After winning over seven primary states, Kennedy won the nomination, with Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate. The Republicans nominated Richard M. Nixon as their candidate for presidency. A few of Kennedy's disadvantages were his youth, his family's wealth, his inexperience in foreign affairs, and his religion, Roman Catholicism. Nixon had the advantage of having been vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower, an extremely popular president. However, Kennedy and his attractive wife were appealing to the public. The televised debates with Nixon, which marked the first time that presidential candidates debated issues face to face, showed a charming and confident Kennedy to millions of viewers. He defeated Nixon by fewer than 115,000 popular votes, but won a clear majority in the Electoral College, receiving 303 votes to 219 for Nixon. On January 20, 1961, JFK is inaugurated as the thirty-fifth president of the United States, making him the youngest and first Catholic president. In his inaugural address he promised to work for freedom around the world, calls for a renewed quest for peace, and asked the American people to give something of themselves, by stating, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your …show more content…
Kennedy was sworn in, on March 1, 1961, he creates the Peace Corps, which sends more than ten thousand young volunteers to developing nations around the world during the next five years. Living in simple quarters, these volunteer health-care workers, teachers, and engineers help improve local conditions, particularly in agriculture and public health. The creation of the Peace Corps was one of Kennedy’s greatest accomplishments. During his second year of his term, on October 16, 1962, U.S. spy planes took photos of Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba. Kennedy demands that the Soviets remove the missiles immediately. He then orders a naval blockade of Cuba to stop Soviet ships from reaching that Caribbean island. Twelve day later on October 28, the Cuban Missile Crisis ends when President Kennedy accepts an offer made by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. The Soviets agreed remove their missiles from Cuba if the United States removes its missiles from Turkey and promises not to invade Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis is the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. Another one of Kennedy’s greatest accomplishment of his administration was the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, where on October 7, 1963, he signs a treaty with the Soviet Union banning nuclear testing in the atmosphere, space, or underwater, which was an important step toward the control of nuclear