Jack Kemp - Political Career

Political Career

Kemp's political career began long before his 1970 campaign. In 1960 and 1961, Kemp was an editorial assistant to San Diego Union editor and future Richard Nixon aide Herb Klein. Subsequently, Kemp became a volunteer in both Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign and Ronald Reagan's successful 1966 California gubernatorial campaign. In the 1967 football off-season, Kemp worked on Reagan's staff in Sacramento. In 1969 he was special assistant to the Republican National Committee chairman.

Kemp was a voracious reader, and his political beliefs were founded in early readings of Goldwater's The Conscience of a Conservative, Ayn Rand's libertarian novels, such as The Fountainhead, and Friedrich von Hayek's The Constitution of Liberty. He also brought from his football career a belief in racial equality, which came from playing football with black teammates: Kemp said, "I wasn't there with Rosa Parks or Dr. King or John Lewis. But I am here now, and I am going to yell from the rooftops about what we need to do." Kemp's football colleagues confirmed this influence: John Mackey explained that "the huddle is colorblind."