The First 100 Days: John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the first person elected as President of the United States that was born in the 20th century. At 43 years of age he was the youngest person ever elected to the office and he was also the first Roman Catholic elected as President. Kennedy's election was spun as one that would bring about a vibrant and modern atmosphere to the White House. His use of television provided a campaign model that allowed him to speak to voters directly. Kennedy was sworn in by Chief Justice Earl Warren on January 20, 1961 and he delivered a positively reviewed inaugural address, in which he told Americans to "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country". To the people of the world, he said, "ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man".
On the following day, Kennedy's cabinet was sworn in by Chief Justice Warren. He met with former President Harry Truman and he attended a meeting at the Democratic National Committee. Later that week he met with the poet Robert Frost, and he established a three-member Government Ethics Committee. He also met with several defense, foreign policy, and intelligence advisers, including Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, CIA Director Allen Dulles, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Lyman Lemnitzer. He also met with Democratic legislative leaders, and discussed plans for what would become the Food for Peace program and named George McGovern as the program's first director.
On January 25th, Kennedy held his first regular live televised press conference in the State Department Auditorium. He announced the release of two surviving USAF crewman who had been held prisoner by the Soviet Union after being captured when their RB-47 Stratojet was shot down on July 1, 1960.
On January 30, Kennedy delivered his first State of the Union address to a Joint session of the United States Congress. Two days later on February 1, he held his second presidential news conference. He announces the creation of five pilot food stamp distribution projects. He met with his economic and budget advisers and held his first meeting of the National Security Council. The next day he met with NATO Supreme Allied Commander Lauris Norstad, Joint Chiefs Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer, and with his cabinet. He also sent a message out to the mayors of 297 cities urging an increase in urban renewal activities. Kennedy and his friend Paul Fay (who served as Undersecretary of the Navy) attended the movie Spartacus at the Warner Theater on February 3rd.
On March 1, Kennedy issued Executive Order 10924, establishing the Peace Corps. It was supposed to be on a "temporary pilot basis". Kennedy sent a message to Congress requesting authorization of the Peace Corps as a permanent organization. He would later name his brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, as its first director. Through this program, Americans volunteered to help underdeveloped nations in areas such as education, farming, health care, and construction. The organization grew to 5,000 members by March 1963 and 10,000 the following year. Since 1961, over 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, serving in 139 countries.
Kennedy met with Eleanor Roosevelt on March 3rd and they made an audio recording promoting the Youth Peace Corps. Kennedy also recorded a message for the American Red Cross and signed into law a joint resolution (H.J. Res. 155) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first inauguration of Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1861.
On March 24th, Kennedy signed a commission restoring the five star rank general of the army position to former President Dwight Eisenhower. Because of legal issues prohibiting the holding of military rank while in a civilian office, Eisenhower had resigned his permanent commission as General of the Army before entering the office of President. Upon completion of his Presidential term, his commission was reactivated by Congress and Eisenhower again was commissioned a five-star general in the United States Army.
April of 1961 was a very busy month for the Kennedy administration. The president began the month by declaring parts of eastern Iowa flooded by the Cedar River to be a major disaster area. Later in the month, on April 12, the Soviet Union launched Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into low Earth orbit aboard Vostok 1, marking the first time a human being had been launched into outer space. Kennedy messages Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, congratulating him on the successful launch. But it was also heightened fears that the nation was being left behind by the Russians in technological advancement. In Kennedy's January State of the Union address, he had suggested international cooperation in space, but Khrushchev had declined the offer, as the Soviets did not wish to reveal the details of their rocketry and space capabilities. Earlier in his presidency, Kennedy was considering dismantling the manned space program because of the potential cost. But after the success of Vostok 1, Kennedy wanted the U.S. to take the lead in the Space Race, for reasons of prestige as well as potential military advantages. On April 20, he sent a memo to Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, asking him to look into the status of America's space program, and into programs that could offer NASA the opportunity to catch up to, and pass the Russians. After consulting with Wernher von Braun, Johnson reported back that a manned Moon landing was far enough in the future for the United States to achieve it first. In May, Kennedy announced the goal in a special message to Congress.
The most significant event in April of 1961 was the failed "Bay of Pigs" invasion. Fulgencio Batista, a Cuban dictator friendly towards the United States, had been forced out office in 1959 by the Cuban Revolution. Batista's successor, Fidel Castro, affiliated with the Soviet Union, giving the United States a potential Soviet satellite located less than one hundred miles from its shores. The Eisenhower administration had created a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro's regime. The plan, led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), called for an invasion of Cuba by a counter-revolutionary insurgency composed of U.S.-trained, anti-Castro Cuban exiles led by CIA paramilitary officers. The intention was to invade Cuba and instigate an uprising among the Cuban people in hopes of removing Castro from power.
Kennedy had campaigned on a hard-line stance against Castro, and when presented with the plan that had been developed under the Eisenhower administration, he approved it in spite of his reservations about elevating tensions with the Soviet Union. On April 17, 1961, Kennedy ordered what became known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Under the plan, 1,500 U.S.-trained Cubans, called Brigade 2506, landed on the island. But they did so without any U.S. air support. The invasion did not go well, and by April 19, 1961, the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles. The Cuban government captured 1,189 prisoners during the invasion, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for their release. After twenty months, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for $53 million worth of food and medicine. The incident made Castro wary of the U.S. and led him to believe that another invasion would occur.
The failed invasion was an embarrassment to the Kennedy administration. It put Castro on guard for a possible future US intervention in Cuba. On April 21, at a State Department press conference, President Kennedy famously said: "There's an old saying that victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan." He accepted personal responsibility for the failed invasion, stating "I'm the responsible officer of the Government."
