Mexican-American Vets Ignited Kennedy’s Latino Support

By Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR

On the evening of Nov. 21, 1963, President John F. Kennedy, his wife Jacqueline, Vice President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, walked through a wall of applause to take their place as honored guests in a Houston ballroom. They were making a brief stop at a formal dinner held by LULAC — the League of United Latin American Citizens — to show their appreciation for the Mexican-American votes that had helped the young president carry Texas in the 1960 election.

The crowd eventually settled down to hear the President tell them that Latin America was not just a friend, but a partner in the peace and prosperity he hoped the entire hemisphere would come to enjoy. And to make sure they understood him completely, he grinned at the crowd: “I’m going to ask my wife to say a few words.”

Jacqueline Kennedy, dressed elegantly in a black Persian lamb suit and draped in pearls, stepped to the podium. Smiling, she told the audience how happy she was to be in Texas that evening — and how especially happy she was to be with them. “Estoy muy contenta…” she began, in her trademark whispery voice.

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[Photo by Cecil Stoughton, November 22, 1963. Courtesy National Archives, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, Massachusetts]

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