federally supported housing.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=580}} [[File:President Kennedy addresses nation on Civil Rights, 11 June 1963.jpg|thumb|left|Kennedy's [[Report to the American People on Civil Rights]], {{ca|June 11, 1963}}]] On June 11, 1963, Kennedy intervened when Alabama Governor [[George Wallace]] blocked the [[Stand in the Schoolhouse Door|doorway]] to the [[University of Alabama]] to stop two Black students, [[Vivian Malone]] and [[James Hood]], from attending. Wallace moved aside only after being confronted by Deputy Attorney General [[Nicholas Katzenbach]] and the [[Alabama National Guard]], which had just been federalized by order of the president. That evening Kennedy gave his famous [[Report to the American People on Civil Rights]] speech on national television and radio, launching his initiative for civil rights legislation—to provide equal access to public schools and other facilities, and greater protection of voting rights.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=521–523}}<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkcivilrights.htm | title = Civil Rights Address | access-date = September 20, 2007 | last = Kennedy | first = John F. | work = AmericanRhetoric.com | archive-date = May 13, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110513121702/http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkcivilrights.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> His proposals became part of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. The day ended with the murder of an NAACP leader, [[Medgar Evers]], in Mississippi.{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|p=966}} As Kennedy had predicted, the day after his TV speech, and in reaction to it, House Majority leader [[Carl Albert]] called to advise him that his two-year signature effort in Congress to combat poverty in Appalachia had been defeated, primarily by the votes of Southern Democrats and Republicans.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=524}} When Arthur Schlesinger Jr. complimented Kennedy on his remarks, Kennedy bitterly replied, "Yes, and look at what happened to area development the very next day in the House." He then added, "But of course, I had to give that speech, and I'm glad that I did."{{sfn|Cohen|2016|p=357}} On June 16, ''The New York Times'' published an editorial which argued that while Kennedy had initially "moved too slowly and with little evidence of deep moral commitment" in regards to civil rights he "now demonstrate[d] a genuine sense of urgency about eradicating racial discrimination from our national life."{{sfn|Goduti|2012|p=206}} [[File:John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson Meet with Organizers of "March on Washington".jpg|thumb|Kennedy meetings with leaders of the [[March on Washington]] in the Oval Office, {{ca|August 28, 1963}}]] A crowd of over 250,000, predominantly African Americans, gathered in Washington for the civil rights [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]] on August 28, 1963. Kennedy initially opposed the march, fearing it would have a negative effect on the prospects for the civil rights bills pending in Congress. These fears were heightened just prior to the march when FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] presented Kennedy with reports that some of King's close advisers, specifically [[Jack O'Dell]] and [[Stanley Levison]], were communists.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/07/the-fbi-and-martin-luther-king/302537/|title=The FBI and Martin Luther King|last=Garrow|first=David J.|work=The Atlantic|access-date=April 25, 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=April 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425204832/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/07/the-fbi-and-martin-luther-king/302537/|url-status=live}}</ref> When King ignored the administration's warning, Robert Kennedy authorized the FBI to [[wiretap]] King and other leaders of the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/federal-bureau-investigation-fbi | title=Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) | date=May 2, 2017 | publisher=Stanford University | access-date=December 3, 2019 | archive-date=April 15, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415070003/https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/federal-bureau-investigation-fbi | url-status=live }}</ref> Although Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's phones "on a trial basis, for a month or so,"{{sfn|Herst|2007|p=372}} Hoover extended the clearance so his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy.{{sfn|Herst|2007|pp=372–374}} The Department of Justice was assigned to coordinate the federal government's involvement in the March on Washington on August 28; several hundred thousand dollars to were channeled to the six sponsors of the March.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=580–584}} To ensure a peaceful demonstration, the organizers and the president personally edited speeches that were inflammatory and collaborated on all aspects related to times and venues. Thousands of troops were placed on standby. Kennedy watched King's speech on TV and was very impressed. The March was considered a "triumph of managed protest," and not one arrest relating to the demonstration occurred. Afterwards, the March leaders accepted an invitation to the White House to meet with Kennedy and photos were taken. Kennedy felt that the March was a victory for him as well and bolstered the chances for his civil rights bill.