To John F. Kennedy
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: March 30, 1962
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Genre: Letter
Details
Following a vacancy in the United States Supreme Court, King urges President Kennedy to consider Judge William H. Hastie or Judge Thurgood Marshall for the position, claiming that appointing a black man to the Court could be a good way to show “commitment to the ideal of equality of opportunity.”1 Lawrence O’Brien, special assistant to the president, thanked King for the recommendation, but added that after “careful consideration” Byron White had been appointed to the Supreme Court.2
the president
the white house
urgently request your serious consideration of judge william h hastie and judge thurgood marshall for appointment to the supreme court bench. both men are emminently qualified to fill vacancy. this is superb opportunity for the administration to reveal to world its serious determination to make the negro a full participant in every phase of american life, in this crucial period of history such an appointment would be one of the finest ways to demonstrate the nations commitment to the ideal of equality of opportunity
yours very truly.
martin luther king jr
president southern christian leadership conference
1. On 29 March, Kennedy announced associate justice Charles Whittaker’s retirement due to medical concerns. Judge Hastie of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit was strongly considered to fill the position. Kennedy sought to avoid a Senate dispute over confirmation of his first appointment, and was advised by Theodore Sorensen, that “You cannot appoint both Hastie and Weaver to HEW without appearing to be guilty of reverse racism,” and to “save Hastie for the next vacancy before 1964” (Sorensen to John F. Kennedy, 29 March 1962; “President’s Choice,” Baltimore Afro-American, 14 April 1962). Although not a leading candidate in the discussions surrounding Whittaker’s potential successor, Marshall went on to become the first black U.S. Supreme Court justice in 1967. Starting in 1962, the FBI had begun a wiretap on Stanley Levison’s office phone. A memo to J. Edgar Hoover indicated that Wyatt Tee Walker had called Levison on behalf of King to ask whether King should publicly pressure Kennedy to nominate Hastie. Levison allegedly said: “My tendency is for MARTIN (LUTHER KING) to issue a statement on it and speak of it as a superb opportunity coming at a critical juncture in history” (SAC, New York, to Hoover, 30 March 1962, Bureau File 100–106670–33). William Henry Hastie (1904–1976), born in Knoxville, Tennessee, earned his B.A. (1925) at Amherst College and later his law degree (1930) and doctorate of juridical science from Harvard University (1933). In 1943, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP after he resigned from his position as civilian aide to the Secretary of War because of discriminatory practices in the military. In 1946 Hastie was appointed governor of the Virgin Islands, a position he held until 1949. That same year, he became the first African American to be appointed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and served as a judge for the 3rd Circuit for twenty-one years, spending three of them as chief judge.
2. O’Brien to King, 5 April 1962. White (1917–2002) was confirmed by the Senate on 11 April 1962 and served on the Supreme Court until his retirement in 1993.
Source: JFKWHCNF-MBJFK, John F. Kennedy Presidential Papers, White House Central Name Files, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Mass.