John F. Kennedy

President John Kennedy held the presidency during one of the most chaotic era of American history . The Cold War between America and Russia was on its apex . On trhe domestic front , racial pressure mounted . So from the first moments of his presidency , Kennedy evoked a sense of security and a spirit of idealism which reassured Americans of their nation 's strengths and inspired them to serve their country and the world (PBS ) Commenting on the election of Kennedy , Prof . Blum says "With Kennedy election , the first of the established states of the world

was turning to a generation of political leadership . The generation which was born during the "First World War , grew up during the depression , fought in the Second World War , and began its career in the atomic age had at-least arrived at the seat of power (Blum , 786

During his election campaigns John F . Kennedy had talked of 'New Frontiers ' and impressed on the need for the nation to move forward When Kennedy was inaugurated as President , the Democrats had also majority in both the houses of the Congress . Under the circumstances it could be reasonably expected that a new wave of reform and progressivism would sweep the country . However , nothing of the sort happened and there was only a slight shift to the left of 'moderate Republicanism . No doubt , President Kennedy presented the Congress with a legislative programme which was quite different from the one presented by his predecessors in the fifties , but all of them were not carried through the Congress . Some of his proposals which were enacted into laws by the Congress were so much modified that they reached the statute book in a watered down form . Let us examine the chief achievements of Kennedy administration under the following headings

Trade Expansion Act : In 1962 Kennedy requested Congress to pay a law authorizing the Executive to negotiate trade agreements in which American duties could be reduced on categories of goods and to eliminate tariffs altogether on certain items . To protect the American industries from foreign competition he proposed that the Federal Government should aid the companies to modernise and diversify their production . However the various interests tried to get safeguards for their industries and numerous amendments were suggested to the proposals . Ultimately the bill was passed by the Congress but the administration was denied the right to accord most favoured nation treatment to any Communist country . This implied that not only the Communist nations in the Russian or Chinese bloc were excluded , but also the revisionist Communist states like Poland and Yugoslavia were driven away from the west and encouraged to develop closer relations with Soviet Russia

Tax Revision : With a view to stimulate the sluggish economy Kennedy sought tax revision . He proposed a seven per cent tax credit to the business firms for investment in new equipment with a view to stimulate economically beneficial new investments . The loss so suffered was to be covered up by collecting income tax on dividends and interest . This...