THE NEW FRONTIER AND THE GREAT SOCIETY

Ch 28 Sec 1

Focus Question

What do you know about John F. Kennedy?

Importance of Television

April 1961

• Bay of Pigs Invasion• U.S. fails to overthrow

Castro and JFK’s administration appears inept

August 1961

• Berlin Wall Crisis• Wall is created in Berlin

to stop the flow of people leaving communist East Berlin

• Aggravates Cold War tensions and becomes a prominent symbol of communist oppression

October 1962

• Cuban Missile Crisis• In order to prevent

another U.S. invasion, Castro builds Missile silo’s that will have nuclear warheads attached (from the Soviet Union)

• U.S. and Soviets move to the brink of war before pulling back

1963

• U.S. and Soviets try to ease Cold War tensions with hotline and Limited Test Ban Treaty

• JFK is assassinated (Warren Commission says it’s a lone gunman-Lee Harvey Oswald)

New Frontier

Ch 28 Sec 2

Economic Recession What did JFK believe the government

could do to solve the problem?

• Increase spending • Engage in deficit spending• Lower taxes

What programs, laws, and accomplishments resulted from JFK’s beliefs?

• Congress increased defense spending

• Increased the minimum wage, extended unemployment insurance, and provided assistance to cities with high unemployment

Poverty AbroadWhat did JFK believe the government

could do to solve the problem?

• Offered volunteer, economic, and technical assistance to developing nations

What programs, laws, and accomplishments resulted from JFK’s beliefs?

• The Peace Corp • Alliance for Progress• Economic progress for

developing nations

Space Race

Soviet Successes in SpaceWhat did JFK believe the government

could do to solve the problem?

• Set the goal of landing on the moon before the end of the 1960’s

• Increased spending on the space program and education

What programs, laws, and accomplishments resulted from JFK’s beliefs?

• U.S. astronauts orbited the Earth and finally landed on the moon

• Science and mathematics programs expand

• New industries and technological advances

• Rapid growth in Southern and Western states

Proposals

Rejected ProposalsWhat reform proposals did JFK

make that were rejected by a conservative Congress?

• Medical care for the aged• Rebuilding of blighted urban

areas• Federal aid for education

Later ProposalsIn 1963, what proposals did

JFK make but never had the chance to guide through

Congress? • National assault on poverty• Investigation of racial

injustices in the South• National Civil Rights Bill