Ten things John F. Kennedy did in his first three months as President of the United States:
- Sent Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson on a goodwill tour of Africa
- Appointed Robert C. Weaver as administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency
- Directed the Department of Agriculture to increase food distributions to the unemployed
- Named Clifford R. Wharton ambassador to Norway
- Instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to integrate the United States Coast Guard
- Established the Peace Corps
- Ordered active-duty military officers to clear public statements through the White House
- Held weekly press conferences
- Created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity to eliminate discrimination in Federal hiring
- Deployed 500 U.S. Marines on the Thai-Lao border
I'm in the middle of John F. Kennedy: An Unfinished Life, 1917-1963, Robert Dallek's 2003 biography of the 35th President of the United States. The account of the 1960 Democratic primary race presents an interesting contrast to the current primary. For one thing, only 14 states held primary elections, and three of them were won by people who were not serious candidates, but were rather running only in their home states in hope of using their delegates to gain leverage at the convention. And Adlai Stevenson mounted a relatively credible run at the nomination at the convention, without having competed in any primary elections at all. Wacky!