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=580–584}} Three weeks later on Sunday, September 15, [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing|a bomb exploded]] at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham; by the end of the day, four Black children had died in the explosion, and two others were shot to death in the aftermath.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=599–600}} Due to this resurgent violence, the civil rights legislation underwent some drastic amendments that critically endangered any prospects for passage of the bill, to the outrage of Kennedy. He called the congressional leaders to the White House and by the following day the original bill, without the additions, had enough votes to get it out of the House committee.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=628–631}} Gaining Republican support, Senator [[Everett Dirksen]] promised the legislation would be brought to a vote preventing a [[Filibuster in the United States Senate|Senate filibuster]].{{sfn|Brauer|2002|p=492}} On July 2, 1964, the guarantees Kennedy proposed in his June 1963 speech became federal law, when President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.{{sfn|Brauer|2002|p=492}} ====Status of women==== [[File:American Association of University Women members with President John F. Kennedy as he signs the Equal Pay Act into law.jpg|thumb|Kennedy signing the [[Equal Pay Act of 1963]] into law]] During the 1960 presidential campaign, Kennedy endorsed the concept of [[equal pay for equal work]].{{sfn|Giglio|2006|p=142}} In December 1961, Kennedy signed an executive order creating the [[Presidential Commission on the Status of Women]] to advise him on issues concerning the status of women.<ref>{{cite web | last = Kennedy | first = John F. | url = http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=58918/ | title = Executive Order 10980—Establishing the President's Commission on the Status of Women | date = December 14, 1961 | access-date = January 25, 2011 | others = Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project | archive-date = May 11, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110511190703/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=58918/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt led the commission. The commission's final report was issued in October 1963; it documented the legal and cultural discrimination women in America faced and made several policy recommendations to bring about change.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=433}} On June 10, 1963, Kennedy signed the [[Equal Pay Act of 1963]], which amended the [[Fair Labor Standards Act]] and abolished wage disparity based on sex.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.eeoc.gov/epa/anniversary/epa-40.html |title=The Equal Pay Act Turns 40|publisher=Archive.eeoc.gov|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626131413/http://archive.eeoc.gov/epa/anniversary/epa-40.html|archive-date=June 26, 2012}}</ref> ====Crime==== {{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy#Crime}} Under the leadership of the attorney general, the Kennedy administration shifted the focus of the Justice Department, the FBI, and the IRS to [[organized crime]]. Kennedy won congressional approval for five bills (i.e., [[Federal Wire Act]] of 1961) designed to crack down on interstate [[Racket (crime)|racketeering]], gambling, and the transportation of firearms.<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Schwartz | first=David | date=September 2010 | title=Not Undertaking the Almost-Impossible Task: The 1961 Wire Act's Development, Initial Applications, and Ultimate Purpose | journal=Gaming Law Review and Economics | volume=14 | issue=7 | pages=533–540 | doi=10.1089/glre.2010.14708 | url=https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=lib_articles | access-date=November 19, 2023 | archive-date=October 1, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001033310/https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=lib_articles | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rothchild |first1=John A. |title=Research Handbook on Electronic Commerce Law |date=2016 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing Limited |page=453 |isbn=9781783479924 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_MCDQAAQBAJ&dq=Robert+Kennedy+Wire+Act,+Travel+Act,+and+Interstate+Transportation+of+Paraphernalia+Act&pg=PA453 |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118163351/https://books.google.com/books?id=r_MCDQAAQBAJ&dq=Robert%20Kennedy%20Wire%20Act%2C%20Travel%20Act%2C%20and%20Interstate%20Transportation%20of%20Paraphernalia%20Act&pg=PA453 |url-status=live }}</ref> On March 22, 1962, Kennedy signed into law a bill abolishing the mandatory death penalty for [[First degree murder in the United States|first degree murder]] in the District of Columbia, the only remaining jurisdiction in the United States with such a penalty.