JFK and the Steel Crisis

[Ammaarah Hamidullah]

Speaker: President John F. Kennedy
Occasion: News Conference
April 10, 1962 as the United States was emerging from a recession, the nation's largest steel companies raised steel prices 3.5 percent. President John F. Kennedy who had repeatedly called for stable prices and wages as a part of a program national status during a period of economic distress held a news conference April 11, 1962, which he opened with the following commentary regarding the hike in steel prices. President Kennedy's condemning tone appeals
to the blue collar experience which is exceptional considering his lavish upbringing. "Simultaneous and identical actions of United States Steel as other leading steel corporations, increasing steel prices by some 6 dollars a ton, constitute a wholly unjustifiable and irresponsible defiance of the public interest." He starts his speech. This statement, though the diction, alone catches the attention of the average American. A man like President John F Kennedy could easily turn a blind eye to a price rise like this, make money and create powerful allies. But not Kennedy. Not a man who turned down the Presidential salary not the man supported Civil Rights leaders in the harsh south. The steel business was extremely prominent in the sixties with factories and such. He showed the American public once that money going towards his account was not a factor in his decisions concerning the American people and that he didn't care who was dissatisfied through the process. He ends the speech with his infamous quote and asked what the steel companies could do for their country and that he got their answer and in the last 24 hours he'd gotten his response. President Kennedy brilliantly and cooly ends his speech by once again showing that he casts class aside and that he holds the steel companies to the same standards as an American citizens and vice versa setting in stone the essence and bravado as true American hero.