Presidential Highs and Lows: John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy achieved his highest approval rating in June of 1961, when Gallup polled him as having an 83% approval rating. Five out of six people approved of the job that their young President was doing. It is unclear what the nation was so enamored with about Kennedy, although the pages of the a number of magazines were plastered with pictures of the photogenic chief executive and his young family.
But as President, Kennedy had suffered a number of setbacks by this time. The Bay of Pigs Invasion, which began on April 17, 1961, ended badly. By April 19, 1961, the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release of the 1,189 survivors. After twenty months, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for $53 million worth of food and medicine. Kennedy earned some respect from the incident by taking responsibility for the failure in a televised press conference.
Later that year, on June 4, 1961, Kennedy met with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna. He left the meetings angry and disappointed because he felt that he had allowed Khrushchev to bully him, despite the warnings he had received that this might happen. Khrushchev later said that while he was impressed with Kennedy's intelligence, he thought him to be weak. Shortly after Kennedy returned home, the U.S.S.R. announced its intention to sign a treaty with East Berlin, abrogating any third-party occupation rights in either sector of the city. Kennedy began to prepare the country for nuclear war. He personally estimated the odds of this occurring as a one-in-five chance. In the weeks immediately after the Vienna summit, more than 20,000 people fled from East Berlin to the western sector in reaction to statements from the USSR. In July 1961, Kennedy announced his decision to add $3.25 billion to the defense budget, along with over 200,000 additional troops, stating that an attack on West Berlin would be taken as an attack on the U.S. The speech was very well received by the American people.
Kennedy's approval rating would remain high, including in March of 1962. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly in space. This raised American fears about being left behind in a technological competition with the Soviet Union. Kennedy was eager for the U.S. to take the lead in the Space Race. After directing Vice-President Lyndon Johnson to investigate the state of US Space technology, Kennedy concluded that a manned Moon landing was far enough in the future that it was likely the United States would achieve it first. On May 25, Kennedy announced the goal in a speech titled "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs".He said "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."
On May 5, 1961, Astronaut Alan Shepard was launched into orbit on Freedom 7 on a sub-orbital spaceflight aboard a Mercury-Redstone rocket, becoming the first American in outer space. The flight lasts 15 minutes 22 seconds, and reaches an apogee of 187.42 kilometres (116.46 mi), and a maximum speed of 8,277 kilometres per hour (5,143 mph) (Mach 6.94). On May 8, Kennedy met with Shepard at the White House, to congratulate him on becoming the first American in space.
It was early in the following year that national pride swelled. After a long series of delays, Friendship 7, piloted by astronaut John Glenn, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on February 20, 1962. Friendship 7 safely splashed down 800 miles (1,290 km) southeast of Cape Canaveral after Glenn's 4-hour, 55-minute flight. The flight made Glenn the first American to orbit the Earth, the third American in space, and the fifth human in space. Glenn called it the best day of his life, and it renewed U.S. confidence that it could win a battle of technology with the Soviet Union. A poll taken in early March once again spiked Kennedy's approval rating.
Kennedy's approval rating hit it's low point in September of 1963, just two months before his death. It was still above the 50% level (56%). He was hemorrhaging support in the south, where his recent support for the civil rights of African-Americans was unpopular with much of the party's base. On June 11, 1963, Kennedy had intervened when Alabama Governor George Wallace blocked the doorway to the University of Alabama to stop two African American students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending. Wallace moved aside only after being confronted by Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and the Alabama National Guard, which had just been federalized by order of the president. That evening Kennedy gave his Report to the American People on Civil Rights on national television and radio. He promised to launch his initiative for civil rights legislation, which promised to provide equal access to public schools and other facilities, and greater protection of voting rights.
Reaction to the speech was not just a matter of opinion, it became very violent. The next day, on June 12, 1963, NAACP leader Medgar Evers was murdered in front of his home in Mississippi. House Majority leader Carl Albert of Oklahoma called to advise him that his two-year signature effort in Congress to combat poverty in Appalachia had been defeated, because of a change in the votes of Southern Democrats and Republicans.
Over a hundred thousand, predominantly African Americans, gathered in Washington for the civil rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. Kennedy was concerned that the March would have a negative effect on the prospects for the civil rights bills in Congress, and he declined an invitation to speak. To ensure a peaceful demonstration, the organizers and the president personally edited speeches which were inflammatory and agreed the March would be held on a Wednesday and would be over by 4:00 pm. Thousands of troops were placed on standby.
The violence in the south continued. A bomb exploded on Sunday, September 15, at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Four African American children died in the explosion, and two other children were later shot to death. Kennedy called the congressional leaders to the White House and by the following day the original bill had enough votes to get it out of the House committee. Republican Senator Everett Dirksen promised the legislation would be brought to a vote preventing a Senate filibuster. The legislation was enacted after Kennedy's assassination in November.
It was Kennedy's decline in the polls that prompted his visit to Dallas in November of 1963. Kennedy decided to travel to Texas to smooth over friction in the Democratic Party between liberals Ralph Yarborough and conservative John Connally. A presidential visit to Texas was agreed upon by Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson Governor Connally in a meeting in El Paso on June 5, 1963. The trip began well and the President and First Lady were warmly received at a number of stops.
