Kennedy gained a lot of support from the black population due to his promises to get rid of segregation in the south and improve the day to day life of black Americans.
Civil Rights
Segregation was a way of life in the Southern States. The Jim Crow Laws segregated the black and white population. They could not eat at the same restaurants, use the same cinemas or laundrettes or attend the same schools. In the 1950s, school segregation was widely accepted throughout the United States and was a requirement of law in most southern states.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) challenged the rights of local schools to segregate. In 1954 segregation was made illegal, but unfortunately the southern states rejected the court.
In September 1962, James Meredith, an African American, applied and was admitted to the University of Mississippi; however, university officials would not let him go to class because he was black. J F Kennedy tried to intervene and exchanged telephone calls with the Mississippi governor to solve the problem. These tactics failed and Kennedy ordered the National Guard and Federal Marshals to the university. After a riot in which two people died, Meredith registered for classes and segregation ended in the University of Mississippi.
However, black agitation against discrimination had become widespread and organised. Derek Heater states, that and with the emergence of the Black Power movement, serious riots, causing death and huge damage to property broke out.
Civil rights was plainly the most difficult national problem to face President Kennedy and although he achieved the most on civil rights than any other president before him it is fare to say that Kennedy was seen by some historians to be “dragging his feet” on the issue. Many influential people criticized him on this, including Martin Luther King and his own brother. They felt that he purposely did not act as forcefully as he could of because he needed the votes of the southern states to stay in office for another term.
However Kennedy gained a lot of support with the black population and when in office instituted his “New Frontier” policy which aimed to improve health care for the poor, improve education and achieve fairer conditions for the Black Population.
Source A3
The Cold War
Kennedy was elected to presidency during the Cold War (c. -) which was the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after between groups of nations practicing different ideologies and political systems.
On one side were the and its allies, often referred to as the . On the other side were the and its allies, usually referred to as the . The Cold War was characterised by mutual distrust, suspicion, and misunderstandings by both the United States and the Soviet Union, and their allies.
The USA were Nationalists and believed:
- That everyone had 1 vote
- Freedom Of Speech
- Personal Wealth
The SU were Communists and believed:
- That they should share wealth
- Only the communist party was legal
Both powers tried to become more powerful by influencing other countries towards themselves, competing in the Space Race and competing in the Arms Race.
The Arms Race
The Arms Race entailed a race for either country to control a larger military force. They raced to accumulate large battle weaponry like tanks, ships, submarines; also both sides collected a large amount of Nuclear Arms. The most dangerous of these was the ICBM or the Inter Continental Ballistic Missile. Eventually a balance was created as both sides were so powerful that they would not attack in fear of the retaliation. Of coarse they both targeted each others allies. Originally, the USA believed that they had 20 minutes to react if there was an ICBM launched at them. The USA developed a plan that if a missile was launched at them then they would have time to move important people out of range and launch a counter attack.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1958 Fidel Castro over threw Cuba’s Dictator, Fulgencio Batista. The USA had many factories in Cuba and after Cuba’s conversion to communism the USA withdrew from Cuba and banned trading with the country. The Soviet Union and Cuba became allies. Kennedy was approached by the CIA with a plan to secretly attempt a second revolution of Cuba. Unfortunately, the plans were leaked and when troops landed at the invasion point known as “The Bay Of Pigs” Castro’s forces were waiting for them. The Bay of Pigs incident was an international disaster and was the source of great embarrassment for J F Kennedy and lulled the Soviet leader, Khrushchev to believe that Kennedy was inexperienced and gullible.
On the 16th October 1961 President Kennedy received information that missile silos being built and he ordered U2 spy plains to be sent over Cuba. They captured photographs of Soviet Ships with canvassed objects which could clearly be made out to be missiles. The problem with the missile silos in Cuba meant that if an ICBM was launched at them from Cuba they would have only 5 minutes to react and everywhere in the USA was within range of the missiles.
Source A4
At this point, Kennedy was faced with several options. He could invade Cuba and have the silos removed, order an air strike on the silos, try to negotiate with Fidel and Khrushchev, or order a blockade to prevent the ships from reacting Cuba. Kennedy wisely chose to order a blocked to prevent the ships from reacting Cuba and called on the Soviets to withdraw their missiles. This shifted the decision to Khrushchev.
On the 26th October Khrushchev sent a telegram to Kennedy, offering to dismantle the missile silos if Kennedy would lift the blockade and agree not to invade Cuba. This was the first time he had admitted the presence of missiles. A second letter was sent by Khrushchev demanding that the USA removed their missile bases in turkey. On the same day a U2 spy plain was shot down over Cuba. It seemed as if War was about to break loose.
