Kennedy and King: The President, the Pastor, and the Battle over Civil Rights

by Steven Levingston

Overview

A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick

"Kennedy and King is an unqualified masterpiece of historical narrative . . . A landmark achievement." -- Douglas Brinkley, New York Times bestselling author of Rosa Parks

Kennedy and King traces the emergence of two of the twentieth century's greatest leaders, their powerful impact on each other and on the shape of the civil rights battle between 1960 and 1963. These two men from starkly different worlds profoundly influenced each other's personal development. Kennedy's hesitation on civil rights spurred King to greater acts of courage, and King inspired Kennedy to finally make a moral commitment to equality. As America still grapples with the legacy of slavery and the persistence of discrimination, Kennedy and King is a vital, vivid contribution to the literature of the Civil Rights Movement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316267403
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	06/06/2017
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	159,225
File size:	27 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Steven Levingston is the author of Little Demon in the City of Light, Kennedy and King, which was named a New York Times Editor's Choice selection and a Washington Post Notable Book of 2017, and Barack and Joe. The nonfiction book editor of the Washington Post, he has lived and worked in Beijing, Hong Kong, New York, Paris, and Washington and reported and edited for the Wall Street Journal and International Herald Tribune.

Table of Contents

Foreword for the Paperback Edition Michael Eric Dyson xi

"To Teach a President" xiii

Part 1 Two Men, Two Worlds 1

Part 2 A Call to Coretta 69

Part 3 "Tomorrow May Be Too Late" 107

Part 4 "Pawns in a White Man's Political Game" 199

Part 5 "It Often Helps Me to Be Pushed" 299

Epilogue 429

Acknowledgments 437

Note on Sources 439

Notes 441

Bibliography 483

Index 491

What People are Saying About This

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs and The Innovators - Walter Isaacson

"In this fascinating and timely book, Steve Levingston examines how these two young leaders in the early 1960s were being tested on the national scene—and testing each other. Despite their disparate backgrounds and personal styles, they came together to make history. Anyone who wants to understand America, the Civil Rights Movement, and the nature of leadership should read this book."

Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Confe - David Garrow

“A captivatingly written, thoroughly researched, and deeply thoughtful revisiting of an unforgettable historical partnership which continues to resonate.”

Congressman (D-GA) - John Lewis

"Kennedy and King tells the story of two brilliant leaders who injected new meaning into the veins of American society. Together, their influence created a moral imperative that changed the U.S. and the world. Levingston's book is both historical and visionary. By reminding us of these great leaders and their accomplishments, this book will fuel your passion for the new work we still need to accomplish in our society."

New York Times bestselling author of Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination that Changed America - Wil Haygood

"As the moral courage of Martin Luther King Jr. came up against the political instincts of President John F. Kennedy—with both men trying to save their nation—a new history was set in motion. It's all brought to fascinating light in Steven Levingston's righteous book."

New York Times bestselling author of The General Vs. The President - H. W. Brands

"History, politics and ambition brought John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. together in the early 1960s. Their relationship was personally complex, it was fateful for the nation, and it has never been told more compellingly."

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Rosa Parks and The Reagan Diaries - Douglas Brinkley

"Steven Levingston's Kennedy and King is an unqualified masterpiece of historical narrative. Every page sparkles with literary verve, eloquent storytelling, and keen analytic judgment. It might be the best dual biography I've ever read. A landmark achievement which elevates Civil Rights history into a high art form."

New York Times bestselling author of Robert Kennedy and Being Nixon - Evan Thomas

"Moral courage is the subject of this fascinating book. For Martin Luther King Jr. and, especially, for John F. Kennedy the path was rarely simple or straightforward. Steven Levingston has told a gripping, moving, revealing tale."

Editorial Reviews

…absorbing history…As long as racial equality and justice elude us, writers, artists and filmmakers will return to the climactic years of our Second Reconstruction, when African-Americans and their white allies forced the nation to begin to make good on the promise of freedom, equality under the law and voting rights embedded 100 years earlier in the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments…[Levingston] writes with passion and flair. If these pages don't rouse you, call your doctor…Kennedy and King will most likely leave readers thinking that what is needed today is not more leaders…but more followers. What is needed are ordinary people: alert, informed, engaged, mobilized, idealistic but not naíve, critical but not hopeless, confident about who they are and what they want but able and inclined to work with all sorts of others, exercising rights won at enormous cost, starting with the right to vote. What is needed, in short, are more citizens, prepared to lead our leaders toward a more promising land.

