The Successes and Failures of John F. Kennedy

The failure of the Bay of Pigs had a serious influence on how the American public perceived John F. Kennedy's fast paced administration. The "poor planning and shoddy execution" (Christopher D.) of the invasion resulted with the United States appearing weak against communism, thus heightening tensions with the Soviets. An abundant amount of the populace approved of the manner in which Kennedy was counteracting the threat of communism, but they were unaware of the risks associated with his plans if they went awry.

Kennedy's mistake harmed the American people in regards to how it caused masses of young people to politicize protests at burgeoning rates, and the operation also shattered the political beliefs of naive radicals.

The Bay of Pigs is considered to be Kennedy's most monumental foreign miscalculation compared to his other political oversights during his administration primarily because people actually died and were imprisoned unlike other issues where conflict was avoided. Domestically, Kennedy had a strong desire to enact a civil rights act, however the act was not passed until after his death.

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His political strategy associated with combating this issue dealt with "delay[ing] [to] send a civil rights bill to Congress until his second term" ("John F. Kennedy: Domestic Affairs-Miller Center"). He did not make the fight for civil rights a significant priority because the divide in congress would prevent him from achieving the majority of his assertions.

Kennedy's lack of participation with civil rights is considered to be his most substantial domestic blunder because of how it prevented specific American citizens from gaining their rights.

Americans were split on the cause, as some whites did not want African Americans to gain rights and integrate, and African Americans wanted to be entitled to more rights, therefore they wanted the civil rights act to be passed as quickly as possible. African Americans were not convinced with Kennedy's political maneuvering and were harmed by the amount of time it took for the act to be implemented.

John F. Kennedy transformed politics in the United States and led the country to embark on a journey for peace as he made demands during the Cuban missile crisis and put forward a number of reforms that he entitled as the New Frontier. The Cuban missile crisis was the closest the United States "...ever came to full-scale nuclear war”, and Kennedy was able to make a compromise with Khrushchev that resulted with the Soviets removal of missiles and weapons in Cuba ("Cuban Missile Crisis"). Kennedy's foreign policy success prevented bloodshed from occurring thereby helping the American people and allowing his democratic party to have the large majority in the Senate.

The crisis's legacy provided the United States, the Soviet Union, and Berlin with the opportunity to sign the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty that banned nuclear tests everywhere but underground ("Cuban Missile Crisis"). The American victory associated with the Cuban missile crisis has more precedence over his other foreign accomplishments primarily because of how his other foreign policies were not near the same degree of audacity, and because Kennedy's actions helped demonstrate that the United states was a force to be reckoned with. Domestically, Kennedy cut taxes in order to "spur economic growth and reduce unemployment” (“Legacies of the Great Depression”), and he also increased the amount of money allotted for space exploration.

The manner in which he combated the nation's challenges stimulated American's participation in the areas of political activism and social criticism. He also helped challenge young men and women to fight for what society lacked and required. With this, Kennedy presented his concerns for the disadvantaged and provided reformers with hope. The New Frontier is considered to be his most substantial domestic policy primarily because of how it helped improve the economy and living standards, while his other domestic high points did not encourage the United States to move forward as much as the New Frontier did.