Kennedy ignored the plain incident and also ignored Khrushchev second letter. He simply wrote that he would not invade Cuba and would remove the blockade if SU dismantled their missile silos. On the 28th October 1961 Khrushchev agreed to Kennedy’s proposal and the crisis was averted.
Some think that Kennedy made grave mistakes during this crisis, particularly relating to the Bay of Pigs. However, overall I believe that the Cuban Missile Crisis was a great achievement for Kennedy and all around the world many people judged this episode as a success, crediting him with preventing a nuclear war. As a leader he had grown in stature and the ‘Cuban Crisis undoubtedly had a very positive effect on his presidential reputation.
Kennedy’s Image
One of the biggest factors of Kennedy’s success was his public image. His good looks and wealth was a huge draw for him as it was such a contrast to other Presidents of the day. Also his glamorous wife and children help to sway the public they served to personalise and humanise J.F.Kennedy.
He and his wife Jacqueline hosted dinners and parties in Washington for leaders of other nations. The president and Mrs. Kennedy attempted to make the white house the cultural center of the nation, writers, artist, poets, scientists and musicians were frequent dinner guests. A White House source states his vision of America extended to the quality of the national culture and the central role of the arts in a vital society.
Source B1
However, stories and rumours about the president’s promiscuous nature began to emerge, some more exaggerated than others. The most renowned of which was the Marilyn Monroe affair. The relationship was so obvious by the 1960s that the pair were seriously cautioned by advisers about its possible political implications (GCSE Course work Booklet). In the event of Marilyn’s death, FBI agents covered up any evidence of the liaison so much so that not a single photograph exists containing Monroe with the J.F. Kennedy
Source C1
Also, after the shock of his assassination wore off there was a certain amount of scepticism around the circumstances of his “War Hero reputation”.
Source C2
However it is unclear whether this source is completely fair as Thomas Reeves, a professional historian made his career through presenting the negative side of Kennedy. In my opinion I think source C2 from the “Croesyceiliog School GCSE Coursework” booklet is reliable but only to a certain extent as I believe Reeves would purposely have given the more negative side.
Assassination
25th November 1963 12:30 pm Central time Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald who was then shot dead by Jack Ruby before any formal charges could be made.The death of Kennedy shock waved through the world.
With the assassination the country’s perception of President Kennedy had changed. Now he had become a martyr and his mistakes and problems were forgotten by the country who mourned him.
Civil rights was indeed a demanding national problem for President Kennedy and for the way in which he ultimately dealt with this issue Kennedy deserves recognition and respect of his contemporaries. Public opinion polls at the time showed that Kennedy was losing popularity, and that it was probable that the South would oppose him in the next election, yet he had the courage to say to the American people, “Now the time has come for this nation to fulfill its promises, to act, to make a commitment it has not fully made in this century to the proposition that race has no place in American life or law.”
(http//www.planetpapers.’com/Assets/49.html’
He continued to speak out against segregation and was committed to this cause and prepared to stand by his beliefs.
History has proved that Kennedy’s determination to fight against communism and uphold democracy for the good of the United States and the rest of the world was important and wholly right. He might not have lived to see the downfall of the Berlin Wall but his resolve in this issue shaped America’s future attitudes towards communism. Undoubtedly, his determination and commitment in these beliefs gained for this president worldwide respect and is influential to the debate that he was a successful president Kennedy in the light of this experience
In 1982, a Harris survey asked the American People who they thought the greatest president was, and unsurprisingly Kennedy dominated the poll. Clearly, Kennedy is still seen as a very successful president even after the effect of his assassination has worn off.
John F. Kennedy’s objectives did not only lie with world peace, he also dreamed of expanding space technology, building great American spacecraft and implementing them for the good of the nation, the world and most importantly, for mankind, but it came as a great shock when Russia launched the Sputnik, the first rocket into outer space, in 1957. The American nations ego was badly bruised and collectively they yearned to prove that they could achieve whatever they put their minds to, but again, in 1961, the USSR succeeded in launching the first man into space. As a result President Kennedy was ever determined to achieve US predominance in space exploration and on May 25, 1961, President Kennedy stood before a joint session of congress to declare it was time for a great new American enterprise - time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth and on July 20 1969, the vision of landing safely on the moon and placing an American flag on the surface was fulfilled. Although Kennedy didn’t live long enough to make the journey himself or to whiteness the success of those who stood in the bright sunlight of Tranquility Base, it was he who had inspired a hundred million people to reach for the moon and actually touch it in the space of a decade.
