Masaryk University
Years in the Senate (1953 – 1960)
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- 2.4.1Brown v. Board of Education
- 2.4.2Situation in the Democratic Party
- 2.4.3The Civil Rights Act of 1957
- 2.4.4Little Rock Crisis
- 2.4.5Convention of Young Democrats in Jackson, Mississippi
2.4Years in the Senate (1953 – 1960)Kennedy was sworn in as senator on January 3, 1953 (“Kennedy John Fitzgerald”). During his years in the Senate, Kennedy’s private life was changing. He got married to Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953 (“John Kennedy” par.3). He went through back operations and during his convalescence, which was five months longer than he had expected – seven months in total (Silvestri 54), he worked on his book Profiles of Courage17 which was later very well received by the critics. The book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 (Kenney 31). Kennedy continued to support the same issues as in the House. He was mainly interested in the economical issues of New England. He was in favor of minimum wage increase, and he also favored industrial projects that aided New England. First, Kennedy and his team wanted to fulfill the task set during the campaign – “...to do more for Massachusetts than his predecessor” (Dallek, Unfinished Life 181). Kennedy was particularly active in the economic issues of Massachusetts. He initiated regular meetings of New England senators in order to discuss and deal with the region’s economical issues more effectively. Two controversial issues arose during Kennedy’s senatorial years – St. Lawrance Seaway Project and McCarthy case. St. Lawrance Seaway18 was a highly debated project strongly opposed by businessmen from New England who were afraid of the competition from Midwest. Kennedy was the only Senator from Massachusetts in the history of this project who voted for its realization. Although Kennedy originally disagreed with the project during his senatorial campaign, later he decided to put national interests over regional interests. McCarthy case was another remarkable issue during Kennedy’s senatorial years. Joseph McCarthy was a Republican Senator from Wisconsin (1947 – 1957) who accused some government officials of being Communist and Soviet spies, however, he was unable to prove his claims and therefore he was censured in December 1954 (“Preserving Senatorial Traditions” par.2). Kennedy was the only Democrat who did not vote for censure of McCarthy. In December 1954, when the Senate decided in the vote sixty-seven to twenty for McCarthy’s censure, Kennedy was recovering from the back operation; nevertheless he did not express his position on this issue even later. “His family’s relations19 with McCarthy were certainly an important factor,” that might have contributed to his silence. (Schlesinger, Thousand Days 12). 2.4.1Brown v. Board of EducationOn May 17, 1954, The Supreme Court handed down the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka – a landmark which overruled the Plessy v. Ferguson decision from 1896 which set the precedent of “separate but equal.” Although the Brown decision outlawed segregation in schools, it did not specify the time until which it was to be realized. On May 31, 1955, the Supreme Court ruled that desegregation needed to be implemented with “deliberate speed” (Williams 93). Most Southerners in the Senate denounced the Brown decision determined not to “allow race mixing” (Stern, Calculating Visions 130). The so called Southern Manifesto, a document which opposed racial integration, was signed by most of Southern senators.20 John Kennedy supported the Brown decision because he perceived it as the law of the land; therefore he felt obliged to follow it. However, he admitted that its implementation would take time by which he supported the notion of “deliberate speed.” Kennedy generally tried to avoid the topic of civil rights and racial issues in his speeches, particularly in those delivered in the South but the topic became more important when the school desegregation, which was much opposed by the Southern states, was enacted. Kennedy expressed his support for Brown decision in his speech before the New York Young Democratic Club in 1956, however, his speech was very general and he did not suggest a way to enforce desegregation (Golden 128). The issue of race and civil rights was strongly polarizing the Democratic Party and therefore it was a very sensitive topic. 