The promises of progress
Kennedy set out to transform his broad vision of progress he called the New Frontier. Kennedy had difficulty turning his visions into reality, however. He offered Congress proposals to provide medical care for the aged, rebuild blighted urban areas, and aid education, but he couldn’t gather enough votes. Kennedy faced the same conservation coalition of Republicans and Southern Democrats that had blocked Truman's Fair Deal, and he showed little skill in punishing his domestic reform measures through Congress. Since Kennedy had been elected by the slimmest of margins, he lacked a popular mandate- a clear indication that voter approved of his plans. As a result, he often tried to play it safe politically. Nevertheless, Kennedy did persuade Congress to enact measures to boost the economy, build the national defense, provide international aid, and fun a massive space program.
stimulating the economy
One domestic problem the Kennedy team tackled was the economy. By 1960 America was in a recession. Unemployment hovered around 6 percent, one of the highest levels since World War II. During the campaign, Kennedy had criticized the Eisenhower administration for failing to stimulate growth. The American economy, he said, was lagging behind those of other Western democracies and the Soviet Union. Kennedy's advisers pushed for the use of deficit spending, which had been the basis for Roosevelt's New Deal. They said that stimulating economic growth depended on increased government spending and lower taxes, even if it meant that the government spent more than it took in.
addressing poverty abroad
- One of the first campaign promises Kennedy fulfilled was the creation of the Peace Corps, a program of volunteer assistance to the developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Critics in the U.S. called the program "Kennedy's Kiddie Korps" because many volunteers were just out of college. Some foreign observers questioned whether Americans could understand other cultures.
- Despite these reservations, the Peace Corps became a huge success. People of all ages and backgrounds signed up to work an agricultural advisers, teachers, or health aids or to do whatever work the host country needed. By 1968, more than 35,000 volunteers had served in 60 nations around the world.
- A second foreign aid program, the Alliance for Progress, offered economic and technical assistance to Latin American countries. Between 1961 and 1969, the United States invested almost $12 billion in Latin America, in part to deter these countries from picking up Fidel Castro's revolutionary ideas. While the money brought some development to the region, it didn’t bring fundamental reforms.