JFK and Ross Barnett

Hearing the president negotiate over the phone, often unsuccessfully, with Mississippi governor Ross Barnett gave me a great insight as to what the era was like. I was surprised at how resistant and racist the people and even the governor of Mississippi were. I was even more surprised by how carefully Kennedy dealt with the situation, as if afraid to offend the southern fundamentalists. It often seemed as if the president and the governor did not understand each other and would disagree as to the best course of action in dealing with James Meredith, the first black man to attempt to go to Ole Miss University. While living in the time period, the public probably saw the strong political stand taken by the president, although the phone conversations with Burnett did not make the president seem very in control. In the end, however, Kennedy was the better politician and got his way.