Ethel Kennedy with a nun at Jan Smuts Airport, Johannesburg South Africa, June 1966
Kennedy was first invited to give the address at the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS)'s annual "Day of Reaffirmation of Academic and Human Freedom" in the autumn of 1965 by union president Ian Robertson. The "Day of Affirmation" (as it was known in short) was an assembly designed to directly oppose the South African government's policy of Apartheid. Robertson would later say that the idea for Kennedy to come speak came to him in the middle of the night. He had been looking for a foreign speaker, and he thought Kennedy "captured the idealism [and] the passion of young people all over the world." Prominent New Hampshire conservative William Loeb III publicly denounced a potential visit to the country by Kennedy as making no more sense than letting "a viper into one's bed."The South African government was hesitant to let Kennedy speak but eventually granted him a visa for fear of snubbing a future President of the United States By the time it arrived five months later, Kennedy had become involved in a political battle in New York. He told Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs J. Wayne Fredericks over the phone that he preferred to wait until after the November elections to travel. Fredericks replied "Go now. If you postpone, it will confirm the idea that that everything takes precedence over Africa." Kennedy called back 20 minutes later, resolved to carry forward with the trip.
Size: 3535px × 5279px
Location: Jan Smuts Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa
Photo credit: © MARK LAING / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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