2.4.2Situation in the Democratic PartyIn January 1954, Kennedy delivered a speech to the country’s preeminent civil rights organization, NAACP,21 and he acknowledged in his speech that there were “very dim prospects of any suitable civil rights legislation being passed by this Congress...” (Bryant 45). He called for actions which would end racial discrimination in employment because he saw it as a way to protect New England textile mills against unfair competition from the South, and also to improve America’s image abroad. Kennedy saw the strategy of supporting such reforms, which would “validate” full constitutional rights of African Americans, as highly effective (Dallek, Unfinished Life 215). The problem of frequent protests22 initiated by African Americans and increasing violence23 against black population, particularly in the South, signaled a need for new legislation and legislative changes. The issue of civil rights was highly controversial in the Democratic Party. O’Brien explains, that “taking a stand on civil rights was a painful decision” (368). Any support to civil rights issues would have outraged the Southerners and therefore threaten the unity of the Party. Kennedy’s interest in the civil rights during his years in the Congress seemed “more political than moral” (Dallek, Unfinished Life 217). Although he was in favor of the civil rights issues, he certainly was not occupied with this issue exceptionally. There were other civil rights advocates24 in the Senate who were leaders in the field of civil rights. On July 1 (four weeks before the Chicago convention), Kennedy was on CBS political talk show Face the Nation where he was interviewed mostly on the issues of civil rights. Most of Kennedy’s responses were rather evasive and neutral. He said that it was unnecessary for “the Democratic platform to endorse Brown,” however; he explained that he accepted that decision because it was the law of the country and therefore he was obliged to accept it (Bryant 56). Kennedy confessed that he was against the so called Powell Amendment.25 The 1956 Democratic National Convention was the first one to be fully covered by television and so “Kennedy’s charm, youth and charisma” influenced a lot of people and “Kennedy for vice-president boom started” (Schwab 81). Despite the fact that Kennedy gained support from Southern delegates because his opponent, Estes Kefauver from Tennessee had openly supported civil rights (he was one of the three senators who refused to sign the so called Southern Manifesto26), Kennedy narrowly lost the nomination of vice president in Chicago against Kefauver. However, the support from Southerners “damaged Kennedy’s civil rights image in the North” (O’Brien 368). Since 1955, Democrats had been in control of the Senate, nevertheless, all civil rights legislation was prevented from reaching the floor. In the course of the fifties, it was becoming more obvious that due to the pressure from civil rights groups and due to the Supreme Court decisions on desegregation27 of schools, legislation changes regarding race relations in the South were inevitable. In 1956, Herbert Brownell, Eisenhower’s attorney general, presented Congress a draft of civil rights bill. All civil rights bills sent to Congress by President Truman (1946, 1947 and 1948) had been blocked. 2.4.3The Civil Rights Act of 1957The Eisenhower’s civil rights bill included four main provisions: “the creation of a Civil Rights Commission, the addition of an assistant attorney general, the further protection of voting rights and the elimination of the requirement that federal jurors be competent as such under the state law” (Winquist 625). The bill was strongly opposed by most Southerners, particularly outraging was Title III (sometimes also called Part III) which entitled attorney general with the right to protect all civil rights, including school integration and voting rights. These four provisions were highly prioritized issues by civil rights leaders in 1957. Johnson convinced Southern senators not to use filibuster.28 His main argument was that it would “hurt the American image abroad and aid communist propaganda depicting blacks in the United States as only half-free” (Stern, Calculating Visions 135). In return he promised to ensure that Title III would be removed and jury-trial amendment would be added to Title IV.29 Great debates on whether the bill should be sent to Judiciary Committee30 were held in the Senate. The Southerners believed that if the bill had got to Judiciary, it would have been killed there and therefore they strongly supported this idea. Kennedy was well aware of the fact that no matter which position he had taken, he would have always turned one wing of the Democratic party against himself (Democratic party was composed of civil rights opponents as well as civil rights advocates). Kennedy did not participate much in the debates; however, he opposed the proposal to avoid Judiciary Committee, because “he wanted the bill to be considered ‘on its own merits,’ using normal procedures...” (O’Brien 370). On July 24, 1957, it was decided that Title III would be eliminated from the bill. Kennedy received a lot of criticism for his standpoint regarding the Judiciary Committee issue from civil rights advocates. The next controversial provision of the bill was the proposal of jury-trial amendment, which was favored by the Southerners because juries in the South were composed of white citizens mainly and as Stern explains: “it would be all but impossible to get such a jury to convict