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John Fit/.gprnlrl Kfiinrdy, .‘ifilli I’rcHitlent of Ili«» llnitt’il Status, Was Killed Friday hv an Assasin’s Bullet after Almost Three Years in Office.
3 Years of New Frontier
WHAT IS protmbly the
biggest news story of our
lifetime unfolded before n
Htmined nation thin week*
end
Friday afternoon students
bent speechless and unbe
lieving over rndloR In auto-
lnoblles, dormitories, frn-
ternlty and sorority houses
as tbe news of President
John F. Kennedy's assassina
tion came over the air.
Throughout the weekend,
as thi< broadenstlug Indus
try suspended regular pro
gramming to report Investi
gation proceedings and me
morial and funeral services,
the Initial shock gave way
to the sober realization that
the President of the United
States was Indeed dead.
Dynamic and Progressive
An assessment of his
three years In office lenves
Ho doubt that President
Kennedy's administration
will be remembered ns one
ns dynamic nnd progressive
ns the personality of the
chief executive himself.
In assorted statements by
President Kennedy shortly
after his election ns the
youngest U. S. chief execu
tive in November, 19(50, he
let the nation know that he
Intended to leave his mnrk
In Washington.
"Courage. Judgment, In
tegrity. dedication," he said,
“these are the qualities
which, with God's help, this
son of Massachusetts hopes
will characterize our Govern-
ment's conduct
in the
four
stormy years
that
lie
ahead . . .
“Before my
term
lias
ended, wo shall have tested
anew whother a nation
organized nnd governed such
as ours can endure. The out
come is by no means certain.
The answer Is by no means
clear . , ,
“Let It be recognized that
this administration recog
nizes the value of dissent
nnd dnring, that we greet
healthy controversy ns the
hallmark of healthy
change , , ,
"Others m a y confine
themselves to debate, dlsrus-
slon and that ultimate lux
ury—-free advice. Our re
sponsibility is one of deci
sion, for to govern Is to
choose , , .
All the people
"I have no wish to he
known as a narrowly parti
san President, or ns a pri
vate-interest President—I
want to be President of all
the people. I wnnt to he a
President who has the con
fidence of the peoplo—nnd
who takes the people Into
his confidence. I wnnt to be
a President who acts ns well
as reacts—who originates
programs ns well ns study
groups. A President who Is
willing to take the respon
sibility for getting things
done, nnd take the blame
If they are not done right.
I wnnt to be a President
who believes In working
full time when millions of
men nnd women are forced
to work part time. 1 want
to be a President who Is
concerned, not only about
the government balancing
its budget, but about the
housewife balancing
hors . . .
To Win the Peace
"I want above all else to
be a President known—at
the end of four years—as
one who not only prevented
war but won the peace*—as
one of whom history might
say: He not only laid the
foundations for peace In his
time, but for generations to
come ns well. ..."
But "our responsibility Is
not discharged by an an
nouncement of virtuous
ends,” President Kennedy
said.
"Let me make It clear as
the President of the United
Stntes thnt 1 am determined
upon our system's survival
nnd success, regardless of
the cost and regardless of
the peril . . .
"I would rather he ac
cused of brenklng precedents
than brenklng promises. . . .”
• • •
John Fitzgerald Ken
nedy’s administration was
one mnrked by dissent, dar
ing and controversy. But It
cannot be said of President
Kennedy thnt he was afraid
to meet any Issue head-on.
He could not be accused of
fence-strnddllng: he took a
positive stand on all major
Issues. Sometimes his views
were unpopular, but he
stuck to them with the same
conviction with which he
took his stand.
Cuban Missile Crisis
In his second year In of
fice Kennedy confronted So
viet Premier Khrushchev
with a demand to remove
Russian missiles set up In
Cuba and pointing at the
United Stntes 90 miles away.
All offensive missiles were
removed after the President
ordered a naval quarantine
of the Island country.
Karlv In Kennedy’s term.
Cuban refugees with United
Stntes backing attempted to
recapture their homeland
from Fidel Castro in the Ill-
fated Bay of Pigs Invasion
fiasco. As a result U. S. pres
tige abroad plummeted. But
Kennedy later warned In a
speech that the United
States would act on its own
against Cuban Reds If U. S.
securtty was threatened.
Later the Kremlin advised
it was withdrawing more of
its troops from the Island.
Kennedy confronted
Khruschev again over the
divided city of Berlin. Fol
lowing a crisis concerning
Allied air access to the city,
the President personally
visited West Berlin to reas
sure West Germans that the
United States intended to
stand behind its promise to
defend them.
Laos and Viet Nam
Other faraway lands, not
ably Laos and Viet Nam,
a r o 8 e as Communist
trouble-spots and again
President Kennedy did not
hesitate to defend the Free
World’s positions there.
Guerrilla warfare and gov
ernment turnovers resulted,
but the United States met
the crises without reserva
tion.
Kennedy also succeeded
in easing Cold War tensions
by negotiating a limited nu
clear test ban treaty with
the Soviet Union and ap
proving the sale of four mil
lion tons of surplus wheat
to drought-ridden Soviet
bloc nations.