The Bay of Pigs fiasco taught the young president valuable lessons that he would learn from in the following year when nuclear missiles were discovered on Cuba, leading to a showdown with the Soviets to prevent a possible nuclear catastrophe.
On the following day, Kennedy's cabinet was sworn in by Chief Justice Warren. He met with former President Harry Truman and he attended a meeting at the Democratic National Committee. Later that week he met with the poet Robert Frost, and he established a three-member Government Ethics Committee. He also met with several defense, foreign policy, and intelligence advisers, including Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, CIA Director Allen Dulles, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Lyman Lemnitzer. He also met with Democratic legislative leaders, and discussed plans for what would become the Food for Peace program and named George McGovern as the program's first director.
On January 25th, Kennedy held his first regular live televised press conference in the State Department Auditorium. He announced the release of two surviving USAF crewman who had been held prisoner by the Soviet Union after being captured when their RB-47 Stratojet was shot down on July 1, 1960.
On January 30, Kennedy delivered his first State of the Union address to a Joint session of the United States Congress. Two days later on February 1, he held his second presidential news conference. He announces the creation of five pilot food stamp distribution projects. He met with his economic and budget advisers and held his first meeting of the National Security Council. The next day he met with NATO Supreme Allied Commander Lauris Norstad, Joint Chiefs Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer, and with his cabinet. He also sent a message out to the mayors of 297 cities urging an increase in urban renewal activities. Kennedy and his friend Paul Fay (who served as Undersecretary of the Navy) attended the movie Spartacus at the Warner Theater on February 3rd.
On March 1, Kennedy issued Executive Order 10924, establishing the Peace Corps. It was supposed to be on a "temporary pilot basis". Kennedy sent a message to Congress requesting authorization of the Peace Corps as a permanent organization. He would later name his brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, as its first director. Through this program, Americans volunteered to help underdeveloped nations in areas such as education, farming, health care, and construction. The organization grew to 5,000 members by March 1963 and 10,000 the following year. Since 1961, over 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, serving in 139 countries.
Kennedy met with Eleanor Roosevelt on March 3rd and they made an audio recording promoting the Youth Peace Corps. Kennedy also recorded a message for the American Red Cross and signed into law a joint resolution (H.J. Res. 155) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first inauguration of Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1861.
On March 24th, Kennedy signed a commission restoring the five star rank general of the army position to former President Dwight Eisenhower. Because of legal issues prohibiting the holding of military rank while in a civilian office, Eisenhower had resigned his permanent commission as General of the Army before entering the office of President. Upon completion of his Presidential term, his commission was reactivated by Congress and Eisenhower again was commissioned a five-star general in the United States Army.
April of 1961 was a very busy month for the Kennedy administration. The president began the month by declaring parts of eastern Iowa flooded by the Cedar River to be a major disaster area. Later in the month, on April 12, the Soviet Union launched Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into low Earth orbit aboard Vostok 1, marking the first time a human being had been launched into outer space. Kennedy messages Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, congratulating him on the successful launch. But it was also heightened fears that the nation was being left behind by the Russians in technological advancement. In Kennedy's January State of the Union address, he had suggested international cooperation in space, but Khrushchev had declined the offer, as the Soviets did not wish to reveal the details of their rocketry and space capabilities. Earlier in his presidency, Kennedy was considering dismantling the manned space program because of the potential cost. But after the success of Vostok 1, Kennedy wanted the U.S. to take the lead in the Space Race, for reasons of prestige as well as potential military advantages. On April 20, he sent a memo to Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, asking him to look into the status of America's space program, and into programs that could offer NASA the opportunity to catch up to, and pass the Russians. After consulting with Wernher von Braun, Johnson reported back that a manned Moon landing was far enough in the future for the United States to achieve it first. In May, Kennedy announced the goal in a special message to Congress.
The most significant event in April of 1961 was the failed "Bay of Pigs" invasion. Fulgencio Batista, a Cuban dictator friendly towards the United States, had been forced out office in 1959 by the Cuban Revolution. Batista's successor, Fidel Castro, affiliated with the Soviet Union, giving the United States a potential Soviet satellite located less than one hundred miles from its shores. The Eisenhower administration had created a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro's regime. The plan, led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), called for an invasion of Cuba by a counter-revolutionary insurgency composed of U.S.-trained, anti-Castro Cuban exiles led by CIA paramilitary officers. The intention was to invade Cuba and instigate an uprising among the Cuban people in hopes of removing Castro from power.
Kennedy had campaigned on a hard-line stance against Castro, and when presented with the plan that had been developed under the Eisenhower administration, he approved it in spite of his reservations about elevating tensions with the Soviet Union. On April 17, 1961, Kennedy ordered what became known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Under the plan, 1,500 U.S.-trained Cubans, called Brigade 2506, landed on the island. But they did so without any U.S. air support. The invasion did not go well, and by April 19, 1961, the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles. The Cuban government captured 1,189 prisoners during the invasion, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for their release. After twenty months, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for $53 million worth of food and medicine. The incident made Castro wary of the U.S. and led him to believe that another invasion would occur.
The failed invasion was an embarrassment to the Kennedy administration. It put Castro on guard for a possible future US intervention in Cuba. On April 21, at a State Department press conference, President Kennedy famously said: "There's an old saying that victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan." He accepted personal responsibility for the failed invasion, stating "I'm the responsible officer of the Government."
The Bay of Pigs fiasco taught the young president valuable lessons that he would learn from in the following year when nuclear missiles were discovered on Cuba, leading to a showdown with the Soviets to prevent a possible nuclear catastrophe.