external image john-f-kennedy-in-repose.jpgKennedy started off with a bang. He planned a new domestic agenda called the New Frontier to which he set out to improve aid to education, provide health insurance to the elderly, and create a Department of Urban Affairs. He had a very difficult time getting through to Congress. Even though a majority of both houses of Congress were Democrats, they still thought that the New Frontier was really expensive, and with the Republicans they were able to defeat many of Kennedy's proposals. They thought that his efforts to increase the power of the federal government would push the nation down an ominous path.