<ref name="JFKlibrary.org leg">{{cite web | url = http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/Legislative-Summary-Main-Page/District-of-Columbia.aspx | title = Legislative Summary: District of Columbia | access-date = June 8, 2015 | publisher = [[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library]] | archive-date = May 29, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150529072333/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/Legislative-Summary-Main-Page/District-of-Columbia.aspx | url-status = live }}</ref> The death penalty has not been applied in D.C. since 1957 and has now been abolished.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.norton.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=478 | title = Norton Letter to U.S. Attorney Says Death Penalty Trial That Begins Today Part of Troubling and Futile Pattern | date = January 8, 2007 | access-date = February 23, 2012 | publisher = Office of Congresswoman [[Eleanor Holmes Norton]] | archive-date = March 3, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120303111530/http://www.norton.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=478 | url-status = dead }}</ref> ====Agriculture==== Kennedy had relatively little interest in agricultural issues, but he sought to remedy the issue of overproduction, boost the income of farmers, and lower federal expenditures on agriculture. Under the direction of Secretary of Agriculture [[Orville Freeman]], the administration sought to limit the production of farmers, but these proposals were generally defeated in Congress. To increase demand for domestic agricultural products and help the impoverished, Kennedy launched a pilot [[Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program|Food Stamp program]] and expanded the [[National School Lunch Act|federal school lunch program]].{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=109–118}} ====Native American relations==== {{further|Kinzua Dam#Native Americans|Seneca nation#Kinzua Dam}} Construction of the [[Kinzua Dam]] flooded {{convert|10000|acre|sigfig=1|abbr=off}} of [[Seneca nation]] land that they had occupied under the [[Treaty of Canandaigua|Treaty of 1794]], and forced 600 Seneca to relocate to [[Salamanca (town), New York|Salamanca, New York]]. Kennedy was asked by the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] to halt the project, but he declined, citing a critical need for flood control. He expressed concern about the plight of the Seneca and directed government agencies to assist in obtaining more land, damages, and assistance to mitigate their displacement.{{sfn|Bilharz|2002|p=55}}<ref name="Kennedy letter 1961">{{cite web | last = Kennedy | first = John F. | url = http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8279 | title = 320—Letter to the President of the Seneca Nation of Indians Concerning the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River | publisher = The American Presidency Project | date = August 11, 1961 | access-date = February 25, 2012 | archive-date = January 12, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120112105747/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8279 | url-status = live }}</ref> ====Space policy==== {{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy#Space policy}} {{see also|Space Race|Space policy of the United States}} [[File:Werner Von Braun and President John F. Kennedy at Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex - 1963 - 63PC-0095.jpg|thumb|left|[[Wernher von Braun]] explains the Saturn system to President Kennedy during his tour at the [[Cape Canaveral Space Force Station|Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex]]; {{circa|November 1963}}.]] In the aftermath of the Soviet launch of ''[[Sputnik 1]]'', the first artificial Earth satellite, [[NASA]] proposed a crewed [[moon landing|lunar landing]] by the early 1970s.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=150–151}} Funding for the program, known as the [[Apollo program]], was far from certain as Eisenhower held an ambivalent attitude.<ref>{{cite book| title=Apollo: The Race to the Moon| last1=Murray| first1=Charles| last2=Cox| first2=Catherine Bly| date=1989| publisher=Simon & Schuster| isbn=0671611011| page=60}}</ref> Early in his presidency, Kennedy was poised to dismantle the crewed space program, but he postponed any decision out of deference to Vice President Johnson, who had been a strong supporter of the program in the Senate.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=138}} With [[Jerome Wiesner]], Johnson was given a major role in overseeing the administration's space policy, and at Johnson's recommendation Kennedy appointed [[James E. Webb]] to head NASA.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=151–152}} In Kennedy's [[State of the Union address]] in 1961, he suggested international cooperation in space. Khrushchev declined, as the Soviets did not wish to reveal the status of their rocketry and space capabilities.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=502}} In April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut [[Yuri Gagarin]] became the first person to fly in space, reinforcing American fears about being left behind by the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=393}} Less than a month later, [[Alan Shepard]] became the first American to travel into space, strengthening Kennedy's confidence in NASA.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=152–153}} The following year, [[John Glenn]], aboard the [[Project Mercury|Mercury]] craft ''[[Friendship 7]]'', became the first American to orbit the Earth.