The presidential campaign of 1960, which pitted John F. Kennedy against Richard Nixon, proved to be one of the closest elections in U.S. history and one in which Martin Luther King, Jr. and the movement played a pivotal role.
Born 29 May 1917 to a wealthy and politically prominent Boston family, Kennedy enjoyed the privileges of an elite education, eventually graduating from Harvard University in 1938. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he followed his father's entry into politics and served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and eight years in the Senate before securing the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 1960.
During the 1960 presidential campaign, Kennedy interceded when King was convicted for a probation violation after participating in a lunch counter sit-in in Atlanta. Following the recommendations of campaign advisors, Kennedy called Coretta King to offer his support and used his influence to secure King's release from Reidsville Prison. As a result, Kennedy garnered a large amount of support from the black community. While King chose to remain publicly impartial, he privately voiced support for Kennedy. On Election Day, Kennedy defeated Nixon by less than one percent of the popular vote, a margin of victory that highlighted the importance of African-American support.
Immediately after his election, Kennedy proceeded cautiously with respect to civil rights. Despite pleas from King and other civil rights leaders for federal intervention during the violence surrounding the Freedom Rides and the Albany Movement, the Kennedy administration remained largely on the sidelines. In 1962, Kennedy slowly began to push ahead a civil rights agenda with the creation of the Voter Education Project. Later that year, he sent federal troops to Oxford, Mississippi, to quell riots at the University of Mississippi following its integration by James Meredith.
The 1963 Birmingham campaign, headed by King, proved to be a catalyst for increased federal involvement in the struggle. As the national media was bombarded with images of peaceful demonstrators being attacked by police dogs and high-powered water hoses sweeping people down the street, Kennedy had little choice but to increase efforts to restore peace. On 11 June 1963, he directly addressed national concerns over civil rights, describing it as a "moral issue." Kennedy followed his speech by introducing to Congress a comprehensive civil rights bill that primarily focused on the desegregation of schools, restaurants, and hotels.
As Kennedy's proposed legislation stalled in Congress, King and other civil rights leaders pressured the president for action and proceeded with plans for the March on Washington, scheduled for late August. In a meeting with King, Kennedy initially expressed concern about the march and its effect on the pending civil rights bill. King, however, assured Kennedy of the event’s peaceful intentions and gained the president’s support.
Following the March on Washington, Kennedy continued to meet with King and other leaders regarding federal intervention in the civil rights struggle. Kennedy's civil rights legislation continued to be heavily contested in Congress and remained stalled in the House of Representatives when Kennedy was assassinated on 22 November 1963. It would take another eight months of battles with southern politicians before the Civil Rights Act was passed on 2 July 1964. In the wake of Kennedy’s assassination, King delivered a eulogy that described Kennedy's life as a challenge to "move forward with more determination to rid our nation of the vestiges of racial segregation and discrimination."