Nine Days
Page 35
“This is too hot for us”: Kotlowski, Nixon’s Civil Rights, 161.
In an interview with Simeon Booker: Simeon Booker, “Richard Nixon Tells: What Republicans Must Do to Regain the Negro Vote,” Ebony, April 1962.
“some hang-up occurred someplace”: Frank, Ike and Dick, 214.
he got a call from Branch Rickey: Long, First Class Citizenship, 191; Rampersad, Jackie Robinson, 351.
“He said he would lose”: Calhoun, interview by Britton, Howard University.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the press”: This and the following statements by Mitchell can be found in “King Released Under Bond,” AJ, Oct. 27, 1960.
“Time for all of us”: “Abernathy in Georgia: ‘Time for All of Us to Take Off Our Nixon Buttons,’” Cleveland Call and Post, Nov. 5, 1960.
Hollowell now rushed to get: Hollowell and Lehfeldt, Sacred Call, 135–36.
“Crazy judge down there”: Seigenthaler, interview by Tye, shared with the authors.
“What do they want to hold”: Draft in Speech file, LMP. Wofford’s Of Kennedys and Kings puts Bobby’s “honorary brother” call to Martin happening later that night, but we believe it was the night before given that Martin on multiple occasions told his detailed story of stopping a press conference based on what Bobby had told him in their late-night phone call. Given that it was on Thursday, October 27, that word of Bobby’s call to Judge Mitchell was getting out, the phone call from Bobby had to come hours before that, in the middle of the night.
“Well, they’re trying to deny”: Draft in Speech file, LMP.
“Listen, don’t put out any denial”: Martin, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL.
“For God’s sake, don’t call”: Draft in Speech file, LMP.
“There’s a crazy story”: Stein and Plimpton, American Journey, 93.
“a brother of Kennedy had called”: Wofford, interview by Bernhard, #1, JFKL.
“It just can’t be true”: Stein and Plimpton, American Journey, 93.
“I think you can”: Wofford, interview by Bernhard, #1, JFKL.
“Hell, no, don’t do that”: Hollowell and Lehfeldt, Sacred Call, 136.
Balkcom would not have survived: Clines, “1992 Campaign.”
“I’m sure glad to see you”: Hollowell and Lehfeldt, Sacred Call, 136.
Hollowell was moved by a chant: Anderson, “Martin Luther King Reveals.”
“Long live the King!”: Margaret Shannon and Douglas Kiker, “Out on Bond, King to Name Choice,” AJ, Oct. 28, 1960.
“Dr. King, you’ve heard the reports”: WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Oct. 27, 1960, UGA Libraries, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.
“I understand from very reliable sources”: Carson et al., Papers of Martin Luther King Jr., 5:536.
“I think I’ll wait”: Shannon and Kiker, “Out on Bond, King to Name Choice.”
“Bob, you’d never believe”: Seigenthaler, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL. Historians have followed Seigenthaler’s timeline of putting Bobby’s call to Georgia, its fallout, and the writing of a press release all on the same day, but all that is improbable based on the judge’s revealing the call the following day and Martin’s rushing to stop their response the morning after Bobby called him in the night. Wofford’s JFKL interview and memoir correctly put the scramble to clean up the Bobby story on the twenty-seventh. Given that Seigenthaler remembers getting Louis Martin to help draft the statement (Tye interview), it would have been impossible for this to have occurred the afternoon before Bobby’s late-night call to Martin, when Martin always said he first learned about Bobby’s outreach to the judge.
his brother was hitting four boroughs: “Kennedy to Stump in Four Boroughs,” NYT, Oct. 26, 1960.
“That crazy judge says”: Seigenthaler, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL.
“He thinks you’re a young”: Stein and Plimpton, American Journey, 94.
“What did you say?”: Seigenthaler, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL.
“I just got so pissed off”: Seigenthaler, interview by Tye.
“I kept thinking that it”: Stein and Plimpton, American Journey, 94.
“I can’t believe it”: Seigenthaler, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL.
“He just woke up this morning”: Wofford, interview by Bernhard, #1, JFKL.
“Jack was the tough one”: Thomas, Robert Kennedy, 91.
“John Kennedy was a realist”: Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy and His Times, xiii.
craft a statement denying: Seigenthaler, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL. Seigenthaler’s account makes it sound as if he learned Bobby made the call the same day as he saw him to the plane, but we believe it happened the following day. In another previously overlooked clue that the Mitchell call actually happened in the morning, Wofford recalled saying to Seigenthaler, “John, he called the judge this morning? How could he have done that?”
