I. John F. Kennedya. 1960 Election

• vs. VP Richard Nixon• TV Debates, a Presidential First; 4 debates,

each viewed by 70 million Americansb. Domestic Issues

• Democratic majority in both houses, but Republican and Southern Democrats opposed most policies

• Opposed proposals for mass transportation, health care, Dept. of Housing and Urban Affairs, federal aid for elementary/secondary schools

c. JFK and Civil Rights• Appoints Thurgood Marshall to US Circuit

Court of Appeals (elevated to the Supreme Court via LBJ)

• Attempted to establish Dept. of Urban Affairs, defeated by Rep/Southern Dem

• Appoints Bobby Kennedy, a firm advocate of civil rights– Brought over 50 suits to secure voting rights

for blacks in the south• Unable to pass any significant civil rights

legislation, would have to wait for LBJ

II.II. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a. Background

• 1-15-29 to 4-4-68• Baptist minister in Alabama• Led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, rise to

fame, arrested, parsonage bombed…• Became president of the Southern

Christian Leadership Conference, sponsored sit ins and other non-violent protests

b. Birmingham Protest• Urged civil disobedience of segregation

laws• Arrested, put in solitary confinement, write

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”• Persisted, in spite of violence against them

c. March on Washington – 1963• “I have a Dream” speech• 1964, Wins Nobel Prize for Peace• 1966, leads campaign for slum clearance in

Chicago• Assassinated in Memphis, 4-4-68

The End of Part 4The End of Part 4