Kennedy Opposes Eisenhower’s Civil Rights Act: JFK Resists Ike’s Move Toward Justice

In late 1944 and early 1945, General Eisenhower took bold steps to integrate the U.S. Army during the Battle of the Bulge. Defying orders from President Roosevelt and Secretary of War Henry Stimson, Eisenhower ordered Black soldiers and White soldiers to work together in combat units. This opened the way for Black soldiers to receive combat pay and be eligible for more promotions.

African Americans enthusiastically voted for him in 1952, and General Eisenhower became President Eisenhower.

During his eight years as president, in the words of historian William Hitchcock, Eisenhower acted, and acted “decisively, to advance the progress of civil rights.”

Known fondly as “Ike,” his actions included appointing Blacks to high federal offices. Ike appointed Jesse Ernest Wilkins, who became the first African American to attend White House cabinet-level meetings.

Ike also used federal troops to overcome the resistance of Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus. Ike ordered the troops to protect Black children who were attending public schools in the city of Little Rock.

When Eisenhower proposed a civil rights bill to Congress in 1957, he encountered fierce opposition from future president John F. Kennedy, as historian C.N. Trueman writes:

Kennedy put political realism before any form of beliefs when he voted against Eisenhower’s 1957 Civil Rights Act.

100% of the Republican votes cast, both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, supported the bill. But many Democrats, under the leadership of Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, opposed the bill:

The Democrats were almost united to a politician in their opposition to the bill / act. Kennedy had aspirations to be the Democrats’ next presidential candidate in the 1960 election. If he was seen to be taking the party line and demonstrating strong leadership with regards to opposing the bill, this would do his chances no harm whatsoever. This proved to be the case and Kennedy led the Democrats to victory over Richard Nixon in 1960.

So it was that John F. Kennedy opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, while President Eisenhower supported it. Eisenhower won.

Why was Ike so adamant in championing civil rights legislation? Because he saw that, despite the advancements he’d already made, there was still work to be done, as historian Nate Sullivan writes:

During the 1950s, African Americans continued to suffer racial discrimination. While the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1870, gave African Americans the right to vote, they often were subject to voter intimidation.

“This was especially true in the” states controlled by the Democratic Party.

Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower sought to change this through the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which provided federal oversight to ensure that African Americans had the opportunity to vote free from intimidation or coercion. This was the first federal civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

While the Republicans were united in their support of the bill, the Democrats were divided. Among the leaders of the Democratic Party at that time were both Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.

As a Democrat, Kennedy was hesitant to lend his full support to the Republican’s civil rights bill.

While some Democrats were willing to vote for the civil rights bill, many Democrats “were fiercely opposed to civil rights reforms.” Some Democrats opposed the bill simply by voting against it. Others took the additional step of adding hostile amendments to the bill, hoping thereby to weaken its effectiveness. “By 1957, Kennedy had his eye on the White House, and he did not want to lose the support of” his fellow Democrats. Voting for the bill would have destroyed Kennedy’s presidential hopes.

He therefore voted against the bill (it did pass however). In fact, throughout his career as a senator, Kennedy chose not to make civil rights an issue. Many historians feel he took this approach because he did not want to lose the support of his party. He likely was concerned about coming across as too radical and alienating his own base.

In an ironic twist, Lyndon Johnson found a way to claim that he supported civil rights: he supported an amended version of the bill. But Johnson’s amendments were designed to weaken the bill to the point of ineffectiveness. So Johnson was able to gain support from both sides. Yet it was clear that Johnson had no genuine desire to see advancement in civil rights.

Eisenhower signed the 1957 Civil Rights Act into law. He’d worked together with his vice president, Richard Nixon, and with Martin Luther King. The three of them had found or created enough support to move the bill through Congress.

His next move, to overcome the opposition of Kennedy and Johnson, was to see the 1960 Civil Rights Act through Congress, which he likewise signed into law. The 1960 version of the act was designed to close certain loopholes which Johnson had put into the 1957 version.

When Eisenhower completed his time in office, leaving the White House in January 1961, he’d compiled a series of civil rights victories.

The Eisenhower Presidency: A Pivotal Moment in America’s Civil Rights Era

When Dwight Eisenhower won the 1952 presidential election against a resolutely segregationist Democratic Party, he did so in part because of the credibility he’d earned with African American voters nearly a decade earlier.

In late 1944 and early 1945, Eisenhower, as Supreme Allied Commander, was engaged in the intense fighting at the Battle of the Bulge. As an officer, he needed maximum flexibility in maneuvering his troops to different locations as needed.

The mobility of U.S. soldiers was limited by directives from President Roosevelt, and from Roosevelt’s Secretary of War, Henry Stimson. Both Roosevelt and Stimson wanted Eisenhower to move his troops within the confines of their segregationist directives: they wanted Black and White soldiers to remain in separate units, and to deny Black soldiers the opportunity to volunteer for combat service.

Eisenhower was massively frustrated by the segregationist regulations. Logistics within a major modern army are complicated in any case, and the blatantly racist policies of Roosevelt and Stimson only made matters worse.

In a courageous move, Eisenhower disobeyed the orders from Washington, integrating the troops under his command, and giving African Americans in the army the opportunity to be in combat. With combat came quicker and more significant promotions, and extra pay. Black voters did not forget, and in 1952 voted for him in large numbers.

African Americans voted for Ike in even larger numbers to reelect him in 1956.

Known fondly by his nickname, “Ike” was popular among all Americans, and he used his social capital to promote the civil rights movement, as historian William Hitchcock writes,

He presided over two enormously important developments that would shape the history of race in America. He lent support to Attorney General Brownell’s strenuous efforts to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957; and he used the power of his office to enforce court-ordered school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas, overcoming the resistance of the demagogic governor, Orval Faubus.

Eisenhower, and his vice president, Richard Nixon, had invited Martin Luther King, Jr. to the White House. Ike, Nixon, and MLK strategized about how to find enough votes in Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957. In the end, of the votes cast to turn the bill into law, 100% of the Republican votes cast, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, supported the bill. A number of Democrats also voted for the bill.

Between this victory in Congress, and Ike’s use of federal troops to protect the “Little Rock Nine” as they attended school, 1957 was a landmark year in the civil rights movement. Encouraged by these developments, Eisenhower went farther. He introduced another civil rights bill.

The strength of the 1957 Act had been somewhat weakened by Senator Lyndon Johnson, who’d added some hostile amendments to it. Ike sought to strengthen the provisions of the 1957 law by passing the 1960 Civil Rights Act.

By the time Eisenhower left office, he’d passed two major pieces of civil rights legislation, collaborated with MLK, and made a clear and adamant stand in favor of desegregation in Little Rock. Ike achieved significant forward movement in civil rights.