Welcome Remarks for Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.鈥檚 Life
Greetings from the 威尼斯人娱乐场. I鈥檓 David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to today鈥檚 virtual book talk with Stephen and Paul Kendrick, the two authors of Nine Days.
Before we begin, though, I鈥檇 like to tell you about two upcoming programs you can view on our YouTube channel.
On Tuesday, February 16, at noon, Robert Watson will discuss his new book, George Washington鈥檚 Final Battle, which describes Washington鈥檚 active role in choosing the location of a new capital on the shores of the Potomac.
And on Monday, February 22, at noon, Robert Elder will tell us about Calhoun: American Heretic, his new biography of John C. Calhoun, one of the most notorious and enigmatic figures in American political history. Elder argues that Calhoun鈥檚 story is crucial for understanding today鈥檚 political climate.
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Many of the authors we feature in these programs have conducted research in the records held by the 威尼斯人娱乐场 and its Presidential Libraries, and I often check the acknowledgments of new releases. It makes me proud to see that the Kendricks not only made use of our records but also thanked two staff members by name鈥擬aryrose Grossman and James Hill of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.
The 1960 campaign was one of the most hotly contested and closest Presidential elections. Neither John F. Kennedy nor Richard Nixon had spoken forcefully on issues of race, but the arrest of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just weeks before the election forced the campaigns to choose action or silence.
Nine Days has earned a number of positive reviews so far. The Washington Post鈥�s reviewer, Nick Bryant, remarked that 鈥淚t is an enthralling story, not least because it brings together such an extraordinary and era-defining dramatis personae.鈥�
Raymond Arsenault, writing in the New York Times, said that 鈥淣o brief review can do full justice to the Kendricks鈥� masterly and often riveting account of King鈥檚 ordeal and the 1960 鈥淥ctober Surprise鈥� that may have altered the course of modern American political history.鈥�
And in the Chicago Tribune, Rick Kogan calls Nine Days an 鈥渆nlightening and captivating work鈥� that 鈥渢ackles . . . a story that resonates loudly in our current times as a thoughtful examination of the tricky relationship between race and politics.鈥�
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In addition to Nine Days, Stephen Kendrick and Paul Kendrick have written Douglass and Lincoln, about Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, and Sarah鈥檚 Long Walk, a story of the struggle for equality by free Black inhabitants of Boston before the Civil War.
Their articles have appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, Fortune, American Heritage, and Huffington Post.
Stephen is the senior minister of First Church Boston, Unitarian Universalist, and the author of The Lively Place: Mount Auburn, America's First Garden Cemetery.
Paul is the executive director of Rust Belt Rising, a Midwest political training organization, as well as an adjunct professor at National Louis University in Chicago. Paul served in President Obama's White House and on his 2012 Wisconsin campaign.
Now let鈥檚 hear from Stephen and Paul Kendrick. Thank you for joining us today.