Jttl rde- irre ve8 ;. If our rnd ..YOUR )nq' GENEROUS INVITATION": qur- PRECEDING THE te. IIVENTS APPBARANCE OF JOHN F. KENNEDY I]EF'ORE THE GREATER HOUSTON ASSO (lox's M INISTERIAL CIATION Ilrief IIY I)1.]ANE A. KEMPER John Fitzgerald Kennedy, nearly [ve}ty. years after his death, r.mains the most la""iifi"Ult'Roman Catholic in the history of the ii.it"J St"ter. Thro"gho"t his political career, from his first election to iir" C""gr".r ir-fgf,O ut the age.of twer-rty-nine, u1t1l^!h9-solemn ;,,;"i";;"* ttr.i g"ipped the.nltion in November of 1963, Kennedv ;;. il";" t" fti" LilrlJ*p""ding constitu-ency as a communicant in ifr" Cfr*.h of Ro-e. As a and later senator from Massa- "orrgr"J"man exceeding fifty r:husetts, a state *itf, a Roman Catholic population jn.fact, p"r"""I,'rris faith *"" rt"raly a liability. His-religion was, a significant ,r.ui-o, hi" ,onriing againit tttu Eisenhower tide in 1952 ,,-,iJ"".""ting Episcopalian nepu[tican.Henry Cabot Lodge. - --a was' however, a no*"" CitftoUc runninf"wisdom for national_office matter. Co""L"Uo"al held that anti-Catholic different -preju-and dice in all sections of the country, but paticularlv i-n the south in the N,iiJ W";t, ',"o"fa *ore than over-balance Catholic bloc voting Nortt uuri and industrial centers in the Great Lakes r94on: Th^e.defeat ;f ;h;;b"", c"iri"u", N.* York Governor Al Smith in 1928 bv the *""t"r", Proiurt""1, HLrbert Hoover was confirmation of the thesis' In 1959 u"a iijoo traditional political thinking conceloins the i"fl""""" of t.tigio"t preferencu o.t voting behavior would be first ;h;ll;&;a [rr"n shattered. while there were significan-t events along the way,""a .".ft as Fletcher Knebel's interview of Senator Kennedy ii L6ok in March of 1959, and the.candidate's victory over ii;#iH""ipt^ui"iie r"v i" tii"-b.r"o"iuti" pri*?ry in Protestant West Virgi- v""r l.ier, ii *.r the appearance before the clergy of Houston on ;i;;"i"l ;";;i;g s"pt"*u"r rz, igoo, that defused issues emanating from ivi;. K;;;"iy,""r raittr for the remainder of the campaign. PAGE 289 ['ALL 198,1 l.'ALL 1gtiI PAGE 290 The Houston meeting is perceived today as an event of signal rrl'one man - the Rev. Herbert Meza. In June of 1g60, some three importance in presidential history.To David Halberstam it is an exam- nronths before the September 12 meetin g,Meza, in his capacity as vice ple of Kennedy's skill in maniqulating e_v_ents f-or the new medium of prcsident and program chairman of the ministerial group, proposed ielevision, an occasion in which a lion (Kennedy) was thrown to the thrrt both the Republican and Democratic nominees for presldentbf the Christians (the Houston clergy).1 Theodore H. Whitehas written about t Inited States be invited to appear before the Associaiion in the fall. the "nonevent" of the 1960 presidential campaign; the expected hap- lixccpt for the eminence of the personalities involved, the programs pening that somehow does not happen: xuggested by Rev. Mr. Meza represented a standard practice bf the llouston clerical body. At previous meetings the clergyman had heard reporter is to rrttd interrogated members of the Houston board of education, represen- The most difficult problem for any police Sherlock Holmes to tttives of the department, hopefuls for the office of mayor of report what Conan Doyle caused llouston, and, on one occasion, of the "curious incident" a Roman Catholic candidate fbr the deicribe as the importance United States Senate. This senatorial aspirant, bark. What does not happelis, Henry B. Gonzales, of the dog that did not rlrokc .rt the invitation of his friend, Herbert more significant than what does. The Meza. His appearance, sometimes, rrct'<rrding to Meza, caused some stir among several members that did not happen in 1960 was an orgy of the largest thing Ars.r:iation who were not kindly disposed to liberal, Democratic, of prejudice.2 l{ornan Catholic politicians. Herbert Meza was well aware in the month of June that Richard M. The reason for the "nonevent," in White's view, is the address to year Nixon and John F. Kennedy were the probable standard bearers for the Houston ministers, Kennedy's best speech of the election and tlrr:ir respective parties. His personal 'House Divided' speech and own sentiments, as a Democrat, an effort that "ranks with Lincoln's w('r(] with Kennedy. The adverse criticism resulting Gold' as one of the gre_at speeches of American from Henry Gon- Bryan's 'Cross of z,rrles'speech, however, corrvinced him that an invitation poiitical campaigns a moment when politics reach up and touch extended only - to the Bostonian would be interpreted by the clergy of Houston as a history."3 rrrrrnifestation of his own biases. Accordingly, Mezaproposed Houston Ministerial Association is an organrzation that both The Greater ttttminees be invited to address the Greater Houston Ministerial Associ- not unlike similar groups of clergy