Expressing civil rights as a moral issue, Kennedy moved past his previous appeals to legality and asserted that the pursuit of racial equality was a just cause.

Concerned that dramatic actions would alienate legislators in the segregated southern United States, he limited his activities on the issue and confined his justifying rhetoric to legal arguments.

From the onset of his term, President John F. Kennedy was relatively silent on the issue of African-American civil rights in the United States, preferring executive action to legislative solutions.

[2] However, Kennedy's position on civil rights had begun to evolve during the Freedom Rides of 1961, when African Americans traveled along segregated bus routes in the South.

"[4] Kennedy devoted a significant amount of his 1962 State of the Union Address to the topic of civil rights, but he confined his rhetoric to legal themes and conveyed that present legislation sufficed his administration's efforts to combat racial discrimination.

Despite being pleased that the federal government had protected Meredith, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was reportedly "deeply disappointed" in the President.

"[6] In 1963, an increasing number of white Americans, troubled by the rise of more militant black leaders like Malcolm X, feared that the civil rights movement would take a violent turn.

[6] The depiction of racial violence in the media also benefited the Soviet Union's Cold War propaganda and damaged the United States' image abroad, which greatly concerned Kennedy.

To do so, the Conference organized a series of demonstrations in April in Birmingham, Alabama, viewed by activists as one of the most segregated cities in the United States, which was designed to create a crisis that would require the President's involvement.

[13] After the bombing of King's house on May 12, Kennedy delivered a short radio and television address and, in keeping with his previous legal arguments, he promised that his administration would "do whatever must be done to preserve order, to protect the lives of its citizens, and to uphold the law of the land."

[16] On May 21, 1963, a federal district judge ruled that the University of Alabama had to allow two black students, James Hood and Vivian Malone, to be admitted for its summer courses, starting in June.

[19] In a telephone conversation with presidential speechwriter Ted Sorensen on June 3, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson insisted that civil rights leaders wanted "moral commitment, and that will do more to satisfy them than [legislation].

Comparing Kennedy's civil rights policy to Eisenhower's, King said that the President had substituted "an inadequate approach for a miserable one" and admonished him to discuss the moral dimensions of United States' racial problems.

"[30] Historian Carl Brauer argued that the most important factor in Kennedy's choice was his own perception of his reputation and goal to be viewed as a decisive leader, which had been compromised by the events in Birmingham.

[51] Later that night, civil rights activist Medgar Evers, who had been listening to Kennedy's remarks on the radio, was assassinated as he returned to his home in Jackson, Mississippi, which immediately drew domestic attention away from the event.

[47] The executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Roy Wilkins, stated that while Kennedy had done well in explaining the moral issue of discrimination, he had failed to address inequality in the workplace adequately.

"[47] Writer James Baldwin and other activists who had met with the Attorney General in May to encourage the Kennedy administration to be more supportive of civil rights received the address positively.

[43] The speech also moved Mildred Loving, a black woman married to a white man, to write Robert Kennedy to ask if the administration's legislative proposals would include protection for interracial couples.

"[60] The New York Times published an editorial, which argued that while the President had initially "moved too slowly and with little evidence of deep moral commitment" in regards to civil rights, he "now demonstrate[d] a genuine sense of urgency about eradicating racial discrimination from our national life.

The Journal argued that Kennedy should have appealed for moderation and respect for law, maintaining, "The conditions are not so grievous that the whole nation must be worked into a frenzy which can aggravate tensions.

Senator John Stennis, a staunch segregationist, vowed to resist Kennedy's proposals, declaring that they were "clearly unconstitutional and would open the door for police control of employment and personal associations in almost every field.

Jacob Javits, a liberal member of Republican Party, expressed support for Kennedy's proposals but conveyed his disappointment that the move for new legislation had not been made earlier, saying, "Better late than never.

"[60] The day after the speech a motion in the House of Representatives to boost funding to the Area Redevelopment Administration as requested by Kennedy suffered a surprising defeat, 209–204, because of the opposition of Southern Democrats.

"[53] When historian and presidential adviser Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. complemented Kennedy on his remarks, the latter bitterly replied, "Yes, and look at what happened to area development the very next day in the House."

"[70] The week after the speech was marked by vigorous legislative activity as the Justice Department worked on finishing Kennedy's proposals while Democratic leadership discussed strategies for enacting them.

In addition to his proposals made in February, the bill called for equal accommodations in public facilities, provisions for the Attorney General to initiate school desegregation suits, new programs to ensure fair employment practices such as support of a Fair Employment Practice Committee, the establishment of a Community Relations Service, and the granting of authority to the federal government to withhold funds from programs and activities in which discrimination occurred.

Secretary Rusk spoke of the Soviet Union's efforts to portray the United States as racist, and Robert Kennedy testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on conditions in the segregated South.

[74] The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing (in which four black choir girls were killed) in September increased public support for the bill, but legislative progress stagnated in Congress due to the efforts of southern Democrats and conservative Republicans.

[76] In an interview that month, the President acknowledged the political cost of his new stance on civil rights: "It has caused a good deal of feeling against the Administration in the South—also, I suppose, in other parts of the country.

[45][g] The emotional impact of the oration was enhanced by the fact that it had occurred only a day after Kennedy's American University speech, putting it in the context of a greater political moment.