Kennedy & Nixon, by Chris Matthews: on Civil Rights

John F. Kennedy: 1960: Called Martin Luther King's wife when MLK was jailed

Coretta Scott King feared with good reason that her husband, a black man, might not get out of jail alive. Despite his yearning for the continued confidence of the conservative southern Democrats, Kennedy made the call [to Coretta]. From Mrs. King, the press quickly learned about John Kennedy's expressions of sympathy. Robert Kennedy called the judge who had sentenced King to ask for his release on bail. His mission was successful.

Nixon, meanwhile, was silent. For his failure to act, Nixon would pay dearly. Black America moved overnight to the Democratic side of the ballot

Richard Nixon: 1947: Joined HUAC to catch real Communists

Richard Nixon won a dubious posting on the anti-Communist front: the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Speaker Joe Martin of MA wanted the 33-year-old Californian on HUAC for what he was, a lawyer, but also for what he was not, a crackpot. Such credentials were in short supply on a committee notorious for ignoring civil liberties and tilting at windmills. Nixon brought another talent to the committee table: an insatiable appetite for opposition research. That appetite had been whetted, not sated, by the digging done on Jerry Voorhis, which produced the lethal NC PAC memo.

The Honorable Richard M. Nixon, member of Congress, was now hunting bigger game than Jerry Voorhis. He was out to catch real Communists. The committee's junior Republican was not content: Dick Nixon smelled blood. 2 weeks later, he gave his maiden House address on the matter.

Richard Nixon: 1960: Declined to commit to a black Cabinet member

Coretta Scott King feared with good reason that her husband, a black man, might not get out of jail alive. [Kennedy called Coretta]; the press quickly learned about John Kennedy's expressions of sympathy.

Nixon, meanwhile, was silent. For his failure to act, Nixon would pay dearly. A pamphlet, "The Case of Martin Luther King," laid out the story 'No Comment Nixon' Versus a Candidate with a Heart, Senator Kennedy," one caption read.

Two million copies were printed on light blue paper and delivered to black churches the Sunday before the election, and would be dubbed "the blue bomb". In a silent coup, black America was being moved overnight to the Democratic side of the ballot, from the party of Lincoln to that of the Kennedys.