“Robert F. Kennedy said tonight”: Moore and Britton, “King Freed on $2,000 Bond.”
Sitting in a single-engine plane: Peeks, “Great Experience Says Dr. King of Sojourn in Prison.”
Just as the pilot started: Lewis, King, 128.
They landed at the Peachtree-DeKalb: Moore and Britton, “King Freed on $2,000 Bond”; Anderson, “Martin Luther King Reveals.”
“Welcome home, Dr. King”: Anderson, “Martin Luther King Reveals”; “King, Negro Leader, Freed in Georgia on $2,000 Bond,” Baltimore Sun, Oct. 28, 1960.
The family had chartered a long: Shannon and Kiker, “Out on Bond, King to Name Choice.”
“not softness, not naïveté”: This and Watters’s other reflections come from Watters, Down to Now, 53–62. Watters, a native of South Carolina and Georgia, was filling in on the civil rights beat. He had never seen King before this moment, when he noted King’s vulnerability.
King just had time to change: Shannon and Kiker, “Out on Bond, King to Name Choice.”
Hollowell quietly returned: Hollowell and Lehfeldt, Sacred Call, 137.
few times he ever saw Hollowell: Daniels, Saving the Soul of Georgia, 119–20.
“Well, Don, I see that everybody”: Hollowell and Lehfeldt, Sacred Call, 137.
he had never seen a church this packed: Lonnie King, interview.
“It took courage to call”: Moore and Britton, “King Freed on $2,000 Bond.”
“He can be my president”: Shannon and Kiker, “Out on Bond, King to Name Choice.”
To the young Reverend Moss: Moss interview, May 27, 2017.
“he is a Catholic”: Shannon and Kiker, “Out on Bond, King to Name Choice.”
“master the art of creative suffering”: Moore and Britton, “King Freed on $2,000 Bond.”
“a dangerous man”: Peeks, “Great Experience Says Dr. King of Sojourn in Prison.”
“creative and victorious moments”: Moore and Britton, “King Freed on $2,000 Bond.”
TIME TO DETONATE
“Let’s get all the horses”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 60.
endorsements, ads in the Black media: Martin, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL; Wofford, interview by Hackman, #2, JFKL. In Jet, Martin deliberately used font and color to make his Kennedy campaign ad buy indistinguishable from the usual Jet editorial content, save the inclusion of a minutely printed word in parentheses: “Advertisement.” Per usual, Martin’s ad linked JFK to FDR, the leader who inspired Martin to be a Democrat.
“it was going to be a tight”: Martin, interview by Anthony K. Shriver, JFKL.
Martin had an idea: Martin notebook, LMP; Martin, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL.
A story from Martin’s time campaigning: Martin memoir draft, LMP.
“might just as well have been”: Martin memoir draft, LMP. Martin would never stop focusing on how racism manifested itself through the power of words. He became a journalist understanding that how one shaped a story shaped people’s thoughts. From his first publication in high school on, he felt his work reflected “the horror and tragedy of racial discrimination and seg
regation.”
He could still see: Poinsett, Walking with Presidents, 3.
“I was twelve years old”: Louis Martin, interview by Ed Edwin, # 10, Sept. 18, 1986, Columbia University Oral History Collection.
“He’s a white man”: Martin memoir draft, LMP.
because it resonated with him: Martin notebook, LMP.
“They don’t read the New York Times”: Stern, Calculating Visions, 37.
“What do you want to put”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 22–23.
“Okay. We’ve got to use”: Stern, Calculating Visions, 37.
“Then you don’t need to ask”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 22–23.
“we had a terrific propaganda coup”: Shriver, interview by Anthony K. Shriver, JFKL. Given the reproductions done at local printers throughout the country, the numbers that were printed will never be precisely known.
Martin and Wofford called Coretta: Martin, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL.
“Harris to bring out the damn paper”: Wofford, interview.
“Don’t you think we’ve shot”: Wofford, interview by Hackman, #3, JFKL.
“Tell me honestly whether you think”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 28.
“No, you don’t need to”: Wofford, interview.
“Then we can wait”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 28.
“Let’s issue it right after”: Wofford, interview by Hackman, #3, JFKL.
