How MLK’s ‘Nine Days’ In Jail Decided The 1960 Presidential Race

A new book explores the link between race and politics by diving into Martin Luther King Jr.’s arrest ahead of the 1960 presidential election.

By Meha Ahmad, Sasha-Ann Simons
mlk arrest 1960
Wikimedia Commons
mlk arrest 1960
Wikimedia Commons

How MLK’s ‘Nine Days’ In Jail Decided The 1960 Presidential Race

A new book explores the link between race and politics by diving into Martin Luther King Jr.’s arrest ahead of the 1960 presidential election.

By Meha Ahmad, Sasha-Ann Simons
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In October 1960, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for the first time during a sit-in at an Atlanta department store. The nine days that followed became a make-or-break issue between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Reset explores this slice of civil rights and presidential history as detailed in the new book, Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life and Win the 1960 Election.

GUEST: Paul Kendrick, author of Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life and Win the 1960 Election