James Farmer & the Great Debaters

Was James Farmer’s influence as great after he was no longer working with CORE? What was it that made or persuaded him to take a position working for Nixon, who was a Republican? What did he want to accomplish in this position and why did he leave it? What did he contribute while working as the Assistant Secretary of Heath and Welfare? These are the questions I want to answer with my research.
I feel that this is an important subject because it was a step in a different direction for James Farmer. He had worked with other presidents before, but Nixon was different and the job had him working inside of the government instead of outside it. In order to do my research I will not only look at James Farmer, but at the people that worked around him. I will also look into proposals James Farmer made and also try to find out more about the Head Start program and how it came to be.

James Farmer and CORE parted ways in 1966. In James Farmer’s Biography by CORE, Richard Severo notes that James Farmer said that the reason he left CORE was because of “CORE’s excessively pro-leftist position that sided with the Marxist faction in the civil war in Angola.”

James Farmer’s influence did not end after he and CORE parted ways. He continued to have an impact on the the citizens of the United States through his works with the government and former president Nixon.

Time Magazine published an article about James Farmer’s position as Assistant Secretary of Health and Welfare on February 21, 1969 called “Working From Within” . Farmer would use the position of Assistant Secretary of Health and Welfare to bring the government and the black community together.

When James Farmer left the Nixon Administration he said that it was because “the Washington bureaucracy moved too slowly and saying that he felt he was more effective outside it” (Richard Severo).

Although he held the position for a short period of time it was very significant.