Write 5-6 sentences for each post in your own words in response to all three posts. 18 sentences in total.
Discussion 1
John F. Kennedy’s leadership pros and cons
Pros:
The United States could only be made the strongest and led to triumph by one man. That man was John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the youngest and 35th President of the United States of America. The African American Civil Rights Movement, the Space Race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Berlin Wall building, among other things, made his administration stand out. He was renowned for being a powerful public speaker as well. His magnetic personality consistently scored highly in public opinion surveys; in 1962, it peaked at 83%.
Kennedy promoted a liberal and progressive domestic agenda that included Medicare, education funding, tax reform, and a robust new civil rights law. Kennedy successfully fought inflation by getting the large steel corporations to reverse their announced price increase. He also demonstrated how a strong president can defeat corporate dominance. America prospered and unemployment decreased under Kennedy.
Kennedy accepted entire responsibility for the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion, even though it had been planned and executed by the previous Administration. As a result, he learned never to trust military “experts” once more. Kennedy disregarded his military advisors and adopted a calm and reasonable stance during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, preventing the start of nuclear war and resulting in America’s greatest cold war win. By adopting a neutralist government and refraining from committing the United States to an Asian land war in his handling of the Laos issue, Kennedy also contributed to the world’s drive toward peace (trivia, 2004).
His victory in securing a test ban treaty put a stop to the danger of atmospheric fallout and marked the beginning of global disarmament. The United States started to recognize its commitments to developing countries under Kennedy. JFK’s generous “Alliance for Progress” made him a hero throughout Latin America, and the Peace Corps received accolades from all around the world.
Cons:
JFK did inspire a generation of Americans and brought them a high level of excitement, but he never delivered on his promises. The Kennedy years were marked by tension and upheaval, yet the American people saw little real progress at that time. This disconnect between rhetoric and reality was a major contributor to the nation’s discontent and resentment in the late 1960s (Trivia, 2004).
Due to Kennedy’s obsession with “counter-insurgency,” American involvement in Southeast Asia has grown. Kennedy most likely would have made the same errors that Johnson did. There is no evidence to suggest that his passing significantly altered the course of American history as a whole.
Trivia-Library. (2004). President John F. Kennedy: Pros of His Presidency. Retrieved from https://www.trivia-library.com/a/president-john-f-kennedy-pros-of-his-presidency.htm
Trivia-Library. (2004). President John F. Kennedy: Cons of His Presidency. Retrieved from https://www.trivia-library.com/a/president-john-f-kennedy-cons-of-his-presidency.htm
Discussion 2
ohn Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States of America was the youngest president. His administration stood out because of things like the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans, the Space Race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the building of the Berlin Wall. He was also known for being an excellent public speaker. His magnetic personality always got high marks in public opinion polls. In 1962, it reached its highest score of 83% (2004). Depending on who you ask, either John F. Kennedy was a good president or he wasn’t. John F. Kennedy had many different ways of leading throughout his career and while he was president. In some ways, he was a great president. He led the country through hard times like a recession and an international war. But he also went through several other things that might have hurt his chances of getting re-elected. There was no question that a lot of people in the US loved President Kennedy. Many people also thought he changed social norms too quickly and was weak on communism. Kennedy pushed for a liberal and progressive domestic agenda that included Medicare, funding for education, tax reform, and a strong new civil rights law. Kennedy was able to stop inflation by getting the big steel companies to cancel their plans to raise prices. He also showed how a strong president can beat the power of corporations. Under Kennedy, America did well and unemployment went down (2004).
Even though it was planned and carried out by the previous administration, Kennedy took full responsibility for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Because of this, he learned never to trust “experts” in the military again. During the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, Kennedy ignored his military advisors and took a calm and reasonable stance. This prevented a nuclear war from starting and was America’s biggest win of the Cold War. In the way he handled the Laos problem, Kennedy also helped move the world toward peace. He set up a neutralist government and kept the US from getting involved in a land war in Asia. His success in getting a treaty to stop testing put an end to the danger of fallout in the air and started the process of disarming the whole world. Under Kennedy, the US started to live up to its promises to developing countries. With his generous “Alliance for Progress,” JFK became a hero in Latin America, and the Peace Corps was praised all over the world (2004).
JFK did inspire a whole generation of Americans and make them very excited, but he never did what he said he would do. During the Kennedy years, there was a lot of stress and change, but the American people didn’t see much real progress. This gap between what was said and what was happening was a big reason why people were angry and unhappy in the late 1960s. Because Kennedy was so interested in “counter-insurgency,” the US has become more involved in Southeast Asia (2004). Most likely, Kennedy would have done the same stupid things that Johnson did. There is no evidence that his death changed the course of American history as a whole in a big way (2004).
References
President John F. Kennedy: Cons of his presidency – trivia-library.com. (2004). Retrieved from https://www.trivia-library.com/a/president-john-f-kennedy-cons-of-his-presidency.htm
President John F. Kennedy: Pros of his presidency – trivia-library.com. (2004). Retrieved from https://www.trivia-library.com/a/president-john-f-kennedy-pros-of-his-presidency.htm
Discussion 3
The Reagan Years
The year is 1980, The Empire Strikes Back is the number 1 movie at the box office, “call me” by Blondie (great song by the way) was the number 1 song on the radio. But not everything was great in America the federal unemployment rate was 7.5% and there was almost 8 million people looking for a job. Inflation was at its highest point in decades, nearly 15% in March of 1980. The newly elected president had a course that focused on building businesses that would pump money into the economy. President Reagan moved to deregulate multiple industries like manufacturing and energy production while lowering tax brackets through the Economic Recovery Tax Act. President Reagan simplified and reduced the tax structure and then created what would come to be called Reaganomics with the Tax Reform Act of 1986, resulting in a mixture of growth and wage increases, but also had negatives, such as government debt growth and increased income inequality. Many economists argue about some of Reagan successes but taking just the facts across the board it’s hard to argue against him. Using the Gross Domestic Product, also known as GDP, as a measuring stick President Reagan’s economic plans showed a marked improvement from the 1970’s average, with 3.6 percent growth per year compared to the previous decade’s 2.8 percent growth; this led to a $2 trillion increase in economic production. According to the census bureau President Reagan plan created 21 million jobs from December 1982 to June 1990. The biggest indicator was that the inflation rate fell to a record low 4%, down 3.5% from the previous administration.
