Pillar of Fire

by Taylor Branch

  marched around the Pittsburgh Civic Arena: Ibid. Also int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992; NYT, May 3, 1964, p. 78; PC, May 9, 1964, p. 1.

  Russell told colleagues: Whalen and Whalen, The Longest Debate, p. 237.

  “grassroots resistance”: cited in Harold H. Martin, “George Wallace Shakes Up the Political Scene,” Saturday Evening Post, May 9, 1964, p. 86.

  “We have shaken the eyeteeth”: Ibid., p. 85.

  developed a stump speech: Lesher, George Wallace, pp. 261-65, 272-73, 297-98.

  chortled over the discovery: Ibid., p. 262.

  “Anybody here”: Ibid., p. 290.

  “they are building”: Ibid., p. 292.

  Dirksen hinted instead: Stern, Calculating Visions, p. 180.

  “Oh, I was shameless”: Miller, Lyndon, p. 451; Whalen and Whalen, The Longest Debate, p. 201.

  “killed off a rapidly growing”: Whalen and Whalen, The Longest Debate, p. 189.

  Tennessee Democrats selected: NYT, April 3, 1964, p. 23.

  “The Negro has been read out”: NYT, May 3, 1964, p. 72.

  King joined Fred Shuttlesworth: Funeral recording in the possession of Mrs. W. E. (Pinkie) Shortridge; int. Pinkie Shortridge, July 29, 1986.

  short notice to Nashville: Ibid. Also Nashville Banner, May 1, 1964, p. 1; MS, May 22, 1964, pp. 1, 4-6; int. John Lewis by Archie Allen, pp. 120-22, AAP; ADW, April 30, 1964, p. 1.

  escorted King into a mass meeting: Gadsden Times, May 4, 1964.

  “Who Is My Neighbor?”: Luke 10:29-37.

  “Everybody within the sound of my voice”: MLK sermon, “The Three Philosophies of Life,” May 3, 1964, A/KS.

  favorite parable of the rich man Dives: Branch, Parting, pp. 12, 705; Luke 16 19-31.

  returned by way of Cincinnati: MLK to Harold DeWolf, May 1, 1964, A/KP4f27.

  poverty tour from Ohio down through Tennessee: LBJ remarks in Cumberland, Md.; Athens, Ohio; Knoxville, Tenn.; Rocky Mount, N.C.; etc., PPP, 1964, pp. 640-51.

  two newborn tiger cubs: Ivan Allen, Jr., Oral History, May 15, 1969, pp. 12-13, LBJ.

  “my Georgia ancestors”: LBJ remarks at the Dinkler Plaza Hotel, May 8, 1964, PPP, p. 649.

  walking speed for fifteen miles: NYT, May 9, 1964, pp. 1, 13.

  forty thousand people: PC, May 16, 1964, p. 4.

  “I need two new hands!”: LBJ phone call with Lawrence O’Brien, May 8, 1964, Cit. 3365, Audiotape WH6405,03, LBJ.

  “a household word”: LBJ “Remarks Honoring J. Edgar Hoover…,” May 8, 1964, PPP, pp. 654-55.

  DeWolf had fallen: Int. Harold DeWolf, May 9-10, 1983.

  “to place my less”: DeWolf to “Martin and Coretta,” May 13, 1964, A/KP4f37.

  offered Boston university: Ibid. Also int. Harold DeWolf, May 9-10, 1983; reference to Boston University offer in SCLC Executive Staff Meeting minutes of May 4, 1964, A/KP32f7.

  Mays had refused: Int. Benjamin Mays, March 6, 1984.

  sending Mays a thousand-dollar donation: MLK to Mays, May 15, 1964, A/KP.

  “amazes me”: Mays to MLK, May 18, 1964, A/KP.

  Yoki’s ballet recital: MLK to Harold DeWolf, May 1, 1964, A/KP4f27; DeWolf to “Martin and Coretta,” May 13, 1964, A/KP4f37.

  “Where is the direct action?”: Transcript of Face the Nation, CBS Television Network, May 10, 1964, p. 15, A/KS.

  DeLoach had pushed: Guthman, “Memo for the Files,” May 8, 1964, Edwin Guthman private papers.

  Guthman quickly sent the FBI: Int. Edwin Guthman, June 25, 1984.