<ref>{{cite web |title=Space Program |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/space-program#:~:text=In%201961%2C%20President%20John%20F,the%20space%20race%20was%20on. |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=November 21, 2023 |archive-date=November 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121011242/https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/space-program#:~:text=In%201961%2C%20President%20John%20F,the%20space%20race%20was%20on. |url-status=live }}</ref> In the aftermath of Gagarin's flight, as well as the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, Kennedy felt pressured to respond to the perceived erosion of American prestige. He asked Johnson to explore the feasibility of beating the Soviets to the [[Moon]]. Though he was concerned about the program's costs, Kennedy agreed to Johnson's recommendation that the U.S. commit to a crewed lunar landing as the major objective of the space program. In a May 25 speech, Kennedy declared,{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=152–153}} {{Blockquote|... I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.<ref name="Kennedy at Congress 1961">{{cite web |last=Kennedy |first=John F. |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-2-1.html |title=Apollo Expeditions to the Moon: Chapter 2 |work=history.nasa.gov |year=1961 |access-date=February 26, 2012 |archive-date=July 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714121530/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-2-1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> {{Cws |title=Full text |link=Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs|nobullet=yes}}}} [[File:John F. Kennedy speaks at Rice University.jpg|thumb|upright|Kennedy speaks at [[Rice University]], {{ca|September 12, 1962}}]] Though Gallup polling showed that many in the public were skeptical of the necessity of the Apollo program,<ref>Young, Hugo; Silcock, Bryan; Dunn, Peter M. (1969). ''Journey to Tranquility''. London: Jonathon Cape. pp. 109–112</ref> members of Congress were strongly supportive in 1961 and approved a major increase in NASA's funding. Webb began reorganizing NASA, increasing its staffing level, and building two new centers: a [[Kennedy Space Center|Launch Operations Center]] for the [[Saturn V|large Moon rocket]] northwest of [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]], and a [[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center|Manned Spacecraft Center]] in Houston. Kennedy took the latter occasion as an opportunity to deliver another [[We choose to go to the Moon|speech]] promoting the space effort on September 12, 1962, in which he said: <blockquote> No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space. ... We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.<ref name="Kennedy at Rice 1961">{{cite web|url=http://webcast.rice.edu/speeches/19620912kennedy.html|title=President John F. Kennedy: The Space Effort|last=Kennedy|first=John F.|date=September 12, 1962|publisher=[[Rice University]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060708190606/http://webcast.rice.edu/speeches/19620912kennedy.html|archive-date=July 8, 2006}}</ref> {{Cws |title=Full text |link=We choose to go to the moon |nobullet=yes}}</blockquote> On November 21, 1962, in a cabinet meeting with Webb and other officials, Kennedy explained that the Moon shot was important for reasons of international prestige, and that the expense was justified.<ref>{{cite news|title=JFK and the Space Race |last=Selverstone |first=Marc |publisher=White House Tapes–Presidential Recordings Program, Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia |url=http://whitehousetapes.net/exhibit/jfk-and-space-race |access-date=February 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305205812/http://whitehousetapes.net/exhibit/jfk-and-space-race |archive-date=March 5, 2012 }}</ref> On July 20, 1969, almost six years after Kennedy's death, [[Apollo 11]] landed the first crewed spacecraft on the Moon.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=153–155}} ===Judicial appointments=== {{main|John F. Kennedy Supreme Court candidates|List of federal judges appointed by John F. Kennedy}} In 1962, Kennedy appointed justices [[Byron White]] and [[Arthur Goldberg]] to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Supreme Court Nominations (1789-Present)| url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/nominations/SupremeCourtNominations1789present.htm| publisher=United States Senate| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=February 16, 2022| archive-date=October 7, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007075720/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/nominations/SupremeCourtNominations1789present.htm| url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, Kennedy appointed 21 judges to the [[United States Courts of Appeals]], and 102 judges to the [[United States district court]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kennedy Nominees Still Serving Country |url=https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/feature2-july11-pdf-1.pdf |website=Federal Bar Association |access-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213013042/https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/feature2-july11-pdf-1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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