The New York Times Book Review - James Goodman

★ 04/03/2017
Levingston (Little Demon in the City of Light), nonfiction book editor at the Washington Post, comprehensively evaluates the antagonistic interplay of Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy during the civil rights movement. He contrasts the unstoppable forces of King’s soaring oratory, Christian principles, and moral authority with the immovable objects of Kennedy’s privilege, political calculation, and presidential power. Their push and pull unfolded in a cultural cauldron that encompassed the Montgomery bus boycott, the freedom rides, King’s stints in jail, the children’s crusade in Birmingham, Gov. George Wallace’s segregationist stand at the University of Alabama, and the march on Washington. Students of the movement will appreciate Levingston’s portrayals of two key behind-the-scenes movers and shakers: Harry Belafonte, the entertainer who served as the intermediary between the pastor and the politician, and Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, whose early support of King was pivotal in the pastor’s triumphal moving of the president from political agnosticism to action, which led to President Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. “Through his persistence, King developed a successful strategy for speaking truth to power,” Levingston writes. “Although ambivalent from the start, President Kennedy demonstrated that progress occurred when power listened and learned.” Agent: Dan Lazar, Writers House. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Comparing and contrasting disparate historical figures can easily be artificial, misleading, even gimmicky. Steven Levingston, however, has walked this tightrope magnificently. In his important new book, Kennedy and King, the rest of us get an unusual chance to study each leader in part through the other over a tumultuous, pivotal eight-year period. As is always the case with major contributions to our understanding, Levingston's is grounded in diligent research and detail.... Levingston's account of Birmingham, which chronicles the city's impact on each protagonist, is simply riveting. He is especially illuminating in following Kennedy's final steps when his attorney general brother nudged him to become 'the nation's first civil rights President.'"—Thomas Oliphant, The Washington Post

"Kennedy and King tells the story of two brilliant leaders who injected new meaning into the veins of American society. Together, their influence created a moral imperative that changed the U.S. and the world. Levingston's book is both historical and visionary. By reminding us of these great leaders and their accomplishments, this book will fuel your passion for the new work we still need to do in our society today."—Congressman John Lewis (D-GA)

"In this fascinating and timely book, Steven Levingston examines how these two young leaders in the early 1960s were being tested on the national scene—and testing each other. Despite their disparate backgrounds and personal styles, they came together to make history. Anyone who wants to understand America, the Civil Rights Movement, and the nature of leadership should read this book."—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs and The Innovators

"Steven Levingston's Kennedy and King is an unqualified masterpiece of historical narrative. Every page sparkles with literary verve, eloquent storytelling, and keen analytic judgment. It might be the best dual biography I've ever read. A landmark achievement which elevates civil rights history into a high art form."—Douglas Brinkley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Rosa Parks and The Reagan Diaries

"A riveting episode in American history."—Booklist (starred review)

"As the moral courage of Martin Luther King Jr. came up against the political instincts of President John F. Kennedy—with both men trying to save their nation—a new history was set in motion. It's all brought to fascinating light in Steven Levingston's righteous book."—Wil Haygood, New York Times bestselling author of Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination that Changed America

"History, politics, and ambition brought John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. together in the early 1960s. Their relationship was personally complex, it was fateful for the nation, and it has never been told more compellingly."—H.W. Brands, New York Times bestselling author of The General vs. The President

"Moral courage is the subject of this fascinating book. For Martin Luther King Jr. and, especially, for John F. Kennedy the path was rarely simple or straightforward. Steven Levingston has told a gripping, moving, revealing tale."—Evan Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Robert Kennedy and Being Nixon

"As I read Kennedy and King, I imagine two giants, reluctantly waltzing on a tightrope with no safety net. I see them stumbling, almost falling, the dance interrupted by distance but saved by a tepid, occasionally enthusiastic embrace. This history buff's paradise adds texture and context to explain the complexity of an ultimately productive partnership. Every few pages of this amazingly detailed work contain an uncommon revelation. Levingston has made an important contribution to the work on these leaders and their shared cause. I inhaled this book, and I loved it."—Julianne Malveaux, author of Are We Better Off?: Race, Obama and Public Policy and President Emerita, Bennett College for Women

"A captivatingly written, thoroughly researched, and deeply thoughtful revisiting of an unforgettable historical partnership which continues to resonate."—David Garrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

"In this illuminating account Levingston charts the racial education of an ambitious Kennedy as he navigated the minefield of white southern bigotry and King's uncompromising moral vision and how, together, they transformed a nation."—Pamela Newkirk, author of Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga

"Levingston ... contrasts the unstoppable forces of King's soaring oratory, Christian principles, and moral authority with the immovable objects of Kennedy's privilege, political calculation, and presidential power. Their push and pull unfolded in a cultural cauldron that encompassed the Montgomery bus boycott, the freedom rides, King's stints in jail, the children's crusade in Birmingham, Gov. George Wallace's segregationist stand at the University of Alabama, and the march on Washington."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[In] this bracing dual biography, Levingston (Little Demon in the City of Light) adds an upbeat, humanistic flavor to the intersecting lives of his subjects. This book will hold wide appeal."—Library Journal

"Steven Levingston's fascinating Kennedy and King reveals one of the most crucial American political relationships of the twentieth century, demonstrating the vital importance of great leadership during the time when the American civil rights movement was in the balance."—Michael Beschloss, New York Times bestselling author of Presidential Courage and NBC News Presidential Historian

