tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122629330054677829.post4040847793815528676..comments2024-01-19T07:18:48.331-08:00Comments on Commander Kelly: JFK + The 6th Floor MuseumCommander Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03602902461964252463noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122629330054677829.post-58843730344811980862013-08-01T11:45:26.471-07:002013-08-01T11:45:26.471-07:00In an article by Taylor Marsh (January 17, 2011) h...In an article by Taylor Marsh (January 17, 2011) he writes: "Some believe that President Kennedy’s presidency was owed, at least in part, to Dr. Martin Luther King." Marsh describes how candidate Kennedy attached himself to MLK ("whether King helped elect Kennedy. He sure didn’t hurt him"). and how then President Kennedy turned from civil rights when he became "obsessed" with foreign policy. "It took constant campaigning from King" to refocus JFK's attention on civil rights. However, in June 1963 JFK, in a nationwide address, announced his new civil rights legislation initiative. That legislation faced powerful opposition in the US congress. <br /><br />JFK was assassinated five months later on a campaign stop in Dallas. Could he have won the civil rights fight in congress? We will never know. He died and the task fell to Lyndon Johnson. And there we have the birth of the myth that obscures the more interesting civil rights story. <br /><br />Marsh's article, like many, give JBJ's roll in civil rights short shrift. In the book 'Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Laws That Changed America', by Nick Kotz, we learn how the 'real' work of civil rights legislation was carried out. Kortz describes how "Johnson and Martin Luther King, Jr., were thrust together in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Both men sensed a historic opportunity and began a delicate dance of accommodation that moved them, and the entire nation, toward the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965." <br /><br />Marsh notes that "Martin Luther King, Jr. had gotten through to Kennedy, revealing something from which J.F.K. had once been distanced, a world away." Johnson life and experiences were the exact opposite of Kennedy's, and I would argue no individual was better prepared to take on the civil rights legislation challenge than he. <br /><br />Kortz lays out the story of how Johnson and King forged a true partnership. "Johnson applying the arm-twisting tactics that made him a legend in the Senate, and King as he kept the pressure on in the South through protest and passive resistance. King's pragmatism and strategic leadership and Johnson's deeply held commitment to a just society shaped the character of their alliance."<br /><br />Sadly, the Johnson King partnership became a casualty of the Vietnam War; as, ultimately, was Johnson's phenomenal legislative legacy. But for Vietnam, LBJ might have been viewed as the 'Great Society' successor to FDR. My guess is the rehabilitation of JBJ's legacy can only begin 'after' the last funeral of the last 60's anti war protester.<br /><br />It's undeniable JFK was influenced by the civil rights movement. However, it's time to do away with the Kennedy as co-emancipator myth - or, at the very least, it's time too hang a photo of LBJ next to those of Lincoln, JFK and MLK.Jim Hoopernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122629330054677829.post-12529702463000164602013-07-31T16:03:29.963-07:002013-07-31T16:03:29.963-07:00So many Kennedy myths to debunk, so little time. I...So many Kennedy myths to debunk, so little time. I enjoyed the post - it appears your Dallas trip was great inspiration.Jim Hoopernoreply@blogger.com