Quotes

What was really wonderful about the March on Washington is that this is the first time most white people watching television had ever seen Dr. King give a full speech. They'd heard snippets and pieces of his oratory, but he was such a wonderful speaker, and he made an argument for the righteousness of black protest.

[on the oratory of Martin Luther King at the 'March on Washington'] His ability to summon from his memory and deviate from his written text was just remarkable to me. I make speeches all the time. I can't do without a piece of paper in front of me. But he could just draw these ideas, draw these images, paint these picture. It was just a remarkable performance. I've never seen anything as good as this ever, and I doubt if I ever will.

[on the 'March on Washington' August 28, 1963] The city of Washington almost went crazy. The canceled all elective surgery. The put surgeons and doctors on full time, waiting for something bad to happen. They put policemen on eighteen-hour shifts. They just went out of the way to prepare for what they thought would be some kind of massive riot. They couldn't imagine this many black people coming together without some awful, awful disturbance in the streets.