Dick Gregory Dollar 1968 Presidential Election

Presented by Dannie Gore, Sr.

Dick Gregory’s dollar was a political item produced by him during his campaign for President, as a write in candidate in the 1968 Presidential Election. Most of these bills were quickly seized by the Federal Government. A large contributing factor to the seizure came from the bills resembling authentic U.S. currency enough that they worked in many dollar cashing machines of the time. Gregory avoided being charged with a federal crime, later joking that the bills couldn’t really be considered U.S. currency because everyone knows that a black man will never be on a U.S. bill.

At the height of the Birmingham protests, Gregory gave confidential advice to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy on how the Kennedy administration could work with civil rights leaders. It led to a secret New York meeting between RFK, and a group of African American leaders, artists, and others organized by James Baldwin.