ABSTRACT
T he Machiavellian status quo was being pushed toward a sharp realign-ment in response to the movement. The diehard elements were anchored in the South, where for generations they had enjoyed material privileges and power as the Dixiecrat wing of the Democratic Party. Northern liberal Democrats were being challenged to break the historic compromise with white racism that had lasted since 1877, when Congress made Rutherford B. Hayes president in exchange for the end of Reconstruction. Enlightened pragmatists like the Kennedys tried to
woo the southern black vote without antagonizing their white southern allies, a balancing act that would be unsustainable in a few short years. The fledgling social movement was forcing the political parties to realign and choose new allies. John Kennedy placed a sympathetic call to the wife of Dr. King late in the election campaign, perhaps attracting sufficient black votes to win the popular majority against Nixon. But that was only the beginning. Strategically, the Democrats began aligning themselves with the political aspirations of the civil rights movement from 1960 through 1965, channeling foundation funding and other resources to black voter registration campaigns and away from militant direct action, calculating that millions of new black voters would make up for defections by traditional white Democrats.1
