Chapter 28

            The reading of Chapter 28 of book has been very enlightening for me and cleared many points in my mind about the election and presidency of President John F Kennedy. I have always been very interested in learning about President Kennedy and his life events. Therefore the chapter reading gave me a clear insight about how Kennedy won the 1960’s election by a narrow margin. I clearly understood how the conservative strength in Congress hindered Kennedy’s agenda for reform i.e., “New Frontier” and he had to focus instead on the new economic policies. While reading it was significant to note for me that how the Nation Defense of America was improved by increase of the conventional arms. The growth of economy in Kennedy days because of his plans of lowering taxes on businesses, depreciation allowances and downgrading credits provided me with a deep understanding that how Presidents economic policies affected the nation for good.

To learn about the Civil Rights Movement and how Kennedy tried to avoid dealing with civil rights but was drawn into as a result of an overwhelming violence against the Black protestors also proved to be important for me.  From the effects of Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a Dream” speech and how Civil Rights Acts of 1964 to Voting Right Acts of 1965 revolutionized the Southern polices, it was a good knowledge gaining experience for me.

The chapter also gave me a clear idea about how Kennedy shaped up his foreign policy and how important he considered it for the country. I believe foreign policy for any nation should always be built on more strong grounds as it helps promote mutual cooperation with countries that exist around the globe which ultimately benefits any country in the long run. Through my reading I discovered that Kennedy’s formation of Peace Corps in 1961 and how the crisis in Laos strengthened his idea of limiting Communism.

The unfortunate assassination of Kennedy and later how the election of President Lyndon B Johnson brought the most sweeping reforms since the time of New Deal was something that I was not much aware of before. I really appreciate how his introduction of Great Society legislation helped in promotion of health, education, urban renewal, voting rights, immigration reforms and especially War against poverty started contributing well the overall benefit of America. However race riots that went around the country and America’s involvement in Vietnam War really affected the great programs which were introduced by administration of the time. I believe that it would not be wrong to say that President faced a dilemma in Vietnam where it was really difficult to decide whether to continue with the war which had brighter chances of leading the world to World War III and leaving of the war might have contributed in further fuelling the idea of Communism. I also understood how the dragging of War for four more years under President Nixon also affected US power till he announced the withdrawal of American forces in 1973.