a white person for violating the voting rights of a black person” (Calculating Visions 137). In this case Kennedy again voted with the Southerners – in favor of the amendment. Kennedy’s decision might have been influenced by legal scholars31 whom he had consulted before the vote. The bill passed with majority of fifty-one to forty-four (Bryant 76). Kennedy again came in for a lot of criticism from civil rights leaders and advocates. Numerous newspapers criticized Kennedy for supporting freedom to African nations, but refusing to support full constitutional rights to African minority in the States. Most black periodicals condemned his performance as purely political decision. The Civil Rights Act was passed on September 9, 1957, ninety-one years after the previous civil rights act. The final version of the 1957 Civil Rights Act did not satisfy the civil rights leaders because it did not achieve enough of their objectives. It did not improve lives of African Americans in a significant way. The Act included Title IV and it also created the Federal Commission on Civil Rights which had the right to hold hearings and call witnesses. Kennedy was afraid of losing his popularity in the North as well as South and as O’Brien explains, Kennedy’s standpoint was strongly “motivated by his political ambition” (373). 2.4.4Little Rock CrisisAlthough “from mid-forties to mid-fifties, blacks in Little Rock made dramatic gains” (Williams 92), in 1957, four years after the Supreme Court outlawed school segregation, nine black students (often referred to as the Little Rock Nine) were prevented from entering Little Rock Central High School. Governor Orval Faubus32 called in the Arkansas National Guard to support the segregationists. The crisis gained attention throughout the USA but also abroad. After the troops were called off, African American students were attacked by an angry mob of white people. Riots broke out and Eisenhower was forced to send 101 Airborne Division paratroopers to Little Rock to protect the black students and restore order and enforce rulings of the Supreme Court. The President originally tried to avoid expressing his stand; however, he was eventually forced to act due to the escalating situation. He had never thought he would have to approach to a solution like that. In July, 1977, Eisenhower said: “I can’t imagine any set of circumstances that would ever induce me to send Federal troops...into an area to enforce the orders of a Federal court...” (Stern, “Eisenhower and Kennedy” 2). The nine African American students finished the school year under the protection of federal troops. All high schools were closed the following year in order to force black students out of school. The schools reopened again in 1959 (Williams 118). According to Bryant, Kennedy commented on this issue in October, 1957, saying that he disapproves of “mob violence“ and “defiance of lawful court orders“ (83). He briefly supported the action of President but he also admitted that “there could be disagreement over President’s leadership on this issue” (Brauer 22). As previously, Kennedy did not mention any particular reasons which had led to the situation, nor did he propose any solution to the problem. He only disapproved of violence and denial of court decision which was very general. 2.4.5Convention of Young Democrats in Jackson, MississippiAlthough Kennedy was discouraged from visiting Mississippi during the Little Rock Crisis, he refused to cancel his speech which he had promised to give at the Convention of Young Democrats in Jackson, Mississippi. Kennedy, however, was in a difficult position due to the growing interest in the solution to the civil rights issues. Thinking about his presidential campaign already, he was careful not to alienate Southern supporters or Northern liberals and therefore he intended to avoid speaking about the crisis in Little Rock. But as soon as he arrived in Jackson, Mississippi, he was “publicly challenged” to express his views on integration by Wirt Yerger, Mississippi’s GOP state chairman (O’Brien 375). Kennedy realized that he could not avoid speaking about the subject; therefore he revised his speech before the performance. Kennedy stated: “I have accepted the Supreme Court decision as the supreme law of the land. I know that we do not agree on that issue – but I think most of us do agree on the necessity to uphold law and order in every part of the land” (Bryant 85). His statement was very general, and as many times before he only emphasized the fact that it was necessary to accept the law of the land as legally binding. Kennedy shifted from the issue of “North versus South” to “Democrats versus Republicans” which was very clever (ibid.). He certainly proved to be a speaker with wonderful skills to attract the audience, because despite the initial tensions Kennedy received a standing ovation at the end of his speech. Download 236.92 Kb. Share with your friends:
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