John Fitzgerald Kennedy entered the office in 1960, retiring the older so called “uncle” of the White House, Dwight Eisenhower. Kennedy followed in the footsteps of FDR and named his domestic plan the New Frontier. There were a few main things he zeroed in on which were a higher minimum wage, low-cost-housing legislation, hospital insurance for retirees, and federal assistance for public schools. Only two items on the ‘must’ list were new: aid to ‘depressed areas’ and a program to retrain the unemployed (Unger 23).

One thing that stood in the way of the New Frontier was the close Democratic to Republican ratio in Congress. “…Democratic majority would be 65 to 35 in the Senate and 262 to 174 in the House” (Unger 23). This did not hurt Kennedy too much because according to Making America, “By 1963 Congress had appro

During his term, Kennedy was determined to improve the quality of American life. To do this he needed to stimulate economic recovery and growth. His chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Walter Heller, had a plan called “new economics” to get the ball rolling. With this, Kennedy planned to shape the national economy by spending more and cutting taxes. This program was very successful. “…Congress raised the defense budget by almost 20 percent ($6 billion) and funded an expensive space program, providing direct stimulation that helped expand the economy. Unemployment fell by 2 percent…” (Berkin 890).

A lot of Carter’s other bids to Congress were turned down. Carter wanted to increase interest rates and reduce federal spending so he could halt inflation. An attempt to increase the minimum wage was rejected and unemployment rates rose. Carter wasn’t doing so well with domestic issues.

After being rushed into office after the death of Kennedy, Johnson had to take over the Vietnam War. According to Making America, Johnson told an adviser, “I am not going to be the President who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went.” (Berkin 924) After the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing the president to use any measures to protect the U.S. forces in Vietnam. He ordered Operation Rolling Thunder, air raids deploying bombs over 900 times a week. Operation Rolling Thunder, along with the fighting that followed, pretty much led to a draw. By March 1968, after loads of fighting, casualties, and invasions from the Viet Cong, the war had pretty much wore itself out, so Johnson and his “wise men”, his group of advisors, searched for a diplomatic end to the war. By then it was time for a new presidential election and Richard M. Nixon was inaugurated into office.

A big part of Carter’s plan was reducing the American dependency on foreign oil sources. Solving the energy crisis was the ‘moral equivalent of war’ and the only road to economic recovery (Berkin 956). Nuclear power was voted in Congress to be an alternative fuel, but the downside of it was it was expensive and could be dangerous. This danger was proven on March 28th, 1979 when radioactive gas was released as the result of an accident at the Pennsylvania power plant on Three Mile Island.

Ronald Reagan was a humorous ex-movie star and ex-television show host, a great speaker nicknamed “the Great Communicator”. Said Reagan, “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. A reco

Some topics in this essay:
Walter Heller, White House, Soviet Union, Rights Act, Eisenhower Kennedy, President Kennedy, York City, SALT II, Training Act, , according america, civil rights, economic recovery, soviet union, white house, arms control, human rights, minimum wage, medical care act, congress approved, middle east, operation rolling thunder,