F. Kennedy And The Politics Of Expectation - 1852 Words

ohn F. Kennedy and the Politics of Expectation  · The lasting effects of FDR’s New Deal were that Americans came to look to Washington for the solution to the nation’s problems. o This continued with John F. Kennedy, who had a plan known as the â€Å"New Frontier†, which was called â€Å"the politics of expectation.† A. The New Politics o In this new system of politics, mass media played an even larger role.  § This was perfect for JFK, as he was not lacking in charisma, style, or personality.  · He graduated from Harvard.  · Inherited his love for politics from his grandfathers, who were both Boston politicians.  · Was a Massachusetts senator.  · And was a WWII hero. o The largest†¦show more content†¦B. The Kennedy Administration o Unlike Eisenhower’s â€Å"hidden-hand presidency,† John F. Kennedy believed in a federal government that was â€Å"visibly active.† o The people Kennedy pulled into his administration to help him do so included†¦  § Former head of Ford, Robert McNamara as secretary of Defense.  § C. Douglas Dillon, a renowned Republican banker, as secretary of Treasury.  § His younger brother, Robert, whose claim to fame was that he had been a hard-hitting investigator of organized crime. o However, not everyone was pleased with these selections.  § â€Å"[They] might be every bit as intelligent as you say, but I’d feel a whole lot better about them if just one of them had run for sheriff once,† said House Speaker Sam Rayburn to Lyndon B. Johnson (who was the Vice President for Kennedy, but longtime friend of Rayburn.) 1. The Bay of Pigs  § In January of 1961, much like America had done a few years before, the USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev declared that the Soviet Union would support â€Å"wars of national liberation,† wherever they occurred in the world.  · JFK saw this as a challenge, and began formulating plans to halt Cuba from entering into the Soviet sphere.  § Cuba had recently undergone a communist coup and Fidel Castro had taken power in 1959.  · In response, the CIA trained Cuban operatives to create an anti-Castro uprising.  ·