What was the impact of Kennedy’s ‘New Frontier’ programme on Civil Rights, Poverty, Health and Education?

In CIVIL RIGHTS, Kennedy's impact was slow and incomplete.  Although his Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity worked with large companies for fair employment practices, it took little action to enforce the Equal Pay Act.  He banned segregation on interstate transport … buy only after the horrors of the Freedom Rides.  And only in 1963 – i.e. the third year of his Presidency – did he, in his televised Report to the American People on Civil Rights, promise action on civil rights.  In the event, his civil rights legislation, which proposed ending segregation in public facilities and schools, made civil rights a national moral issue ...  but it faced opposition from southern Republicans, was only fully realized after his assassination (with the Civil Rights Act of 1964), and addressed only legal discrimination (not inequality or racism). 

Kennedy's impact on HEALTH was similarly limited by political resistance.  One of his key proposals, a Medicare program to provide health insurance for the elderly, was rejected by Congress.  His administration did manage to improve medical services for disabled children and prenatal care for low-income families as part of the Social Security Amendments Act of 1961, and the Health Professionals Educational Assistance Act of 1963 – which provided grants for the training of medical professionals – was another significant achievement, addressing the need for more healthcare workers.  These measures improved areas of the healthcare services, but without Medicare, many elderly Americans continued to struggle with medical costs.  Kennedy's efforts in health, though important, were more successful in setting the stage for future reforms than in achieving immediate, widespread change. 

In the fight against POVERTY, Kennedy did better.  His economic stimulus package of 1961 included a 20% increase in Social Security payments, aid for the children of unemployed workers, and aid for distressed areas.  The 1961 Housing Act set about clearing slum areas.  A pilot Food Stamp program, and an extension of free school meals, fed millions of Americans.  The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1961, which increased the minimum wage, also helped raise the standard of living for millions of low-wage workers.  However, some initiatives, such as the Area Redevelopment Act, which aimed to create jobs, were less effective and struggled to make a significant impact.  Overall, Kennedy's anti-poverty measures did have an impact on many poor Americans' lives … but much remained still to be done. 

In EDUCATION also, Kennedy had a positive impact.  His administration increased funding for special education, and measures to prevent school drop-outs and juvenile delinquency.  There was a pilot programme of vocational training, and most New Frontier programmes included an educational element.  These initiatives had a meaningful long-term impact on the lives of young Americans, particularly those from low-income backgrounds. 

Revisionist historians accused Kennedy of missing an opportunity – promising but failing to deliver, being all style and no substance.  More recently, however, historians have acknowledged that his commitment to Civil Rights, Poverty, Health and Education was genuine and that – even if some of his domestic policies failed to accomplish all he hoped – they made meaningful reform in the future inevitable.