Kennedy promised freedom to the world, but he was more cautious about ensuring equal rights in the United States. Although he expressed his commitment to civil rights to leaders such as Martin Luther King, he was slow to act. Kennedy was only convinced of the necessity of civil rights legislation after violence broke out in the South, and he was willing to eliminate parts of his civil rights bill in order to secure its passage.

Kennedy's leadership in the civil rights arena was hesitant at best, but he laid the groundwork for the civil rights measures his successors carried out after his death. Less than a year after Kennedy's assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. The bill was monumental. Among its provisions, it struck down laws that allowed segregation in public places, it gave power to the federal government to enforce school desegregation, and it established a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity.

Johnson did what it appeared Kennedy was unable to do, and he did it without stripping the bill of its most important measures. The combination of Kennedy's vision and Johnson's skill as a politician led to the passage of legislation that secured rights for all Americans.