John F Kennedy and Civil Rights

What policies did John F Kennedy introduce?

John F Kennedy introduced a range of new policies in his 'New Frontier'. These included education, the economy, and civil rights.

What policies did John F Kennedy introduce for the economy?

Kennedy had 2 main economic policies:

• ❖ He cut taxes to give people more money to spend.
• ❖ He made $900 million available to businesses to create new jobs, and gave grants to companies so they could buy new hi-tech equipment and train their workers to use it.

What policies did John F Kennedy introduce on poverty?

Kennedy's social policies on poverty included:

• ❖ Making $4.9 billion available for loans to improve housing, clear slums and build roads.
• ❖ His Social Security Act, which improved benefits for the elderly and unemployed.

What policies did John F Kennedy introduce on education?

Kennedy's education policies included:

• ❖ He established the Peace Corps, an organisation sending volunteers overseas to help people in developing countries. They worked as teachers, doctors, nurses and technical advisers.
• ❖ JFK was also keen to introduce an education law to give more money to schools.

What policies did John F Kennedy introduce on civil rights?

Kennedy took 5 main actions in support of civil rights:

• ❖ He gave more important jobs to African Americans than any other president had done previously, such as appointing lawyer Thurgood Marshall to the courts.
• ❖ He wanted to see civil rights laws introduced, but was assassinated before they were passed.
• ❖ He created the CEEO - Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity - to ensure all people working for the federal government had equal employment opportunities.
• ❖ He issued executive orders that federal troops should be deployed to the University of Mississippi to support and protect James Meredith.
• ❖ He also applied personal pressure to get escorts for the Freedom Riders, to ensure their safety.