Kennedy was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m. in Dallas, Texas while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza. A ten-month investigation by the Warren Commission from November 1963 to September 1964 concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in shooting Kennedy, and that Jack Ruby also acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial. In contrast to the conclusions of the Warren Commission, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in 1979 that Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy". This remains the subject of intense controversy to this day.
But as President, Kennedy had suffered a number of setbacks by this time. The Bay of Pigs Invasion, which began on April 17, 1961, ended badly. By April 19, 1961, the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release of the 1,189 survivors. After twenty months, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for $53 million worth of food and medicine. Kennedy earned some respect from the incident by taking responsibility for the failure in a televised press conference.
Later that year, on June 4, 1961, Kennedy met with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna. He left the meetings angry and disappointed because he felt that he had allowed Khrushchev to bully him, despite the warnings he had received that this might happen. Khrushchev later said that while he was impressed with Kennedy's intelligence, he thought him to be weak. Shortly after Kennedy returned home, the U.S.S.R. announced its intention to sign a treaty with East Berlin, abrogating any third-party occupation rights in either sector of the city. Kennedy began to prepare the country for nuclear war. He personally estimated the odds of this occurring as a one-in-five chance. In the weeks immediately after the Vienna summit, more than 20,000 people fled from East Berlin to the western sector in reaction to statements from the USSR. In July 1961, Kennedy announced his decision to add $3.25 billion to the defense budget, along with over 200,000 additional troops, stating that an attack on West Berlin would be taken as an attack on the U.S. The speech was very well received by the American people.
Kennedy's approval rating would remain high, including in March of 1962. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly in space. This raised American fears about being left behind in a technological competition with the Soviet Union. Kennedy was eager for the U.S. to take the lead in the Space Race. After directing Vice-President Lyndon Johnson to investigate the state of US Space technology, Kennedy concluded that a manned Moon landing was far enough in the future that it was likely the United States would achieve it first. On May 25, Kennedy announced the goal in a speech titled "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs".He said "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."
On May 5, 1961, Astronaut Alan Shepard was launched into orbit on Freedom 7 on a sub-orbital spaceflight aboard a Mercury-Redstone rocket, becoming the first American in outer space. The flight lasts 15 minutes 22 seconds, and reaches an apogee of 187.42 kilometres (116.46 mi), and a maximum speed of 8,277 kilometres per hour (5,143 mph) (Mach 6.94). On May 8, Kennedy met with Shepard at the White House, to congratulate him on becoming the first American in space.
It was early in the following year that national pride swelled. After a long series of delays, Friendship 7, piloted by astronaut John Glenn, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on February 20, 1962. Friendship 7 safely splashed down 800 miles (1,290 km) southeast of Cape Canaveral after Glenn's 4-hour, 55-minute flight. The flight made Glenn the first American to orbit the Earth, the third American in space, and the fifth human in space. Glenn called it the best day of his life, and it renewed U.S. confidence that it could win a battle of technology with the Soviet Union. A poll taken in early March once again spiked Kennedy's approval rating.
Kennedy's approval rating hit it's low point in September of 1963, just two months before his death. It was still above the 50% level (56%). He was hemorrhaging support in the south, where his recent support for the civil rights of African-Americans was unpopular with much of the party's base. On June 11, 1963, Kennedy had intervened when Alabama Governor George Wallace blocked the doorway to the University of Alabama to stop two African American students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending. Wallace moved aside only after being confronted by Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and the Alabama National Guard, which had just been federalized by order of the president. That evening Kennedy gave his Report to the American People on Civil Rights on national television and radio. He promised to launch his initiative for civil rights legislation, which promised to provide equal access to public schools and other facilities, and greater protection of voting rights.
Reaction to the speech was not just a matter of opinion, it became very violent. The next day, on June 12, 1963, NAACP leader Medgar Evers was murdered in front of his home in Mississippi. House Majority leader Carl Albert of Oklahoma called to advise him that his two-year signature effort in Congress to combat poverty in Appalachia had been defeated, because of a change in the votes of Southern Democrats and Republicans.
Over a hundred thousand, predominantly African Americans, gathered in Washington for the civil rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. Kennedy was concerned that the March would have a negative effect on the prospects for the civil rights bills in Congress, and he declined an invitation to speak. To ensure a peaceful demonstration, the organizers and the president personally edited speeches which were inflammatory and agreed the March would be held on a Wednesday and would be over by 4:00 pm. Thousands of troops were placed on standby.
The violence in the south continued. A bomb exploded on Sunday, September 15, at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Four African American children died in the explosion, and two other children were later shot to death. Kennedy called the congressional leaders to the White House and by the following day the original bill had enough votes to get it out of the House committee. Republican Senator Everett Dirksen promised the legislation would be brought to a vote preventing a Senate filibuster. The legislation was enacted after Kennedy's assassination in November.
It was Kennedy's decline in the polls that prompted his visit to Dallas in November of 1963. Kennedy decided to travel to Texas to smooth over friction in the Democratic Party between liberals Ralph Yarborough and conservative John Connally. A presidential visit to Texas was agreed upon by Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson Governor Connally in a meeting in El Paso on June 5, 1963. The trip began well and the President and First Lady were warmly received at a number of stops.
Kennedy was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m. in Dallas, Texas while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza. A ten-month investigation by the Warren Commission from November 1963 to September 1964 concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in shooting Kennedy, and that Jack Ruby also acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial. In contrast to the conclusions of the Warren Commission, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in 1979 that Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy". This remains the subject of intense controversy to this day.