reasons, again he is saying what every fact and every day's events confirm. Hence Dr. King, precisely as a leader in the struggle against Jim Crow, must be--and is--a leader in the struggle against war.
Being the astute advisor he is, and to keep King from being openly aligned with the CPUSA, Levison advised King to align himself with those individuals who have power rather than be aligned with a fringe antiwar element. He was to make the new alignment after his April 15, 1967, speech.
King for President
The fringe element Levison referred to was attempting to persuade King to run for President on a peace ticket. On April 19, 1967, Levison and Wachtel conferred concerning King's political possibilities. According to Wachtel, a pacifist group was meeting that day in an effort to get King to agree to run for President with Dr. Benjamin Spock, the antiwar agitator, as his Vice Presidential candidate. Both Levison and Wachtel agreed that it was too early and that King should not agree to run at this time.
The CPUSA again seized the opportunity to cause dissension and unrest in the country by announcing they would support King and Spock on a peace ticket. At a May Day, 1967, program in Berkeley, California, Gus Hall stated, "The Party forces should begin work right now to elect these two men because they are for peace in Vietnam."
Early in May, 1967, Levison was still concerned with King's being identified with the peace movement rather than civil rights. When approached by peace groups attempting to get King to continue to run for President, Levison informed those representatives that King would talk on Vietnam on occasion to various groups, but that would be the extent of his involvement.
