Owens, Louis, Robinson & the Republican Vote
The three most prominent black athletes before the civil rights era campaigned for Republican candidates.
Jackie Robinson greeting California Senator and Vice-Presidential candidate Richard Nixon after winning Game 5 of the 1952 World Series. Robinson would endorse Nixon as the Republican candidate in the 1960 Presidential elections, but later abandon the party in favor of the Democrats.
Before the civil rights era of the 1960s, the Republican party of Abrah…