Intro
This essay will show how these two presidents tackled the problem of Civil rights of African Americans and it will demonstrate the extent of improvements and what remained the same. When one compares the extent of improvements which these two presidents make, the immediate reaction would be one praise towards President Kennedy because of his ultimate death while one would demonise President Johnson cause of Vietnam. This essay will show how little Kennedy actually accomplished as president but how much Johnson and the civil rights movement achieved thanks
To be able to compare and objectively see the extent to which these two presidents improved civil rights for African Americans, we must first ascertain what their goals were and if they accomplished them or not; establish the extent of what they did with president each of the surrounding circumstances.
In the early 1960S, the drive for voting rights became a central part of the major southern-based civil rights organizations' strategy -- the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), headed by Martin Luther King Jr.,
and the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), led by Bob Moses, John Lewis and James Forman.
Argument for Kennedy
What did Kennedy do to advance the cause of civil rights?
1) He put pressure on federal government organisations to employ more African Americans. Any who were employed were usually in the lowest paid posts and in jobs that had little prospect of professional progress. The FBI only employed 48 African Americans out of a total of 13,649 and these 48 were nearly all chauffeurs. Kennedy did more than any president before him to have more African Americans appointed to federal government posts. In total, he appointed 40 to senior federal positions including five as federal judges
2) Kennedy appointed his brother (Robert) as Attorney General which...
Kennedy and Johnson
Yours is a good essay on the efforts of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson to improve civil rights in America in the 1960's. Kennedy's assassination was a tragedy but something good did come out of it. President Johnson felt that he was duty bound to get as much of the slain president's initiatives through Congress as possible. Having served as Senate Majority Leader, Johnson was an expert at Washington politics which Kennedy was not. Because of prejudice, Kennedy could not have successfully ushered civil rights legislation through Congress, especially the Senate where a filibuster would have likely resulted. Johnson effectively used his political skills and sympathy over Kennedy's death to get important civil rights legislation passed and the nation is a better place today because of it.
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