1. President Kennedy
• John Fitzgerald Kennedy came from a
wealthy Irish-American family.
• In Boston, the family had been looked
down on by rich families who saw their
Irish background as lacking ‘class’.
• The Kennedy’s hoped that New York
would allow them to access high
society.
• This introduction to bigotry and
discrimination should have given
Kennedy some kind of understanding of
what life was like for African Americans.
• However, many Historians argue that
the progress made in Civil Rights
during the Kennedy administration was
largely in response to crises.
• Although the President grew to be a
strong supporter of Civil Rights on
occasions he also accused the
movement of trying to achieve
unrealistic goals, too quickly.

2. Kennedy before Presidency
• In 1957 Kennedy voted
against Eisenhower’s 1957
Civil Rights Act.
• The Act protected the Negro
right to vote.
• The Democratic party were
sharply divided into pro-
segregation and anti-
segregation sides.
• The party leadership decided
to vote against the Bill rather
than see the party torn apart.
• Kennedy had aspirations to be
the Democrats next
presidential candidate in the
1960 election and agreed to
the plan.

3. The 1960 Election Campaign
1. During the 1960 election
campaign Kennedy made it
clear in his speeches that he
was a supporter of civil rights.
2. Historians are divided as to why
he was ‘suddenly’ converted.
3. Some argue that Kennedy
recognised that he needed the
‘Black Vote’ if he was to beat
Nixon.
4. Kennedy said in his campaign
speeches that discrimination
stained America as it led the
west’s moral stance against the
Soviet Union during the Cold
War.

4. Kennedy and King
• On May 4, 1960 Martin
Luther King was arrested
in Georgia for driving with
an out-of-state licence.
• Kennedy’s call of
sympathy to Martin
Luther King’s wife,
Coretta, when King was
in prison was well
publicised by the
Democrats.

5. The 1960 election debate
• The Kennedy-Nixon
debates were the first
televised debates in US
History.
• Viewers of the debates
believed that the young,
good-looking Kennedy had
defeated Nixon (who
appeared to be unshaven
and also sweated a lot!).
• Radio listeners believed
Nixon had won.
• Kennedy won the election
by 0.1% of the vote. He 1960: Kennedy versus Nixon
gained 3 out of 4 black
votes.

6. The impact of discrimination on
African-Americans
Kennedy had promised in his campaign speeches to act swiftly if
elected.
The 1960 report by the Civil Rights Commission made it very clear
just how badly discrimination had affected the African
American community.
• 57% of African American housing was judged to be
unacceptable
• African American life expectancy was 7 years less than whites
• African American infant mortality was twice as great as whites
• African Americans found it all but impossible to get mortgages
from mortgage lenders.
.

7. 1961: Little Presidential Action
Regardless of his promises there were three reasons
Kennedy achieved little for Civil Rights in his first
year
1. He was focused on international tensions with
Russia.
2. He knew that there was no great public support for
such legislation. Opinion polls indicated that in 1960
and 1961, civil rights was at the bottom of the list
when people were asked “What needs to be done in
America to advance society ?“
3. Kennedy was also concentrating his domestic
attention on improving health care and helping the
lowest wage earners of all races.

8. What did Kennedy do to advance
the cause of civil rights?
• He put pressure on
federal government
organisations to
employ more
negroes.
• The FBI only
employed 48 African
Americans out of a
total of 13,649 and
these 48 were nearly
all chauffeurs.

9. What did Kennedy do to advance
the cause of civil rights?
Kennedy did more than
any president before
him to have more
African Americans
appointed to federal
government posts.
In total, he appointed 40
to senior federal
positions including five
as federal judges.

10. Brothers in arms
Kennedy appointed his brother
(Robert) as Attorney General
which put him at the head of
the Justice Department.
Their tactic was to use the law
courts as a way of enforcing
already passed civil
rights legislation.
No southern court could really
argue against laws that were
already in print!

11. Law suits against southern officials
Altogether Bobby
Kennedy’s Justice
Department brought
57 law suits against
local officials for
obstructing African
Americans who
wished to register
their right to vote.

12. Enforcing Brown in the South
Local officials from Louisiana
were threatened with prison
when they refused to hand
over money to
newly desegregated schools.
Such a threat prompted others in
Atlanta, Memphis and New
Orleans to hand over finance
without too many problems

13. Even Football….
Kennedy was very good at
what would appear to be
small gestures.
In American football, the
Washington Redskins
were the last of the big
teams to refuse to sign
African Americans.
Their stadium was federally
funded and Kennedy
ordered that they were no
longer allowed to use the
stadium and would have to
find a new one.
They integrated.

