Реферат на тему The Presidency of J. F. Kennedy.

Содержание:

Introduction 3
1. John F. Kennedy’s Life Before Big-Time Politics 5
2. Road to Presidency 7
3. The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) 10
3.1 Domestic Affairs 11
3.2 Foreign Affairs 14
Conclusion 20
References 22

Введение:

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35thPresident of the United States, went down in the world history as one of the most prominent politicians and democratic presidents of the 20thcentury. No other President of the United States has touched the collective consciousness of Americans so profoundly as John F. Kennedy. During his brief presidency (1961-1963), the world came to the brink of nuclear war; the racial segregation was abolished in the United States; Washington became the center of a superpower. The assassination of the President in 1963 became a symbol of sacrifice in the name of high values and ideals that blocked the historical reality.
The timeliness of the topic is because it is directly related to such important processes of our time as the understanding and rethinking of the relationship of personality and history. The fate of the people, the nation and humanity as a whole largely depends on the extent to which the person who is now at the head of the state and «creating» history is an outstanding politician and a strong personality or vice versa an mediocrity, showing his/her weak sides of character in the process of the presidential activity.
The purpose of this work is the study and consideration of individual facts from John F. Kennedy’s life and the political activities, especially during his presidency. The realization of this goal is achieved by solving the following tasks:
1. to study and analyze the historical, scientific and journalistic literature on the issues of biographical data and political achievements of John F. Kennedy during his presidency;
2. to analyze the conditions of John F. Kennedy’s formation as a person and his political views at the existing historical stage;
3. to analyze the personality of John F. Kennedy and to evaluate its activities;
4. to conduct a comprehensive study of John F. Kennedy’s activities as a President.
The work consists of the introduction, four abstract sections, the conclusion,
the list of references and sources. In order to more fully solve the tasks, the following methods were used: analysis of historical, scientific and journalistic literature; comparison of data from different sources; carrying out analogies within the studied material; systematization and generalization of the material.

Заключение:

Taking into account the studied materials (thesis, arguments and counter arguments), we have analyzed, the following conclusions can be drawn, revealing the main results of John F. Kennedy’s presidency:
1. Domestic Affairs. Implementing domestic policy Kennedy managed to accelerate the pace of economic development. In 1961-1962, the state spending on a number of measures in the social sphere, in particular, the solvency of the population’s demand, was increased. Numerous programs developed and approved to assist the people, primarily, the coal miners, lived in the depressed regions.
Due to the large-scale program to reduce the cost of housing construction, the government has increased its allocations for assistance to low-income groups. Adopted in 1963, the law fixed at the state level the direction of Federal budget funds for higher education and vocational training. In 1962, Congress passed a law that, for the first time in the USA history, tasked the state with training and retraining the workforce.
The course of the Kennedy administration was set to increase Federal spending on tax methods to stimulate the national economy. In order to encourage private investment, the Kennedy administration provided tax breaks. The Kennedy administration made the first attempts to abolish racial discrimination. The black Americans were allowed to attend the regular schools. In September 1961, to help people in developing countries to acquire the basic skills and knowledge Kennedy established the ”Peace Corps” organization. John F. Kennedy did a lot for space exploration, initiating the launch of the “Apollo” program.
2. Foreign Affairs. In foreign policy, the Kennedy administration advocated better relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, but his reign was also marked by major foreign policy tensions: the failed landing at the Bay of Pigs (April 1961), the Berlin crisis (1961), the Caribbean crisis (1961), the increased of the US intervention in the Civil war in South Vietnam. Kennedy called to strengthen military blocs and increase the US military power, using economic “aid” and ideological penetration in order to “contain communism”. It strengthened the position of the USA and the capitalist system as a whole.
At the same time, the president Kennedy proposed the “Alliance for progress” program to improve the relation between the USA and the countries of Latin America. It was established to promote the economic development of Latin America, which was severely damaged in recent years.
Thus, during the short time in office, the 35th US President John F. Kennedy made a great contribution to the national and world history. But, he was not able to implement many significant and useful initiatives for the American people because Congress restrained his domestic and foreign policy and, of course, due to his early death.
Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963 shocked not only America, but also the whole world. He remained in the memory of people in both a person who had a poignant wit, good organizational skills, and a serious politician, able to admit his mistakes and influence the fate not only of the American nation, but also of all humanity.
However, he (especially in the last period) advocated finding solutions to disputable international problems through negotiations, a more realistic approach to relations with the Soviet Union.
The main conclusion of this report can be considered as the fact that, despite the rejection of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries policies, and a great number of measures aimed at combating them, by the end of his presidency, John F. Kennedy came to the conclusion that peaceful coexistence of different political systems was possible. In our opinion, that factor was the main reason for his assassination, since his political opponents could not reconcile themselves to this presidential position.

Фрагмент текста работы:

John F. Kennedy’s Life before Big-Time Politics

John F. Kennedy, in full John Fitzgerald Kennedy, by name JFK, nicknamed “Jack” in his family, was born on May 29, 1917 in an Irish Catholic family in Brookline, Massachusetts (the USA). He was named in honor of his mother’s father.
From childhood John was destined for a public career, because his grandfather, John Francis Fitzgerald, nicknamed “Honey Fitz”, was a skilled politician and was served as a congressman and the Boston Mayor. John’s father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy was a multimillionaire business executive and financier at a bank. Among his long line of achievements, include services as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and of the U.S. Maritime Commission. He also served as the ambassador to the Great Britain. His mother, Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald, was a philanthropist.
John was the second oldest of nine children. The upbringing in the family was aimed at intensive physical and mental development as well as effective competition among four brothers and five sisters in sailing competitions, football and swimming and Joe Kennedy often chided them for not finishing in the first place. John believed in his father’s philosophy that winning was everything. As Eunice, Jack’s sister, recalled, “He hates to lose at anything. That’s the only thing Jack gets really emotional about – when he loses.” [5]
In his youth, Jack Kennedy was difficult to compete, because he had a bright charisma and by that time he had already had many achievements. Despite persistent health problems throughout his childhood and teenage years (later he would be diagnosed with a rare endocrine disorder called Addison’s disease), Jack led a privileged youth, attending private schools such as Canterbury and Choate and spending summers in Hyannis Port on Cape Cod.
When Jack’s father was appointed US Ambassador in the United Kingdom, the young man lived with him in London. Being a student at Harvard University, for six months in 1938 Jack made frequent trips as his father’s secretary to the European
countries directly observing the process of fascism development.