New Frontier - Definition and Overview

The term New Frontier was used by John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech in 1960 as the Democratic nominee, and was used as a label for his administration's domestic program.

We stand at the edge of a New Frontier – the frontier of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. It will deal with unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. - Kennedy

Kennedy's New Frontier domestic program was ambitious, promising federal funding for education, medical care for the elderly, and government intervention to halt the recession. Kennedy also promised an end to racial discrimination. The New Frontier program proved impossible to complete, however, due to the reluctance of a conservative Congress. Still, Kennedy established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity to eliminate racial discrimination in hiring of government employees and in 1962 issued an executive order forbidding segregation of federally funded housing. Apart from these efforts, Kennedy's lack of follow through on his campaign promise disappointed many civil rights activists.