14. Was Kennedy pushed into action?
1. The reaction of the KKK to
the Freedom Rides of 1961
was shown on national
television and clearly
shocked the public.
2. However, 63% of people
polled believed that the
Freedom Rides should not
have taken place as they
were too provocative.
3. Kennedy condemned the
Riders for “a lack of
patriotism” at a time of
international tension over
the Berlin Wall and the
Cuban Missile Crisis.

15. Kennedy’s take action
In Montgomery, Mississippi the Freedom Riders were
violently assaulted.
They gathered in a church and Martin Luther King Jnr
addressed the crowd.
A mob of several thousand angry whites gathered
around the church, setting fire to cars.
Martin Luther King called Bobby Kennedy at 3 am to
explain that the congregation was trapped inside.
Kennedy called Governor immediately and
threatened to send in Federal troops. Governor
Patterson bowed to pressure and sent in state
troops to break the crowd up.

16. Voter Registration in the early 1960s
Although the Constitution guaranteed
negroes the right to vote in individual
states like Mississippi there were
significant barriers:
1) A Poll Tax had to be paid if you
wanted to vote. Most blacks could
not afford it.
2) A tough written examination had to
be passed (only blacks would have
to sit it).
3) Police arrested hundreds of
demonstrators and activists.
4) Employees fired negroes who voted.
5) Landlords would evict the families of
black voters.
6) Civil rights activists were beaten and
killed if they attempted to register
black voters.

17. Little action on Voter Registration
Kennedy’s administration did nothing about
voter registration in its first year in office.
Kennedy claimed that it was the duty of the
states to reform this area and that it was
not a federal issue.
Here Kennedy was no doubt attempting to
win the support of the southern states who
believed that federal power was too big
and trespassing in too many areas.

18. James Meredith
• Kennedy only became
voluntarily active when
James Meredith forced
his hand.
• In September 1962,
James Meredith applied
to the University of
Mississippi.
• He was turned down.
• Here was a man who had
served in the US Air
Force for 10 years being
rejected because of his
colour.

19. 1962: James Meredith
The Supreme Court found in
Meredith’s favour. When he
went to enrol, Bobby Kennedy
sent 500 marshals to ensure
that law and order was
maintained.
Nearly 200 of the marshals were
injured and two were shot by
those who were adamant that
Meredith would not go to
college.
To maintain law and order,
something the state
government could not do, John
Kennedy sent federal troops to
the university. Meredith did
enrol in the university.

20. 1963: Birmingham
Kennedy was also provoked into
action by the 1963
Birmingham affair.
The actions ordered by Bull Connor
"sickened" Kennedy.
He spoke out angrily against
Connor’s actions.
The Justice Department was ordered
to Birmingham by Kennedy and
improvements quickly took place.
Public facilities were desegregated
and employment prospects for
African Americans in Birmingham
did improve.

21. Desegregating Universities
Alabama was the last state to have desegregated
universities.
Kennedy sent in federal troops and federalised the
National Guard to enforce the law.
Did the events in Birmingham convert him to
the civil rights cause?
Cynics comment that it may well have been a
more concerted attempt by the president to
target black voters for the 1964 election.

22. 1963: March on Washington
• The 1963 March on Washington was
initially opposed by Kennedy as it
suggested that the leaders of the civil
rights campaign were critical of his
progress on civil rights.
• Kennedy also felt that the march could
antagonise Congress when it was in the
process of discussing his civil rights bill.
• A march might have been viewed by
Congress as external pressure being put on
them and cause them to act against the
Civil Rights movement rather than appear
to ‘give in’ to pressure.
• Kennedy eventually endorsed the march
when it was agreed that the federal
government could have an input into it.

23. 1963: March on Washington
The march was viewed as a great success. It was a
massive demonstration of support for the Civil
Rights movement.

24. The assassination of Kennedy
The assassination of John F.
Kennedy, took place
November 22, 1963, in
Dallas, Texas.
Kennedy was fatally shot while
riding with his wife
Jacqueline in a motorcade.
The assassin (Lee Harvey Oswald)
was killed by Jack Ruby (a
nightclub owner) before he
could go to trial.
The assassination has led to a
wide range of conspiracy
theories.

25. Lyndon Baines Johnson
Two hours after
Kennedy was
assassinated his Vice
President (Lyndon
Johnson) was sworn
in as President.
The desire to honour
the tragic death of
Kennedy made the
passing of the Civil
Rights Bill easier.

26. The 1964 Civil Rights Act
The Act Its impact
• Outlawed unequal • Once the Act was
application of voter implemented, its effects
registration requirements were far-reaching and
and racial segregation in had tremendous long-
schools, at the workplace term impacts on the
and by facilities that whole country.
served the general public • It prohibited
(e.g. restaurants) discrimination in public
facilities, in government,
and in employment.
• It made the Jim Crow
laws in the southern
U.S. illegal.

27. The 1964 Civil Rights Bill
Kennedy’s Legacy?