01-01-2011, 10:52 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-01-2011, 11:07 PM by Jim DiEugenio.)
But even there he is wrong.
See, you cannot understand JFK's civil rights policy until you read Bernstein's Promises Kept
Unlike all the so-called liberal critics, Bernstein understood a simple truth: Kennedy was building everything toward the Civil Rights Act. And JFK understood two things: 1.) That was not going to happen overnight, and 2).He was going to need broad support so it would not be killed in committee or filibustered to death.
This is why he did everything he could by executive order in 1961, 1962: calling in federal marshals when necessary e.g. Meredith and Ole Miss. Then, with King running interference he waited for the southern racists to overplay their hand. THey did, at Birmingham.
How do I know this? Because at the end of the day with Bull Connor, his dogs, and fire hoses, DIck Gregory came home from the city. It was after midnight. His wife was up and she told him that the White House had called and wanted him to call them no matter what time he got in. So Gregory called. The switchboard was down of course. JFK answered the phone himself. He wanted a complete report, and he then said words to the effect that this would be it.
So that summer he did two things: 1.) He went on national TV and made the greatest speech against segregation any president had ever made. and 2.) A month later, when no white politician would support King's march, Kennedy shocked everyone-including RFK. At a press conference he said, the White House would be backing the march. He then called in Bobby and said he would be running the thing. No mistakes could be tolerated since if it blew up, their enemies would use it to destroy them. It had to come off perfectly. It did.
And that provided the ballast to pass the Civil Rights Act. And Kennedy predicted it would pass before he was killed.
This whole thing about JFK being a bystander on civil rights is a crock. He was a realist on what he could get through, and very smart about how to approach it. And he was successful. In three years, he managed to do what neither Truman nor Ike could accomplish in 15.
This is why, in 1968, when King's advisers urged him to back McCarthy in the primaries, he refused. King said they would wait for RFK, who would be a "great president". His words by the way.
See, you cannot understand JFK's civil rights policy until you read Bernstein's Promises Kept
Unlike all the so-called liberal critics, Bernstein understood a simple truth: Kennedy was building everything toward the Civil Rights Act. And JFK understood two things: 1.) That was not going to happen overnight, and 2).He was going to need broad support so it would not be killed in committee or filibustered to death.
This is why he did everything he could by executive order in 1961, 1962: calling in federal marshals when necessary e.g. Meredith and Ole Miss. Then, with King running interference he waited for the southern racists to overplay their hand. THey did, at Birmingham.
How do I know this? Because at the end of the day with Bull Connor, his dogs, and fire hoses, DIck Gregory came home from the city. It was after midnight. His wife was up and she told him that the White House had called and wanted him to call them no matter what time he got in. So Gregory called. The switchboard was down of course. JFK answered the phone himself. He wanted a complete report, and he then said words to the effect that this would be it.
So that summer he did two things: 1.) He went on national TV and made the greatest speech against segregation any president had ever made. and 2.) A month later, when no white politician would support King's march, Kennedy shocked everyone-including RFK. At a press conference he said, the White House would be backing the march. He then called in Bobby and said he would be running the thing. No mistakes could be tolerated since if it blew up, their enemies would use it to destroy them. It had to come off perfectly. It did.
And that provided the ballast to pass the Civil Rights Act. And Kennedy predicted it would pass before he was killed.
This whole thing about JFK being a bystander on civil rights is a crock. He was a realist on what he could get through, and very smart about how to approach it. And he was successful. In three years, he managed to do what neither Truman nor Ike could accomplish in 15.
This is why, in 1968, when King's advisers urged him to back McCarthy in the primaries, he refused. King said they would wait for RFK, who would be a "great president". His words by the way.