“Let’s go out to the plane”: Wofford, interview.
“Did you see what Martin’s father”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 28.
White House announced on Monday: Felix Belair, “Eisenhower Adds 2 Crucial States to Campaign Trip,” NYT, Nov. 1, 1960.
“And with Martin Luther King in jail”: Papers of John F. Kennedy, Pre-presidential Papers, Senate Files, Series 12, Speeches and the Press, box 914, Folder: “Rosen Apartments, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 31 October 1960,” JFKL. Joseph Daughen, “Half-Million Cheer Kennedy Here,” Philadelphia Daily News, Oct. 31, 1960; Philip Potter, “Kennedy,” Baltimore Sun, Nov. 1, 1960.
Bobby called political allies in Georgia: Bruce Galphin, “His Call Misinterpreted, Robert Kennedy Says,” AC, Nov. 1, 1960. Griffin Bell echoed Bobby’s comment, saying the call had happened only because the campaign manager had been swamped with messages asking for information about King’s fate. The Constitution called this “wise and welcome to those of us who support his brother.” While they thought Mitchell’s sentence was wrong, Bobby’s call “went too far. We have indication from him now that he knows it, and this is a reassuring sign that common sense prevails in the Kennedy camp.” “Robert Kennedy Reassures Us,” AC, Nov. 1, 1960.
“we were all anxious”: “Bobby Kennedy Defends King Call,” AJ, Nov. 3, 1960.
“I think Sen. Kennedy did”: Ruth Jenkins, “Intervention helped Kennedy Says King,” Baltimore Afro-American, Nov. 12, 1960.
With King’s doctor ordering bed rest: “No Plans on King, Fulton Discloses,” ADW, Oct. 29, 1960; “NAACP Rally Draws 1,000,” Chicago Daily Defender, Nov. 1, 1960. King was scheduled after the election to debate Georgia’s Democratic chairman, James Gray, on a national NBC telecast concerning sit-ins, but Gray unexpectedly pulled out. King called his refusal a “tragic attempt of many leaders in the white South to live in monologue rather than dialogue.” When told of King’s response, Gray in turn replied, “He is a lawbreaker, and I don’t think I should have any public association with him. I cannot, in conscience, engage in an exchange of views with a man who so obviously has such a studied contempt for the body of law which is both an Anglo-Saxon, as well as an American heritage.” Gray added that Kennedy’s calls had “made some folks mad, and it’s going to cost some votes.”
October 30, was titled “Self Denial”: “‘Self Denial’ to Be Dr. King Sr.’s Topic Sunday,” ADW, Oct. 29, 1960.
King still faced hearings in January: DHP.
“There are those moments in history”: King, interview by Bernhard, JFKL.
“didn’t know it was politically”: Ibid.
“he had never heard of me”: Ibid.
“So this is why I really”: Ibid.
“You have to stay above”: Belafonte, My Song, 219.
even appearing in an ad: Martin notebook, LMP.
“The role that is mine”: John Britton, “King Not Backing Either Candidate,” ADW, Nov. 2, 1960.
“was the kind act”: Ibid.
“Since Mr. Nixon has been silent”: Ibid.
“Dr. King intends to support”: Carson et al., Papers of Martin Luther King Jr., 5:537.
“the state of Alabama and I”: “Intervention Helped Kennedy Says King.”
“was like a shot of lightning”: Shriver, interview by Anthony K. Shriver, JFKL. “Something very extraordinary happened and everybody became enthusiastic suddenly—overnight so to speak,” Shriver remembered.
The Amsterdam News’s estimation: “Kennedy’s Call to Mrs. King Won Votes,” Amsterdam News, Nov. 1, 1960.
calling Morrow for help: Morrow, Black Man in the White House, 295.
In Atlanta, a group of Republican ministers: Farrington, Black Republicans and the Transformation of the GOP, 113.
Cleveland’s Public Square on Friday: Laurence Burd, “Blasts Fiscal Shell Games as Ruinous,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 5, 1960.
“With every word he utters”: Oliphant and Wilkie, Road to Camelot, 332.
“Goddammit, I didn’t know”: Harris Wofford, interview by Bill Moyers, event for Corporation for Civic Documentaries at the New York Public Library, Jan. 13, 2016.
“We’ll sweat it out”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 21.
In the week leading up to the election: Martin, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL.
