John F. Kennedy

===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&nbsp;billion mark, in 1962, and his first budget in 1961 resulted in the nation's first non-war, non-recession [[Government budget deficit|deficit]].{{sfn|Frum|2000|p=324}} The economy, which had been through two recessions in three years and was in one when Kennedy took office, accelerated notably throughout his administration. Despite low [[inflation]] and interest rates, the [[GDP]] had grown by an average of only 2.2% per annum during the Eisenhower administration (scarcely more than population growth at the time), and it had declined by 1% during Eisenhower's last twelve months in office.<ref name="Bureau of Economic Analysis">{{cite web | url = https://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=6&ViewSeries=NO&Java=no&Request3Place=N&3Place=N&FromView=YES&Freq=Qtr&FirstYear=1953&LastYear=1964&3Place=N&Update=Update&JavaBox=no | title = BEA: Quarterly GDP figures by sector, 1953–1964 | publisher = United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis | access-date = February 23, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120306070717/http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=6&ViewSeries=NO&Java=no&Request3Place=N&3Place=N&FromView=YES&Freq=Qtr&FirstYear=1953&LastYear=1964&3Place=N&Update=Update&JavaBox=no | archive-date = March 6, 2012 | url-status=dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref>

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

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

====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. ...&nbsp;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}}