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Executive Branch, Economic Policies, Vietnam War/French Indo-Chinese War, United States History - 20th Century - 1945 to 2000, Political Biography, U.S. - Political Biography, U.S. Politics - History, Public Affairs & Policies
Promises Kept: John F. Kennedy's New Frontier by Irving Bernstein β€” book cover

Promises Kept: John F. Kennedy's New Frontier

by Irving Bernstein
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Overview

A counter-revisionist examination of JFK and his administration, Promises Kept presents a policy history of major domestic legislative efforts between 1961 and 1963. Bernstein focuses on administraive and congressional progress under Kennedy in civil rights, education, taxes, unemployment, Medicare, and the Peace Corps. He persuasively argues that Kennedy was indeed a successful president, showing that many of JFK's campaign promises were well on their way to enactment by the time of his assassination, even after two years of dealings with a balky and often hostile Congress, and the difficulty of working in a political system changing from conservative to liberal.

Since the death of John F. Kennedy, those early sainted biographies have given way to sharply critical portraits that depict a mediocre president whose domestic program had been a dismal failure. Bernstein argues that "the revisionists are dead wrong, " here providing a vivid re-creation of Kennedy's domestic achievements and fight for civil rights.

Synopsis

A counter-revisionist examination of JFK and his administration, Promises Kept presents a policy history of major domestic legislative efforts between 1961 and 1963. Bernstein focuses on administraive and congressional progress under Kennedy in civil rights, education, taxes, unemployment, Medicare, and the Peace Corps. He persuasively argues that Kennedy was indeed a successful president, showing that many of JFK's campaign promises were well on their way to enactment by the time of his assassination, even after two years of dealings with a balky and often hostile Congress, and the difficulty of working in a political system changing from conservative to liberal.

About the Author, Irving Bernstein

About the Author
Irving Bernstein is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. His works include The Lean Years, Turbulent Years and A Caring Societyβ€”an acclaimed trilogy on the American worker in the era of the Great Depression.

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Book Details

Published
January 17, 1991
Publisher
Oxford University Press, USA
Pages
384
ISBN
9780199879663

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