Patrick Lacroix - John F. Kennedy and the Politics of Faith

STUDIES IN US RELIGION, POLITICS, AND LAW

Leslie C. Griffin, Laura R. Olson, and Tisa Wenger, Series Editors

J OHN F. K ENNEDY AND THE P OLITICS OF F AITH

Patrick Lacroix

University Press of Kansas

2021 by the University Press of Kansas

All rights reserved

Published by the University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas 66045 ), which was organized by the Kansas Board of Regents and is operated and funded by Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas, and Wichita State University.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Lacroix, Patrick, author.

Title: John F. Kennedy and the politics of faith / Patrick Lacroix.

Description: Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, 2021 . | Series: Studies in US religion, politics, and law | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020024353
ISBN 9780700630493 (cloth)
ISBN 9780700630509 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917 1963 . | Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917 1963 Religion. | Church and stateUnited StatesHistoryth century. | Religion and politicsUnited StatesHistoryth century. | CatholicsPolitical activityUnited StatesHistoryth century. |
Anti-CatholicismUnited StatesHistoryth century. | United StatesPolitics and government 1961 1963 .

Classification: LCC E .L 27 2021 | DDC 973.922092 [B]dc

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/ 2020024353 .

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is available.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The paper used in the print publication is acid free and meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z.- 1992

This project grew out of my research on the Roman Catholic Churchs involvement in postwar policy making in Canada and the United States. At the University of New Hampshire (UNH), my primary advisor, Ellen Fitzpatrick, was supportive and patient as I slowly worked through Cold Warera religious discourse and felt my way to the Kennedy yearsto a president, in fact, to whom I was perfectly indifferent. As she struck out every coreligionist and pored over my every sentence, Professor FitzpatrickEllenguided me toward more focused and effective writing. Her insights steered my research in fruitful directions. Though I take full responsibility for any error that may have crept into this work, Ellens tough, honest, and constructive feedback enabled me to strengthen my work at every stage, not least since my defense. I also happily recognize the immensely constructive suggestions I received from the other members of my dissertation committee: Kurk Dorsey, Jason Sokol, and Michele Dillon (all at UNH) and Timothy Naftali (New York University).

I could not have completed this project without the helpful staff at the research room at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. I also thank the librarians at UNH and, recently, at Acadia University for fulfilling obscure interlibrary loan requests. Ellen connected me with distinguished author and theologian Harvey Cox, who very kindly read my work shortly before my defense; I appreciate his feedback. Through a chance encounter with Steve Frolking at my last Graduate Research Conference at UNH, I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with John Wicklein, his father-in-law, who reported on religion for the New York Times during the Kennedy era. Wicklein was gracious with his time and generous in sharing period documents.

Paper presentations at conferences organized by the New England Historical Association and the American Catholic Historical Association, which offered a Presidential Graduate Travel Grant, helped me sharpen my analytical tools. At UNH, I benefited from the financial support of the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, teaching assistantships in the Department of History, and a Dissertation Year Fellowship awarded by the Graduate School. Thanks to opportunities provided by the College of Liberal Arts, I taught on topics related to this dissertation and, in the process, refined my ideas. Travel grants from the Graduate School and the Gunst-Wilcox Fund enabled me to attend conferences outside of the region.

David Congdon was supportive from the moment I reached out to the University Press of Kansas (UPK). His suggestions as well as the input of the anonymous reviewers moved my manuscript in positive directions. I am also grateful to the UPK production team.

An early-career journeyman instructor finds little compensation outside of the love of research and education. But this condition tends to come with ample commiseration and, if no others, at least human comforts. I am truly grateful to the friendship and many kindnesses of colleagues at UNH, Phillips Exeter Academy, Bishops University, Acadia University, and Mount Saint Vincent University. I also appreciate the peers, editors, and scholars who encouraged my work on Franco-American history, through which I became a more discerning and better-rounded historian.

Sharayah Corcoran witnessed my struggles, setbacks, and occasional successes. Her moral support often made all the difference. She at least reminded meregularlythat I should take care to live in the present. Even from afar, my sister Sophie has always been a role model, but my first and greatest debt is to my parents, whose encouragement in its many forms enabled me to pursue my ambitions and attain a few of the lofty goals I set for myself.

In my many years in this field, I have come to recognize than altruism and empathy are much better guides to action than a deep well of historical knowledge. On the other hand, I know of no better way to cultivate empathy than to meet others in their own circumstancesto share in their struggles and to rejoice in their resilience. History helps us do just that. If this book does not inspire action toward a more just world, perhaps in some small way its story can encourage us to recognize the walls that stand in the way of mutual understanding.

Eyeing a political opportunity, President John F. Kennedy accepted an invitation to deliver an address at Boston Colleges Centennial Convocation in April 1963 . The sunny, warm day fitted the occasion perfectly as Boston Catholics celebrated their social and political ascent. Kennedy was greeted by the cheers of the twenty thousand assembled at Alumni Stadium, first as he mounted the platform and again as he reached the lectern. The president focused his remarks on federal aid to education. I urge upon everyone here the pressing need for national attention and a national decisionin the national interest upon the national question of education, he stated. Kennedys political position on this matter was well known; his plan for school assistance was then languishing in Congress for a third year. The speech was nevertheless remarkable. The countrys first Catholic president had come to a Catholic institution to speak to its faculty and students in a Catholic idiom. As he spoke, he was surrounded by prominent Catholics, including his brother Edward, then running for a US Senate seat in Massachusetts; House Speaker and fellow Catholic John McCormack; and family friend Richard Cushing, the cardinal-archbishop of Boston, all of whom joined him on the platform. In a wide-ranging address, Kennedy lauded the penetrating analysis of Pacem in Terris, the encyclical issued only days earlier by Pope John XXIII. As a Catholic I am proud of it, and as an American I have learned from it, he asserted. [It] closely matches notable expressions of conviction and aspiration from churchmen of other faiths.... We are learning to talk the language of progress and peace across the barriers of sect and creed.