  “Obviously, Guthman is skeptical”: DeLoach to Mohr, May 13, 1964, Edwin Guthman private papers.

  “In the past few months”: RFK to Hoover, May 12, 1964, cited in Powers, Secrecy and Power, p. 392.

  Guthman and DeLoach would agree: Guthman, “Memo for the Files,” May 18, 1964, Edwin Guthman private papers.

  national debt ceiling: Florida Times-Union, May 21, 1964, p. 6.

  Whitten’s nettlesome demand: Henry H. Wilson to Larry O’Brien, May 26, 1964, Box 4, Henry Wilson Papers, LBJ.

  first criminal contempt citation: Coleman, Adam Clayton Powell, p. 101.

  revised anti-poverty legislation: “mf” to LBJ, May 26, 1964, regarding phone call from Rep. Carl Albert, WE9, Box 25, LBJ.

  “a laundry list a yard long”: LBJ phone call with Lawrence O’Brien, May 11, 1964, Cit. 3395, Audiotape WH6405.04, LBJ.

  “The Communist Split”: Time, April 26, 1964, pp. 26-30.

  Nehru died: NYT, May 26, 1964, p. 1; LBJ Letter of May 27, 1964, PPP, p. 719.

  “Mr. Johnson has left an indelible imprint”: NYT, May 22, 1964, p. 1.

  Six American soldiers: Time, May 22, 1964, p. 28.

  cumulative U.S. death toll: McNamara, In Retrospect, p. 321; Ernest Gruening speech of March 10, 1964, Congressional Record, p. S-4864.

  “Opposing forces are”: U.S. News & World Report, March 23, 1964, pp. 50-52.

  “Sorry About That”: CBS Special Report, Vietnam: The Deadly Decision, aired April 1, 1964, tape No. T79:0039, MOB.

  strategic imperative was clearer: President Johnson underscored and defined the geopolitical necessity of “an independent non-Communist South Vietnam” by accepting McNamara’s top secret National Security Action Memorandum, NSAM-288, on March 17, 1964. (Nowhere did the eighteen-page document consider whether a democratic form of government was, could be, or even should be supported by the people of Vietnam.) Bundy to NSC, March 17, 1964, and RSM to LBJ, March 16, 1964, NS-NSAM, Boxes 3-7, LBJ.

  “Loss of this area”: CBS Special Report, Vietnam: The Deadly Decision, aired April 1, 1964, tape No. T79:0039, MOB.

  defeated Barry Goldwater: “A Vote for our Man in Vietnam,” Life, March 20, 1964.

  holding aloft the arm: Shapley, Promise and Power, p. 297.

  nearly assassinated McNamara: NYT, May 11, 1964, p. 1; Time, May 22, 1964, p. 28.

  bulletproof cloaks: Ibid.

  “tide of deterioration”: McNamara, In Retrospect, p. 119.

  “by still trying to jump”: NYT, May 11, 1964, p. 7.

  facing a new coup against Khanh: Time, April 24, 1964, p. 33.

  four more regimes that year: McNamara, In Retrospect, p. 101.

  assume more efficient direct command: Ibid., p. 118.

  “mount a successful campaign”: NYT, May 19, 1964, pp. 1-2.

  “just milquetoast as it can be”: LBJ phone call with McGeorge Bundy, 11:24 A.M., May 27, 1964, Cit. 3522, Audiotape WH6405.10, LBJ.

  “What do you think”: LBJ phone call with Richard Russell, 10:55 A.M., May 27, 1964, Cit. 3519a, Audiotape WH6405.10. LBJ.

  soldiers massed along Race Street: Time, May 22, 1964, p. 24; Life, May 22, 1964, p. 46C; Lyon, Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement, pp. 136-41; Lesher, George Wallace, pp. 298-300.

  longevity record: Whalen and Whalen, The Longest Debate, p. 179.

  removing Roger Mudd: Ibid., p. 187.

  Wallace won 43 percent: NYT, May 20, 1964, p. 1.

  “I wish I had entered California”: NYT, May 21, 1964, p. 25.

  “Most distressing of all”: Ibid., p. 34.

  “Maryland’s Vote Held Anti-Negro”: Ibid., p. 1.

  Michigan on May 22: NYT, May 23, 1964, p. 1; Time, May 29, 1964, p. 18.

  “help build a society”: PPP, May 22, 1964, pp. 704-7.

  twenty test runs: Valenti to LBJ, Dec. 15, 1964, WE9, Box 25, LBJ.

