... details helped decide the matter. During the presidential debate--the first ever televised-- JFK appeared virile and commanding, whereas Nixon looked haggard and unshaven. Also critical was JFK's phone call to Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights leader, while King was in jail for civil disobedience. The symbolism of the phone call was crucial in helping improve JFK's image in the black community. In the end ... it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to insure the survival and the success of libe...

• Word Count: 8348
• Approx Pages: 33
• Grade Level: High School

... time the black civil rights movement of the 1950s takes up the language and rhetoric of American patriotism, affluence, normality and consensus and exposes it as potentially hollow and meaningless since it doesn't apply to all citizens. In other words, at least in the beginning, black leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., embraced the ideals of the liberal consensus. In doing so, they exposed ... one nation, indivisible."" Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955), Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-ins (1960), Freedom Rides (1961): Escalation of direct action protest to desegregate public accommodations...

• Word Count: 3629
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: Undergraduate