Question 1. John F. Kennedy's "New Politics" was based in part on the emergence of television as a medium capable of being used or manipulated by political candidates pursuing electoral support. As David C. Whitney (p. 308) has noted, the highlight of Kennedy's campaign for the presidency was a series of four televised debates between Kennedy and Richard F. Nixon, "the first time in history that most of the American people were able to see and hear both major party candidates state their views and question each other face-to-face."
Kennedy's governing strategy involved bringing to the presidency what Paul Johnson (p. 856) described as a mastery of public relations. Kennedy selected an impressive group of academics and businesspeople to serve in his administration and drew upon their expertise in shaping both foreign and domestic policy. However, Kennedy's closest adviser was his brother, Robert Kennedy, who he appointed as Attorney General and who fulfilled many of the obligations of a chief of staff.
Unlike his predecessors, John F. Kennedy employed the media to gain popular support for his programs and policies. He used press conferences and other strategies to take his case to the public which in turn placed pressure on members of Congress to respond favorably to his proposals (Johnson, p. 866). Kennedy was charismatic and conveyed a youthful image that resonated with voters.
Question 2. The civil rights movement in the 1960s was the most successful effort in a longstanding movement to improve the status of minority groups in the United States. Eric Foner (p. 284) pointed out that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the culmination of an intensive 100-year struggle that peaked in the early 1960s as more and more African-Americans and white Americans joined in a nationwide effort to end school segregation, residential segregation, and other overt forms of institutionalized racism.
To participants of the civi...