Video Clips from the 1964 Campaign

Clips from the 1964 Republican convention, where nominee Barry Goldwater (amidst attacks by extremists on civil rights workers in the South) seemed to embrace extremism:


The first (and still most famous) negative ad in a general election campaign--the "Daisy Ad" of Lyndon Johnson--playing off opponent Barry Goldwater's suggestions that a nuclear war might be a possible option for the United States.

West Virginia, in 2008

I mentioned the 1960 West Virginia primary, where John Kennedy proved that a Roman Catholic could win in an overwhelmingly Protestant, and poor, state.

In 2008, Barack Obama didn't fare as well in WV (which in addition to being overwhelmingly poor and Protestant is overwhelmingly white and undereducated). Comedy Central's Jon Stewart explored why:

Civil Rights Notes

20^th Century U.S. Politics

The Civil Rights

June 5, 2008

I. Brown and Beyond

1. Brown (judicial compromises and nature of Brown: NAACP strategies; choice of Topeka; divisions in the Vinson Court—Marshall, liberals, and role of 14^th amendment; Vinson death, Warren elevation, reargument: role of Kenneth Clark; remedy?; Brown II and “all deliberate speed”; declining significance of Supreme Court)

2. Reaction to Brown (civil rights and politics: splits within the two parties, GOP traditions, Eisenhower background; Eisenhower and origins of massive resistance: Virginia, Little Rock; role of Brownell—response to Birmingham and Rosa Parks, MLK; establishment of civil rights division in Justice Dept., federal prosecution of voting rights abuses)

3. Grassroots (baby boom and generational splits; creation of SNCC and CORE; significance of Historically Black Colleges; sit-ins w/new generation—SNCC and Greensboro)

II. Asserting Congressional Influence

1. Lyndon Johnson’s Senate (aging of Senate and entrenched Southern power; LBJ as majority leader: Morse defection, confronting the seniority system and committee assignments, role of campaign contributions, Democratic Policy Committee and Bobby Baker, scheduling matters, role of unanimous consent agreements—shift from public debate to backroom dealing)

2. The Civil Rights Acts (Johnson, Russell, and setting the stage; administration bill and congressional response: House Rules Committee and Judge Smith; Senate situation—Eastland and Judiciary Committee, Thurmond and filibuster, cloture question; Title III and public accommodations; LBJ and Church—role of jury-trial amendment; significance of passage?)

III. The Expansion of Rights

1. The Campaign (West Virginia and Catholicism, role of primaries, nomination struggle and selection of Johnson; Nixon, experience, and debates; Kennedy's Houston speech; call to Coretta Scott King; victory)

2. Kennedy and Civil Rights (political concerns—“stroke of a pen”; significance of bureaucracy—Wofford, Marshall, power of Justice Department; forcing the issue—Freedom Rides and role of federal marshals; Meredith and integration of Ole Miss, NAACP and Civil Rights Division support)

3. After Ole Miss (riots and federal military intervention; Wallace and demagoguery; political costs; Birmingham and Operation “C”; role of Bull Connor; sit-ins and boycott; use of children; public and media response)

4. The Bill (obstacles in Congress: House—Rules Committee and Judge Smith; Senate—Eastland elevation and tradition of filibuster; focus on public accommodations; indecision about tactics; indecision about constitutional justification; provisions—outlaw racial discrimination in public accommodations, give Justice Dept. authority to file suits for school desegregation in federal court, create EEOC; continued legislative obstacles; Kennedy legacy?)

Civil Rights Era Videos

"I Like Ike"


Nixon/Kennedy debate excerpts, CNN


Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream" speech

Nixon's Checkers Speech

Truman Notes

I. The Election

1. The Postwar Environment (postwar assumptions; economic transformations; Truman difficulties—cabinet, confidence, “To Err is Truman”; Republican midterm election—role of far right; Taft-Hartley and the battle against labor; Nixon and HUAC; foreign policy complications—Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, National Security Act, emergence of Wallace candidacy)

2. New Patterns (the Republican race: Dewey, Stassen, and the role of primaries; Oregon and CPUSA debate; Dewey-Taft showdown; Democratic discord: Wallace, Isaacson, and origins of ADA—“vital center”; Pepper, FDR, Jr., and alternatives?: Douglas, Eisenhower; Humphrey and Philadelphia convention; Truman renomination and Thurmond defection)

3. 1948 and American Political Culture (Dewey strategizing; role of public opinion polls; decline of Wallace—Czech coup, subsequent tensions, growing CP role in campaign; Thurmond and limited effort; Truman approach—Clifford memorandum, barnstorming style, populism; Democratic surge—congressional gains)

II. The Aftermath

1. Fair Deal (Truman and American liberalism; health care and AMA—emergence of interest group politics; “socialized medicine” and Cold War; FELP and unintended consequences of anti-communist crusade; Korea and constitutional crises—decision to send troops, Youngstown Steel)

2. The Backlash (Pat McCarran and American politics; internal security, immigration, and battle for American culture; origins of McCarthyism—McCarthy background, partisan environment, changing nature of Senate, path to Wheeling address, Tydings Committee and Senate response; 1950 elections—Tydings defeat, Nixon triumph, origins of McCarthy myth)

3. Beyond 1950 (Truman and race—integration of army, origins of Brown; question of corruption; Korean stalemate, MacArthur dismissal, and constitutional crisis; Kefauver challenge and Truman withdrawal; road to Stevenson; GOP divisions—Taft, Eisenhower, Lodge, and foreign policy; Eisenhower nomination, Nixon and “Checkers” speech; Eisenhower victory—Lodge setback in Massachusetts, Goldwater triumph in Arizona)

Truman Documents

Clark Clifford, "Memorandum for the President," August 1948 (8pp.)

TV and the 1948 campaign

McCarran Act

Joseph McCarthy: Wheeling address

Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience