TLS signed “Jack Kennedy,” one page, 8 x 10.5, United States Senate letterhead, July 27, 1960. Letter to Democratic Senator A. Willis Robertson of Virginia. In full: “I understand the problem the platform presents to you. I do hope it will be possible for us to work together in the fall, and I look forward to seeing you after the 8th of next month.” In a 19-word handwritten postscript, JFK adds, “Thank you for your frank letter. I do hope we can carry Virginia, and your help would be invaluable.” In fine condition, with staple hole to top left and a couple light creases. Accompanied by an unsigned carbon of the July 19, 1960, letter written by Robertson, Virginia’s junior Senator, to his party’s candidate for President.
Here, JFK replies to a July 19, 1960 letter from Senator Robertson, two weeks after the Massachusetts Senator was nominated for president. To the deep displeasure of southern states, the Democratic party had adopted an advanced position on civil rights. The cause of furthering economic, political and social justice for African Americans conflicted with the southern desire to maintain the status quo, and Kennedy struggled to find a balance between the two political imperatives. In 1960, Virginia saw blacks protest Jim Crow by staging lunch counter sit-ins and the Supreme Court abolish segregated interstate travel in Boynton v. Virginia. In the tense context of the growing civil rights movement, Robertson affirmed his support in his letter to Kennedy, but with a caveat: “I regret that I cannot endorse and support the civil rights plank that was written into our Party platform over the protests of the delegates from Virginia and other Southern states.” Kennedy’s neutral response not only demonstrates the political delicacy required in the civil rights era, but also signifies the onset of one of the great shifts in the twentieth century political landscape. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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