Harris Wofford, senator who replaced John Heinz, dies
HARRISBURG — Former Pennsylvania Sen. Harris Wofford, a longtime civil rights activist who helped persuade John F. Kennedy to make a crucial phone call to the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960 presidential campaign, has died at 92.
Kennedy’s phone call to Coretta Scott King when her husband was locked in a Georgia prison cell in 1960 is credited by some analysts with turning the black vote in his favor and perhaps proving to be the decisive factor in the race against Republican Richard Nixon.
Wofford left a large legacy by shaping government programs behind the scenes.
As a Kennedy aide, he helped R. Sargent Shriver create the Peace Corps.
In 1991, Wofford was then-Gov. Bob Casey Sr.’s secretary for labor and industry when Casey appointed him to fill the Senate vacancy created by the death of Republican John Heinz.
