The challenges of the United States after World War II placed the country through a complex array of social, political and economic issues to be faced. The construction of one of the world's greatest powers has faced obstacles that have developed in a world marked by transformations. The Cold War and civil rights were some of the new issues that alerted “Uncle Sam” in the early 1960s.
Shortly after General Dwight Eisenhower's term in office, Americans lived through moments of economic stagnation and faced international political conflicts. The communist threat had lulled the Eisenhower government into exorbitant spending in the space race against the Soviet Union. At the same time, the tensions of the bipolar world caused great insecurity to the supposed US hegemony in the world.
This concern with external problems ended up leaving aside a vast set of internal issues to be resolved in the United States. The emergence of national problems caused a young and “modern” Democratic politician to win the 1960 elections. John Kennedy came to power interested in offering a “new frontier” for US citizens. His proposals involved the search for equality and social justice.
Compared to previous terms, Kennedy marked his administration by adopting laws that expanded social rights and promoted racial integration. The transformative nature of his measures provoked extreme reactions from the most conservative sectors of the country. By objectively fighting the racial issue in the United States, Kennedy stirred up a controversial issue not only of politics, but also of American culture.
In foreign policy, Kennedy's modernizing tone was not the same as that given to his nation. In Vietnam, democratic freedoms were stunted by military intervention that resulted in one of the longest wars ever fought by the United States. Regarding Cuba, the Bay of Pigs Incident was the result of an attempt by the Kennedy government to take over the Cuban government by training Cuban exiles who were supposed to overthrow President Fidel Castro.
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To get around the first failures of his foreign policy, he signed the so-called Alliance for Progress, which emphasized financial aid to the poorest countries in Latin America. In addition, Kennedy launched the challenge of man's going to the Moon, continuing the space race started during the Cold War. In 1962, in the Missile Crisis, Kennedy denounced the existence of Soviet nuclear warheads in Cuba. This episode opened the door to a possible world conflict.
The uncertainties brought about by the military tensions of the bipolar order and the actions that struggled against the problem The race in the United States made Kennedy make an easy name on the lips of many supporters and opposers. On November 22, 1963, during a parade in the city of Dallas, two shots took the life of President John Kennedy. His death, to this day surrounded by uncertainty, was attributed to Lee Oswald.
Due to such national commotion, the president's death shook the United States, pointing to the unfeasibility of certain conservative positions. During the rest of the 1960s, civil rights, the race issue, and the Vietnam War were subjects of great recurrent in the international news and among the citizens themselves Americans.
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SOUSA, Rainer Gonçalves. "It was Kennedy"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historia-da-america/era-kennedy.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
