JFK and Civil Rights Guided Notes

1. Election of 1960
● John F. Kennedy was elected President in 196 , narrowly defeating Republican
candidate Richard Nixon by less than one percent of the popular vote.
● Although Kennedy had won the election, he had reason to be concerned about his
political power. Democrats maintained control of both chambers of Congress after the
1960 election, but they had lost seats to Republicans, which some saw as a sign of
eroding political support.
● Kennedy had also struggled to win support from white Southerners , a group that had
voted Democratic in large majorities since the Civil War and whose support the
Democrats wanted to keep in order to maintain power. Opposition to Kennedy among
Southern segregationist Democrats was so high that 14 unpledged electors cast their
votes for Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia—who opposed civil rights for
African Americans and called for “massive resistance” to integration—despite the fact
that Byrd was not even officially running for president.
● At the same time, Kennedy’s political coalition included liberal Democrats in other parts
of the country who strongly supported civil rights for African Americans. Furthermore,
African American voters had been migrating toward the Democratic Party (and away
from the Republican Party) for decades as Democratic politicians outside the South
increasingly supported civil rights and other policies that African Americans tended to
favor. Kennedy garnered 70% of the African American vote, and although African
Americans’ political power was limited by disenfranchisement in many areas of the
South, they were a crucial part of the political coalition that had narrowly elected
Kennedy in 1960. President Kennedy wanted to keep their support going into the
election in 1964.

2. Civil Rights Movement

● By Kennedy’s election, the Civil Rights Movement had gained momentum and had made
important progress, but African Americans throughout the country continued to be
subjected to discrimination and violence . Segregation was still enforced in much of
the South, and African Americans faced discrimination in employment, education, and
housing throughout the United States. Efforts to challenge racial injustice were frequently
met with violent resistance. The Kennedy Administration intervened in some cases. In
1961, “ freedom riders ” were regularly and violently attacked while traveling in the
South to challenge racial segregation on interstate transportation. Kennedy sent U.S.
Marshals to protect the riders and pressured the Interstate Commerce Commission
(ICC) to ban segregation of interstate buses. On May 24, Attorney General Robert
Kennedy, the President’s brother, issued a statement saying a “cooling off period” was
needed and encouraged protesters to delay their trip.
● In 1962 a federal court ruled that James Meredith, an African American student, had to
be admitted to the University of Mississippi . Meredith faced resistance when
attempting to enroll, and mob violence broke out. In response, Kennedy sent federal
_____________ to the campus.
3. Kennedy’s Televised Address
● In the spring of 1963, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference ( SCLC ) joined
with local activists in Birmingham, Alabama, to launch a major campaign to protest
segregation.
● During the campaign, peaceful demonstrators were attacked by police with clubs,
dogs, and fire hoses. Receiving both national and international media attention, scenes
from the crisis increased support for the demonstrators and further galvanized public
opinion. In June 1963, Kennedy addressed the nation in a televised speech to propose a
civil that would make racial discrimination in employment and in public
accommodations illegal.

4. March on Washington
● In August 1963, approximately 250,000 demonstrators gathered in the nation’s capital
in a non-violent protest for full civil and economic rights for African Americans and to
push Congress to approve civil rights legislation. It was at this march that Martin
Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream ” speech. Other influential civil
rights activists gave speeches, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
chairperson John lewis .

5. Civil Rights Act of 1964

● In November 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade
in Dallas, Texas. In the wake of Kennedy’s assassination, President Johnson was able to
push the bill through Congress and the civil right act was signed into law on July 2,
1964.