"Levingston's writing on King is unfailingly perceptive and eloquent... Thanks to Levingston's impressive narrative skills, the spectacle of this president confronting the most divisive issue of his day is consistently fascinating."—Christian Science Monitor

"Absorbing... Levingston writes with passion and flair. If these pages don't rouse you, call your doctor."—James Goodman, New York Times Book Review

"[A] superb portrait of two gifted men and their indelible impact on American history, chronicling the tortuous courtship—as one's passion collided with the other's ambivalence—that finally wedded them in the fight for civil rights, an outcome that was far from foreordained."—Bookreporter.com

"Expertly highlights the interconnections between these two seminal figures in mid-20th-century America... Dual biographies are hard to pull off, but Levingston does it splendidly in his portrait of two divergent personalities finally coming together, if only briefly, over matters of gravest consequence."—Dallas Morning News

"Insightful and well-crafted.... At a time when cynicism about our political system abounds, [Kennedy and King] reminds us that outsiders can prod those in power toward progress and reform."—Wall Street Journal

"Levingston is a captivating storyteller and his account is both simple and profoundly moving.... [His] telling of the civil rights battles is so timely: The monumental strides made by King and Kennedy were not due to their immense talents, skills or political power. Ultimately, the key was the unrelenting persistence that comes from moral courage. We just have to find it again today."—Charleston Post and Courier

From the Publisher

04/01/2017
In June 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy (1917–63) met secretly with civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–68), seeking his endorsement. King demurred. He was wary of Kennedy's ambition and equivocal record on civil rights. Conversely, the privileged future president failed to grasp the moral exigency of the civil rights question. Kennedy and King spent the early 1960s building pressure on each other—King leading mass civil disobedience to awaken the conscience and moral courage of the president and America, Kennedy trying to protect protestors from white mobs as well as to contain the political tumult produced by King's protests. Hardheaded and ambitious, but also keen to grow into his office, Kennedy distilled the essence of his relationship with King into one simple sentence: "It helps me to be pushed." Three years into his presidency, Kennedy finally went all-in on civil rights, denouncing brutal police crackdowns on peaceful marchers and introducing new laws in Congress. VERDICT Biographers struggle to say anything new about Kennedy or King, but in this bracing dual biography, Levingston (Little Demon in the City of Light) adds an upbeat, humanistic flavor to the intersecting lives of his subjects. This book will hold wide appeal. [See Prepub Alert, 11/14/16.]—Michael Rodriguez, Univ. of Connecticut

Library Journal

President John F. Kennedy and Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., this audiobook reminds us, shared the national stage at a crucial moment in American history. By the time Kennedy died, they had set in motion events that would result in landmark legislation and a shift in how America views race relations and equality. Narrator Dan Woren approaches this audiobook with a seriousness of purpose and a manner that focuses on the facts and text, rather than on vocal agility. His deep voice and methodical pacing allow the listener to follow the story, and his light characterizations remind us who is talking. His voice also rises and falls with the action and reflects some of the emotions of the day. In the end, Woren’s is a solid performance. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

JULY 2017 - AudioFile

2017-03-20
A dual biography chronicles three years of upheaval in the civil rights movement.Journalist Levingston (Little Demon in the City of Light: A True Story of Murder and Mesmerism in Belle Epoque Paris, 2014, etc.), the nonfiction book editor of the Washington Post, synthesizes voluminous material—biographies, memoirs, histories, and archival documents—to produce a comprehensive examination of the relationship between John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. That relationship was fraught even before the two men met in secret in 1960: Kennedy had decided to run for president and hoped for an endorsement from King, already a major figure in the fight for racial equality. "King had much to offer Kennedy," writes the author, but Kennedy had little but promises to offer King. "He did not have the grasp and the comprehension of the depths and dimensions of the problem," King recalled. Moreover, Kennedy was reluctant to upset Southern Democrats by aligning himself with King. Distilling many sources, Levingston wavers in his analysis of Kennedy's commitment to civil rights: some sources hail him as a man "sympathetic to the suffering of others" with "a reflexive dislike of unfairness." Others saw him as a political opportunist, "deaf" to "cries for freedom," feigning interest in order to win the black vote but ignoring civil rights unless it directly benefited his own agenda. Although Levingston insists that Kennedy was "a man of intellect and compassion," some evidence he presents supports the idea that the Kennedy brothers saw civil rights as the "moral issue" that would burnish the president's image. A stronger argument would have helped to reconcile this contradiction, which persists throughout the book. Similarly, Levingston presents Robert Kennedy as sometimes passionately sympathetic to civil rights and sometimes harshly impatient of King's pleas for help from the White House. The author does make a case for the brothers' naiveté, calling them "novices plunged into a maelstrom far more complicated than they realized at first." Not surprisingly, King was repeatedly frustrated in his dealings with them. A well-documented narrative that would benefit from more consistent analysis.

Kirkus Reviews