that convene in cities across Amer- rrtion. one thousand Protestant ministers serv- ica. In 1960, of the more than A month later, after the major parties had less than fifty broke bread with adjourned their conven- ing in the Houston area, somewhat tions, invitations were sentto both presidential aspirants. pastors luncheon meetings of the Association. The Republi- their fellow at monthly ('nns responded promptly in the affirmative Richard Nixon would Protestant, as Catholic and Jewish clerics never The body was entirely xgleak to the clergy of Houston. From the Democrats,- however, there e*pressed interest in the group. At the same time, however, the Associa- wus no reply. representative of the city's Protestant clergy as south- tion was hardly It would be difficult to envision a more unlikely candidate pro- to unite with interfaith_organizations.In to ern Baptist ministers refused nrote a meeting encouraging a fair exchange of ideas center where southern Baptist churches occupied on the religibus a metiopolitan itrsue than Herbert Meza,thg assogiate pastor of the Bellaire Presbyte- eleven columns of listings in the telephone directory, no ecclesiastical rian Church of Houston. While thought of as representative while the Baptists Meza was born and reared a Roman group could be oatholic in a Spanish-speaking family in Tampa, Florida, he became, remained outside. ut the age of eighteen, a Protestant convert and joined the Presbyterian 1960, however, all of this was to change. More On September 12, r:hurch. After serving in the Marine Corps including rabbis, Roman Catholic priests, in World War II, Meza than six hundred clergymen, enrolled at Davidson College in North Carolina. Following graduation, and southern Baptist preachers would assemble somewhat self- he attended Unjon Theological Ballroom of the Rice Hotel in downtown Seminary of Richmond, Virginia, consciously in the Crystal where he earned the Bachelor of Divinity degree. junior senator from Massachusetts express his Upon ordination Houston to hear the Meza served as a missionary for four years in Spain one emotional issue of the 1960 presidential and Portugal. views on the number Because he was a Protestant missionary he experienced difficulty campaign. entering the Iberian Peninsula. Once there, he was expelled from poi- John Fitzgerald Kennedy's appearance before the Greater Hous- tugal on two occasions for proselytiang activity. came primarily through the efforts ton Ministerial Association about Meza disclaims partisan considerations in initiating Kennedy's speech to the Houston ministers. The Rev. pastor rl)avid Halberstam, The Powers That Be (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), pp. 325'326. George Reck, of Zion Luthern Church and president of the Greater Houston Ministerial r'l'heodrrrc II. White, In Search of History (New York: Harper & Row, 19?8), pp.485-486. PAGE 291 FALL 1981 rALL 1981 PAGE 292 a political independent who voted for Association in 1960, agrees. Reck, hopes presidential gives full credit to Meza for of Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, he had faced the issue squarely Richard Nixon in the election, and had given frank ..Th; original ideas of having the candidates address the cl_ergy. and candid answers to all sincere questions. the -city's ove.rriding question and the only questionis were neutral," he says, "I wish we could have had Nixon." whether Senator Kennedy "We believes in the sepa_ration invitation to the Kennedy campaign party to address of chur_ch and state," argued the campaigi The actual rnana€rer. "He's said unequivocably was tendered by the Harris County Democratic that he does." Two southern go.t the Houston clergy nors, Luther H. Hodges "r- The cochairmen for the Democrats in the county in 1960 of North Carolina and J. Lindsey Almoid, Jr. organization. o['Virginia agteed with Robert Kennedy were Woodrow Seals and John H. Crooker, Jr. Mr. Seals was contacted that religion could well deter- rnine the results of the election in their states. Rev. Mr. Meza, and it was he who proffered the original invita- by the In the nation'-s c_a_pital, president party in late July. The invitation specified that the on the same day, Dwight D. tion to the Kennedy l'lisenhower took the liberty of speaking for party's subject of Kennedy's address should be his religion. Nixon's invitation his nomin6e and srrid that under no circumstances would the Republicans interject the indicated no subject. issue of religion into the campaign. A Houston Ministerial Association does not meet during candidatL's faith, the prlsident The Greater Itoped, was a matter and August, and during the hot Houston that could be "laid on the shelf and forgoiten until the summer months of July rrf'ter the election but forgot about the offer extended to is over." summer the city's clergy all But the partisan politica!figures Senator Kennedy.