Kennedy Administration - Domestic Issues
Domestic Issues
When Kennedy took his oath of office in 1961, the United States still enjoyed the unprecedented prosperity begun after World War II (1939–45). Production of U.S. goods and services increased by 37 percent during the 1950s, boosting the Gross National Product (GNP—the value of goods and services produced and sold each year) to $488 billion by 1960, or almost five times what it had been in 1940. More families than ever before (80 percent) owned automobiles and their own homes (61.9 percent), many of which were now located in the rapidly expanding suburbs. Unemployment remained low compared to prior decades. Family incomes (up 30 percent since 1950) provided real purchasing power, because prices remained stable and inflation was negligible.
There was a slight recession in the country when Kennedy became president. Conservative Republican policies had kept inflation below 2 percent, but the annual growth rate...
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