Kennedy’s New Frontier

Ch 15.1

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

• Daily goal:• Understand the role religion and television

played in the election of 1960.• Understand the significance of the Missile

Gap and the New Frontier

The Modern Campaign

• The election of 1960 was the first campaign in which both Democrats and Republicans spent heavily on Television advertising.

• The first Presidential Debate was on TV.

Think About it…

• How much does a candidate’s image affects their popularity?

Nikita Khrushchev

• Soviet leader Khrushchev claimed the Soviet were producing ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) “like sausages!”

• Americans feared they were falling behind the Soviets.

The “Missile Gap”

• Kennedy was concerned that America had fallen behind the Soviets in Missiles, so he expanded the Nuclear arsenal.

The first Catholic President

• Many suspicious of JFK because he was Catholic and wondered how his faith would affect his decision making.

JFK Quote

• “I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party’s nominee for President who happens to be a Catholic.”

• “I believe in an America where the separation of Church and state is absolute.”

Think About it…

• How much does a candidate’s religion influence whether or note you will support them?

The “New Frontier”

• Kennedy’s set out his legislative agenda to increase aid to education, provide health care for the elderly and help migrant workers.

• Congress defeated most of these programs.

Think About it…

• Would you support passage of Kennedy’s New Frontier programs? Why or why not?