The Goldwater era is one that I am not familiar with. However, I have studied LBJ some, and find that he was a bigot and racist of the highest order. History records which party overwhelmingly supported the Civil Rights movements, and legislation, of the 60's - and it was NOT the democrats. Note that Lady Bird Johnson, was and still is highly respected in Texas and amongst people that knew her. All describe her as gracious.
So, reading this chapter from Jackie was of interest to me - and, frankly, a bit befuddling. How could he have supported LBJ, the party of kkk Byrd ? I do not understand that.
My interest was piqued by this site cuing up the chapter:
http://blackconservative360.blogspot.com/2014/09/jackie-robinson-on-being-black-among.html
And the full chapter is here:
http://www.framinghamdems.org/JackRob.html
Excerpting the intro only:
Below is an excerpt from baseball great Jackie Robinson's autobiography.
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson turned a page in history when he became the first African American player to cross baseball's "color barrier" and play in the Major Leagues in 1947. Robinson played 10 stellar seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers before retiring from a Hall of Fame career.
After baseball Robinson went to work for Chock Full O' Nuts as a spokesman then continued his efforts to advance civil rights. He became actively involved in the campaign for Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the 1960 Presidential elections. Robinson opted to support Nixon over John F. Kennedy because he liked the work that Nixon had done in the area of civil rights during Nixon's years as Vice President. However Robinson later described his regret on having supported Nixon.
Two incidents during the 1960 campaign were quite disillusioning to Robinson. In one incident Nixon was asked to comment on a statement by running mate Henry Cabot Lodge who stated that in a Nixon Administration a black would be named to the Cabinet; Nixon commented that Lodge was speaking on his own behalf. Later during the campaign Nixon refused to speak out when civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was locked in a full-security prison for a minor motor vehicle infraction.
Further Nixon refused to campaign in Harlem (while Kennedy did). These incidents drew Robinson a great deal of criticism from the African American community for his support of the Nixon campaign. By the end of the campaign the Kennedy ticket was looking more attractive to Robinson, but he had already committed to Nixon.
Jackie Robinson did establish good ties with New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller (who later became Gerald Ford's Vice President). Robinson supported Rockefeller's bid during the 1964 Republican Primiaries. However after the GOP ticket went to Barry Goldwater, Robinson was disgusted at what he saw during the 1964 Republican National Convention.
Chapter XV of Robinson's autobiography I Never Had It Made has been transcribed below. This chapter, titled "On Begin Black Among The Republicans" describes the eye-opening experiences of Robinson within the Republican Party. Many of the sentiments he expressed in 1964 were heard again some four decades later following the 2004 Republican convention.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good ...
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