  “There were twenty-nine”: Miller, Lyndon, p. 459.

  23. PILGRIMS AND EMPTY PITCHERS

  Malcolm X returned: Goldman, Death and Life, pp. 182-83.

  new Sunni Muslim name: NYAN, May 9, 1964, p. 62.

  his favorite film: Karim, Remembering Malcolm, p. 97.

  Handler kept muttering: Malcolm X, The Autobiography, pp. 412-13.

  “Malcolm X Pleased”: NYT, May 8, 1964, p. 1.

  “Malcolm Rejects Race Separation”: NYT, May 24, 1964, p. 1.

  revised opinions on Judaism: Ibid. Also, undated NYAN news article cited in NY FBI report of Jan. 1965, FMX-2
15, p. 97; Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, pp. 62-63.

  fn “You don’t have to be Jewish”: Breitman, Last Year, pp. 98-99.

  letters Malcolm had sent home: NYT, May 8, 1964, p. 1; Malcolm X, The Autobiography, pp. 338-42; Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, pp. 58-64; Farmer, Lay Bare the Heart, pp. 229-30; Goldman, Death and Life, pp. 168-69.

  known of white Muslims: Perry, Malcolm, pp. 263-64.

  discussed them in public: For example: “Many people think we judge the white man because he is white. No, our attitude toward the American white man isn’t because he is white. You have many people in the Muslim world whose skin is white as the people of Europe and North America. We judge the American because of the deeds, the collective deeds that Americans have done against black people….” FBI transcript of Malcolm X remarks on Contact, Radio KYW, Cleveland, April 7, 1964, FMXNY-4455, pp. 22-23.

  “new, positive insights”: NYT, May 8, 1964, p. 1.

  Malcolm found himself snatched: Malcolm X, The Autobiography, p. 325.

  detained as a questionable Muslim: Ibid. Malcolm described his detention May 23, 1964, on Kup’s Show in Chicago: FBI transcript in SAC, Chicago, to Director, June 19, 1964, FMXNY-4599, pp. 39-41.

  prayed for six solid hours: Perry, Malcolm, pp. 265-66.

  interval of delight: Malcolm X, The Autobiography, pp. 318-60; Perry, Malcolm, p. 264.

  “Chinese Ambassador and Mrs. Huang Hua”: Malcolm X, The Autobiography, p. 357.

  summer home of the late W. E. B. Du Bois: letter of Shirley Graham Du Bois in Ghanaian Times, May 19, 1964.

  African Marxists pressed him: H. M. Basner column in Ghanaian Times, May 18, 1964, cited in Dept. of State Airgram No. A-625, Accra to State, May 24, 1964. Third Secretary Daniel A. Britz reported that Malcolm “created less of a stir than the Embassy had feared.” Boasting that “President Nkrumah was made aware of the controversial nature of Malcolm X before the visit,” Britz reported erroneously that Nkrumah refused to give Malcolm an audience.

  Mayfield’s argument: Ghanaian Times, May 19, 1964.

  Nkrumah, shied away: Goldman, Death and Life, pp. 172-73.

  Malcolm ran into Muhammad Ali: Perry, Malcolm, pp. 270-71; Goldman, Death and Life, p. 178.

  hurt by this snub: Hauser, Muhammad Ali, p. 110.

  “funny white robe”: NYT, May 18, 1964; New York Post, May 18, 1964, p. 4.

  “America needs to understand Islam”: Malcolm X, The Autobiography, p. 340.

  “True Islam removes racism”: Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, p. 360.

  “The American whites”: NYAN, May 30, 1964, p. 49.

  “Do we correctly understand”: Perry, Malcolm, p. 271.

  pacified a Life correspondent: Malcolm X, The Autobiography, p. 415.

  Robert Penn Warren: Warren, Who Speaks for the Negro? pp. 244-67.

  “There is something of that”: Ibid., p. 266.

  “pale, dull yellowish”: Ibid., p. 255.

  “I MUST BE HONEST”: Malcolm X, The Autobiography, p. 364.