Racial Violence
The President weathered
racial crises nnd accompany
ing violence In several
Southern cities. notably
Montgomery nnd Birming
ham. Ain. And he employed
federal might to enforce
court orders for the integra
tion of Southern state uni
versities, including the Uni
versity of Mississippi where
rioting resulted in several
deaths and injuries.
His crackdown on U. S.
Steel and the entire steel
industry for proposed price
hikes alienated some big
business against the Presi
dent. but his Imposition of
federal mediation in rail
road-union labor negotia
tions, an unprecedented fed
eral action, helped to avert
a catastrophic national rail
road strike.
During Kennedy’s ad
ministration the United
States made several great
strides forward in the space
race. Lt. Col. John Glenn,
Lt. Comdr. Scott Carpenter,
Comdr. Walter Schirra and
Maj. Gordon Cooper made
successive orbital flights as
the first of America's astro
nauts.
Legislative Proposals
Kennedy placed several of
his New Frontier legislative
proposals on the floor of the
Congress with varying de
grees of success.
The 87th Congress re
jected the President’s pro
posals for federal aid to
public elementary and secon
dary schools, health insur
ance for the aged under So
cial Security, a cabinet de
partment of urban affairs,
stiff controls on production
of surplus farm crops and
stand-by authority to initi
ate public works projects
and reduce income taxes to
combat economic recessions.
The Congress approved an
Increase in the minimum
wage, and increased Socinl
Security benefits and liberal-*
ized requirements for quali
fying under the program.
It passed a trade expan
sion act which gave the
President an unprecedented
grant of new tariff-cutting
powers to use as a bargain
ing lever for mutual tariff
concessions by the European
Common Market and other
non-Communlst countries.
Space Communications
The Congress approved
establishment of a private
corporation to develop, own
and operate satellites for
space communications. New
federal powers to regulate •
drugs were granted. New
postal rates were adopted.
A $600 million aid pro
gram was initiated for Latin
America and out of it grew
the Alliance for Progress, a
program to aid underde
veloped, poverty-stricken
countries to the south.
By executive order Presi
dent Kennedy established
the Peace Corps to aid un
derdeveloped nations and
Congress appropriated mon
ey for this new, unprece
dented project.
The 88th Congress
When the 88th Congress
convened, the President
placed before it two pieces
of New Frontier legislation
which he considered vital.
One of these, the sweep
ing civil rights bill, has been
tied up in committees and
has slowly run the legislat
ive gauntlet in the face of
much wrangling, maneuver
ing and opposition.
The President’s tax reduc
tion program also met ve
hement opposition in the
Congress but was finally
adopted In the House as a
bill which gave Individuals
and corporations tax relief
in a two-step program be
ginning in January, 1964.
“To Do Our Best”
“Our task in this coun
try,” President Kennedy
once said, "is to do our best
to serve our nation’s inter
est as we see it, and not to
be swayed from our course
by the faint-hearted or the
unknowing.”
He was 'a man of strong
conviction who subscribed to
this philosophy of action
throughout his three years
as chief executive of the
United States.
This campus remembers
Kennedy as the energetic
young Senator from Massa
chusetts who told the class
of 1957 in a commencement
address, "I urge the appli
cation of your talents to the
public solution of the great
problems of our time. We
want from you graduates
not the sneers of the cynic
nor the despair of the faint
hearted. We ask you for en
lightenment, vision and il
lumination.”
At the Crossroads
He will be remembered
by the nation as the young
President who took his of
fice with these words: "In
the life of every nation, as
in the life of every man,
there comes a time when a
nation stands at the cross
roads; when it can either
shrink from the future and
retire into its shell, or can
move ahead, asserting its
will and its faith in an un
certain sea. I believe that we
stand at such a juncture . ..
"Let every nation know,
whether it wishes us well
or ill, that we shall pay any
price, bear any burden, meet
any hardship, support any
friend, oppose any foe to
assure the survival and the
success of liberty."
Champion of Peace
History will be the final
judge of his merit as a
President. But the nation
and world will remember
John F. Kennedy, a war
hero, as a champion of
peace. He rests today in fin
al peace in Arlington Na
tional Cemetery among the
graves of other Americans
who fought and died for the
freedom for which President
Kennedy was also a marrtyr.
»■»>,
Notice •
The Red and Black will
resume publication on Tues
day of next week, following
the Thanksgiving holidays.
The final issue will be
published Thursday. Dee. 5.
€\)t &eb anb JHacfe
Cliff Cheney
Editor-in-Chirf
George Watts
Bunin run Manager
Margaret Smith
Managing Editor
Billy W arren
Billy Mann
Carolyn Jackson
Katy Harrell
News Editor
.. Sports Editor
Women’s Editor
Society Editor
Andra Taylor. Nick IHmtcn, Pat Taylor Asst. News Editors
Nancy Itubln, Susan Shank. Dennis Mollcnkamp,
llctty Johnson. Betsy Smith. Mike Wise,
larry Bendy , Diane Townsend News Staff
Milton Milner Circulation Mgr,
Bob Miller. Mickey M. t ay Staff Artists
Handers Camp Jr. Office Maimger
Volume l.\\ll
Number 10
Published semi-weekly at the University of Georgia, Athens
Georgia.
Entered at the Post Office In Athens. Georgia as Mail Mat
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