In the 1960 presidential election, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon were going head to head. Kennedy had a secret weapon though, he did not support segregation. Which means that most African Americans would vote for him. While Kennedy was campaigning for president, he promised leadership to defeat racism. He also said when he was campaigning with one stroke of a pen, desegregation could happen. He received 68 percent of the votes from African Americans. John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon by a small margin. When Kennedy first came into office he was hesitant to enforce desegregation. Although, he did appoint his brother Robert Kennedy to Attorney General, so they could fight segregation together. Kennedy’s first year in office was described as cautious. Although, later in his presidency he made the votes count by introducing one of the biggest civil rights bills in American History.
Kennedy’s great leadership took place before he even stepped into office. While he was campaigning, he promised leadership to defeat racial discrimination. Because of this promise and his leadership, Kennedy was able to win the election and take the racial discrimination battle with him into office. When Kennedy was elected in 1960, he used his leadership to create the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and made the end of discrimination in housing owned, operated, or financed by the federal government. When Kennedy proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an important part to the passage of the bill would be to gain leadership from the republicans. Kennedy did gain the leadership he needed but, would be assassinated before it was passed.
After Kennedy’s first year in office, he finally began to take control and help the need to end segregation. He stood by his word and began to support desegregation. When Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested he helped in anyway he could; he supported his wife and tried to get King out of jail. He appointed 40 African Americans to senior federal positions, four of which were federal judges. With these African Americans in these different positions, it gave them an advantage to enforce already passed civil rights legislation. In 1962, when an African American Air Force veteran tried to enroll into Ole Miss, Governor Ross Barnett blocked the entry way from him. A mob grew by the thousands and John Kennedy ordered 5,000 army and national guard to patrol the campus and protect the veteran. To try and fix these problems with racial discrimination in these kind of places, Kennedy issued an executive order on November 20, 1962 stopping all racial discrimination in anything built or bought with federal funds.
John F. Kennedy created many laws, policies, or new ideas to The United States. When he first came into office, he proposed to change the number of the Committee of the House of Representatives from 12 to 15. He added two democrats which would hopefully support his ideas and proposals, and he also added a republican. He also created another civil rights bill that promised to end segregation and a shorter time table for desegregation in schools. On February 28, 1963 Kennedy sent in message to congress about civil rights, encouraging every state to outlaw the poll tax that blacks have to pay when African Americans vote. Throughout Kennedy’s presidency, he created many laws, bills, and proposals that would help end segregation.
In 1963, Alabama was the only education system not integrated. Then, On June 11, 1963 The University of Alabama was supposed to enroll two African Americans into their school. There was just one problem, Governor George Wallace blocked the school’s entrance and did not allow them to go in. Kennedy ordered the Alabama national guard to enforce Wallace to allow the African Americans to enter the school. After this incident, Kennedy would propose a nationally televised speech to the United States about civil rights. Kennedy wasn’t very well prepared, he wrote the speech three hours before he would go on. In his speech he talked about how segregation was wrong and the nation needed to do something about it. Soon after his speech on June 19, 1963 Kennedy proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would be one of the most expansive civil rights policies in American History. Before the bill could be passed, Kennedy was murdered in the streets of Dallas, Texas. Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson would later pass the bill.
There are many ways today that the United States honors John F. Kennedy for what he did to put a stop to segregation. There is an airport named after him and most importantly, he has his own memorial in Washington D.C. At his grave site, there is an eternal flame burning to memorialize John F. Kennedy. Where it is burning and where Kennedy is buried, is a spot where Kennedy admired and enjoyed that spot. We offer peace and compassion as a nation towards Kennedy in that spot and everywhere else he is memorialized.