  James 67X seethed: Perry, Malcolm, p. 268.

  reveled in the new freedom: Int. Benjamin Karim, March 11, 1991, March 19, 1991, and Aug. 31, 1991.

  gave way to aimlessness: Ibid. Also Goldman, Death and Life, pp. 170, 182.

  presentation on yoga: FBI wiretap transcript of June 4, 1964, FMXNY-1-2, p. 1.

  debate in the Civic Opera House: Chicago Sun-Times, May 17, 1964; Chicago LHM, May 25, 1964, FMXNY-4515.

  bridge expert Oswald Jacoby: FBI transcript of Kup’s Show, May 23, 1964, in SAC, Chicago, to Director, June 17, 1964, FMXNY-4599, pp. 28-29.

  “your white nationalism”: FBI transcript of Dateline Chicago, WMBQ-TV, May 31, 1964, in SAC, Chicago, to Director, June 19, 1964, FMXNY-4592, p. 2.

  “I very much doubt”: FBI transcript of Kup’s Show, May 23, 1964, in SAC, Chicago, to Director, June 17, 1964, FMXNY-4599, p. 6.

  “I want to settle the situation”: NYAN, May 30, 1964, p. 1.

  “if Allah pleases him”: Wiretap transcript of May 8, 1964, in SAC, Chicago, to SAC, New York, May 21, 1964, FMXNY-4482, p. 3.

  have no dealings with Malcolm: Cf. report on Muhammad’s instruction of May 13, 1964, in SAC, Phoenix, to SAC, Chicago, June 16, 1964, FMXNY-4577.

  all those Muslims being shunned: SAC, Newark, to Director, May 1, 1964, FMXNY-4433.

  lived under siege within his own family: Malcolm X remarks on Conversation Piece, WEEI radio, Boston, June 12, 1964, in Boston FBI LHM of June 15, 1964, p. 2.

  “Everyone that sees me”: MS, June 5, 1964, p. 8, quoting Genesis 4:14.

  “We had the best”: Malcolm X, The Autobiography, p. 411.

  “You know”: Karim, Remembering Malcolm, p. 182.

  dispatched James 67X to locate: FBI wiretap summary of June 4, 1964, in SAC, New York, to SAC, Chicago, July 20, 1964, FMXNY-4754, p. 2.

  “Mister Muhammad will be brought to justice”: FBI wiretap summary of June 5, 1964, SAC, New York, to Director, July 1, 1964, FMXNY-4674, p. 2; FBI wiretap transcript of June 5, 1964, FMXNY-1-3a.

  finished the June 3 installation: SAC, New York, to Director, June 4, 1964, FMX-113.

  “a trapeze artist”: FBI wiretap transcript of June 4, 1964, FMXNY-1-2, pp. 5, 8.

  “pumping these brothers with poison”: Ibid., p. 12.

  “I know how to do it”: Ibid., p. 11.

  “Just another effort”: SAC, New York, to Director, FMX-126.

  “the Director told Manchester”: DeLoach to Mohr, June 4, 1964, FRFK-1536.

  review of the National Council of Churches: Sullivan to Director, May 8, 1964, FNCC-1172.

  From John Doar up through Burke: Doar to Marshall, May 19, 1964, Box 3, Marshall Papers, JFK.

  “turn the students”: Katzenbach to LBJ through Lee White, “Civil Rights—Misc.,” Box 6, Lee White Papers, LBJ.

  “to avoid as much as possible”: Marshall to RFK, June 5, 1964, Box 3, Marshall Papers, JFK.

  “spectacularly efficient”: RFK to LBJ, June 5, 1964, ExHU2/ST24, FG135, LBJ.

  meeting alone with President Johnson: Ibid. Also, Valenti, A Very Human President, pp. 98-100; LBJ phone call with Lee White, June 4, 1964, Cit. 3624, Audiotape WH6406.02, LBJ.

  McNamara had just delivered: Gravel, ed., Pentagon Papers, Vol. 2, pp. 323-26; McNamara, In Retrospect, pp. 121-23.

  “is obviously the most important problem”: RFK to LBJ, cited in Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy, pp. 784-85.

  bugs for King’s room at the Sheraton: Bland to Sullivan, May 27, 1964, MLK folder, Section 24, FHOC.

  King to rent a summer beach: SAC, Jacksonville, to Director, coded teletype of May 28, 1964, FSA-1366.

  “Let Freedom Ring”: Good, Trouble I’ve Seen, p. 76.

  “You are proving”: PC, June 6, 1964, pp. 1, 4.

