John F. Kennedy

March on Washington Draws 250,000 for Jobs and Freedom as MLK Delivers I Have a Dream Speech

| Importance: 10/10

On August 28, 1963, approximately 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the largest demonstration for civil rights in American history to that point. Organized by Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph, the march built an alliance of civil …

Martin Luther King Jr. Bayard Rustin A. Philip Randolph John F. Kennedy Mahalia Jackson civil-rights nonviolent-resistance democratic-participation institutional-racism labor-rights
Read more →

King-Anderson Medicare Bill Defeated in Committee After Intense Corporate Lobbying

| Importance: 7/10

The King-Anderson bill, President Kennedy’s Medicare proposal introduced by Representative Cecil King and Senator Clinton Anderson, is defeated in committee despite strong public support after intense lobbying by the American Medical Association, corporate healthcare interests, and …

Cecil R. King Clinton Anderson John F. Kennedy Wilbur Mills Harry Byrd +4 more medicare healthcare lobbying ama corporate-opposition +2 more
Read more →

Kennedy Executive Order 10988 Grants Federal Workers Collective Bargaining Rights

| Importance: 8/10

President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order 10988 granting federal employees the right to collective bargaining for the first time in U.S. history, catalyzing explosive growth in public sector unionization that transforms the American labor movement. Following Kennedy’s executive action, …

John F. Kennedy American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Federal employees Jerry Wurf labor-rights public-sector-unions executive-order collective-bargaining afscme +1 more
Read more →