During his presidential campaign against Richard M. Nixon, John F. Kennedy attacked the foreign policy practices of Eisenhower’s 1952 to 1960 Republican administration. Kennedy advocated an increase in the nation’s military might and flexibility through the development of new weapons programs to compete with Communism. In the competitive cold war atmosphere, he also depicted the United States as falling behind the Soviet Union in its effort to win new and developing countries to the side of democracy. In his eyes, American diplomacy was stifled by bureaucracy and an inept staff who did not understand, much less respond to, the needs of the people they served. He resolved to put a fresh face on American aid to Africa, Asia, and Latin America.