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=John F. Kennedy=
 * Home | 1960s | Civil Rights | **JFK** | Viet Nam | Counter Culture |

After a narrow victory against Richard Nixon, Kennedy uttered one of the most memorable sentences in U.S. history: "My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country."

In office, Kennedy wished to increase aid to education, to better the economy, to provide health insurance to the elderly, to create a Department of Urban Affairs, and to improve U.S. society generally. This platform became known as the //New Frontier//. His stance on the Cold War was easy enough to understand: the United States' weapons were not up to par with those of the USSR.

In an attempt to increase growth in the economy, Kennedy persuaded Congress to allot more capital to space exploration and defense. These were successful applications of deficit spending. Kennedy proposed tax cuts so that bussinesses would have more money to invest. He also asked bussiness not to raise wages or prices. The steel industry did not comply, so Kennedy threatened to buy foreign; in addition, he had the Justice Department investigate possible price fixing in the steel industry.

Kennedy also concerned himself with womens' rights. He created the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women which in turn drafted the Equal Pay Act which Kennedy signed in 1963. He also supported deinstitutionalization for those with mental illness and other impairments. Kennedy's sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded a day camp which eventually evolved into the Special Olympics program.