  Research Committee: FBI intercept of Wachtel-Jones conversation, May 21, 1964, in FJ-NR; Research Committee members listed in A/KP25f37.

  Rustin urged King: New York LHM dated June 9, 1964, FSC-NR.

  “is so deeply rooted”: NYT, May 29, 1964, p. 10.

  pledged to return: ADW, May 28, 1964, p. 1.

  Williams considered Young: Int. Hosea Williams, Oct. 29, 1991; int. Andrew Young, Oct. 26, 1991.

  peaceful march of four hundred: Colburn, Racial Change, pp. 80-81.

  twice that number at St. Mary’s Baptist: Judge Bryan Simpson, “Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law,” in Young v. Davis, No. 64-133-Civ-J, June 9, 1964, in Simpson Papers, p. 6, UF.

  cleaning a shotgun: PC, June 6, 1964, p. 4.

  Williams ambushed him from the pulpit: Int. Hosea Williams, Oct. 29, 1991; int. Andrew Young, Oct. 26, 1991; Young, A Way Out of No Way, p. 90.

  “prettiest girl in this church”: Int. Andrew Young, Oct. 26, 1991.

  Virgil Stuart halted the line: Good, Trouble I’ve Seen, p. 80.

  “We come before Thee”: Ibid., p. 83.

  down the cheeks of Andrew Young: Int. Willie Bolden, May 14, 1992.

  Three hundred fifty peop
le: Colburn, Racial Change, p. 82.

  C. T. Vivian flinched: Int. C. T. Vivian, May 26, 1990.

  Georgia Reed volunteered: Hartley, “A Long, Hot Summer,” p. 47, in Garrow, ed., St. Augustine; int. Georgia Mae Reed, April 2, 1991.

  fifteen local Negroes back to jail: Florida Times-Union, May 29, 1964.

  250 whites amassed to defend: Jacksonville FBK LHM dated June 1, 1964, FSA-1353, pp. 1-2.

  press photographers tried to capture: Good, Trouble I’ve Seen, pp. 88-89; Colburn, Racial Change, pp. 82-83.

  “There’s that nigger lover!”: Judge Bryan Simpson, “Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law,” in Young v. Davis, No. 64-133-Civ-J, June 9, 1964, in Simpson Papers, pp. 8-9, UF.

  “although some teen-age girls”: Claude Sitton, “2 Hurt in Clash in St. Augustine,” NYT, May 29, 1964.

  “We are declaring martial law”: Judge Bryan Simpson, “Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law,” in Young v. Davis, No. 64-133-Civ-J, June 9, 1964, in Simpson Papers, p. 12, UF.

  bushwhackers had fired: Ibid. Also Good, Trouble I’ve Seen, p. 89; Garrow, Bearing the Cross, p. 327; Hartley, “A Long, Hot Summer,” p. 45, in Garrow, ed., St. Augustine.

  “loss of momentum”: NYT, May 30, 1964, p. 14.

  “continue our efforts”: ADW, May 30, 1964, p. 1.

  “We cannot in good conscience”: MLK to LBJ, May 29, 1964 (from San Diego), A/KS.

  eleven thousand in San Diego: San Diego LHM of June 6, 1964, FSC-NR.

  he called Burke Marshall: Lee White file memo, June 1, 1964, HU2/St9, LG/St. Augustine, LBJ.

  “hang a Negro”: Jacksonville FBI LHM, June 1, 1964, FSA-1353, p. 7.

  explicit death threat against King: MLK statement of June 5, 1964, A/KS; Garrow, Bearing the Cross, p. 328.

  Coretta King complained bitterly: Garrow, Bearing the Cross.

  permission to bug the premises: Jacksonville urgent teletype to Director, 10:12 P.M., May 28, 1964, FK-NR.

  anonymous tipsters had publicized: Colburn, Racial Change, p. 83.

  Bryant of Florida boasted: Lee White file memo, June 1, 1964, HU2/St9, LG/St. Augustine, LBJ.

  “Be certain that we do not yield”: Hoover’s handwritten note on UPI news story of June 9, 1964, FK-384; Baumgardner to Sullivan, June 10, 1964, FK-NR.

  Hoover asked his aides: Jones to DeLoach, June 5, 1964, FK-NR.

  “unshirted hell”: LBJ phone call with George Smathers, June 1, 1964, Cit. 3602, Audiotape WH6406.01, LBJ.