“moved to show his concern”: Martin, interview by Anthony K. Shriver, JFKL.
papers like Norfolk, Virginia’s Journal and Guide: Martin, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL.
“The Democrats did a great deal”: Lillian S. Calhoun, “Says Dixie Bloc Can’t Unseat Kennedy King Urges U.S. to Take Rights Stand,” Chicago Daily Defender, Nov. 22, 1960. Interestingly, this article was written by Louis Martin’s sister-in-law, the journalist Lillian S. Calhoun.
“Pass the word through”: Martin, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL.
“Unions helped get them out, too”: Edwin A. Lahey, “$5 in Phone Calls Key to Election?” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Nov. 10, 1960.
“to be the dramatic thing”: Martin, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL.
Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York: Martin, interview by Anthony K. Shriver, JFKL.
“electricity”: Franklin Williams, interview by Anthony K. Shriver, Kennedy’s Call to King.
His friend Dr. Kenneth Clark: Rampersad, Jackie Robinson, 351.
“shrewd political move”: Jackie Robinson, untitled, Los Angeles Sentinel, Nov. 24, 1960.
“a ‘grandstand play’”: Long, First Class Citizenship, 115. Jim Bassett, who did public relations for Nixon’s campaign, remembers Nixon was asked to visit the Quinn Chapel AME Church, Chicago’s oldest Black church. Nixon would not accept the invitation. Bassett recounted that Nixon was “in mortal fear of some kind of demonstration,” keeping him away from visits into Black neighborhoods. There also was an offer for Nixon to have a meeting with top Chicago Black religious and business leaders. Nixon’s aide H. R. Haldeman called Bassett two days before the event and said, “The boss says he ain’t going to do that n______r thing in Chicago.” Bassett complained that he “busted his ass to arrange this.” All Haldeman would say was, “The boss says he ain’t going to do that n______r thing” (Farrington, Black Republicans and the Transformation of the GOP, 104).
“woefully weak in organization”: Simeon Booker, “How Nixon Campaigns for the Negro Vote: Vice President, GOP Banking on Party’s Rights Record,” Jet, Nov. 3, 1960.
“a most able corps”: Lester Granger, “Manhattan and Beyond,” Amsterdam News, Dec. 3, 1960.
“make enough gains in our c
ommunities”: Booker, “How Nixon Campaigns for the Negro Vote.”
“forthright position”: “Negro Leader King All but Endorses Kennedy in Race,” Boston Globe, Nov. 7, 1960.
“I think more and more”: Carson et al., Papers of Martin Luther King Jr., 5:551.
“They alone provided him”: Ralph McGill, “An Essay on Dr. M. L. King,” AC, Nov. 5, 1960.
Life magazine wrote of how: Wainwright, “Martyr of the Sit-Ins.”
“These white folks have now made”: Anderson, “Martin Luther King Reveals.”
“in the last seven days”: Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy, Concourse Plaza Hotel, Bronx, New York, Nov. 5, 1960, JFKL.
Instead, he told the driver: Matthews, Jack Kennedy, 313–14.
Nixon had reached a breaking point: Frank, Ike and Dick, 213.
Late Saturday night, Wofford was lugging: Wofford, interview.
Twenty thousand people were out: Harrison E. Salisbury, “Senator Cheered,” NYT, Nov. 7, 1960.
In Chicago, Shriver had been: Stossel, Sarge, 168.
More than a quarter of a million: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 24.
Shriver wanted to see it all: Shriver, interview by Anthony K. Shriver, JFKL. The South Side church was famous for its music and thought of as the birthplace of modern gospel with the infusion of spiritual songs with blues rhythm. The man mostly responsible for this development, Thomas Dorsey, had written “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” a song King would call for during his last moments in Memphis.
“Eight Days Behind Bars”: “‘Eight Days Behind Bars’ to Be Dr. King’s Topic at Ebenezer Sunday,” ADW, Nov. 5, 1960.
“I think I received a new”: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, 149.
Wofford was getting reports: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 24–25.
bringing back from the Harlem bars: Martin, interview by Grele, #2, JFKL; Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 25; Poinsett, Walking with Presidents, 24–25.
most influential election for the region: Arthur Krock, “The South’s Vote,” NYT, Nov. 6, 1960.
When asked about sit-ins: Richard Nixon, Remarks of Vice President Richard M. Nixon, National Telethon, ABC Network, Southfield, Mich., online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/273809.