Frank Sinatra
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Sidewalk star in front of Sinatra's birthplace.
became more publicly associated with the Popular Front. He started reading liberal literature, and supported many organizations that were later identified as front organizations of the Communist party by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, though Sinatra was never brought before the Committee. Sinatra spoke at a number of New Jersey high schools in 1945, where students had gone on strike in opposition to racial integration. Later that year Sinatra would appear in The House I Live In, a short film that stood against racism. The film was scripted by Albert Maltz, with the title song written by Earl Robinson and Abel Meeropol (under the pseudonym of Lewis Allen). In 1948, Sinatra supported the candidacy of Henry A. Wallace. In January, 1961, Sinatra and Peter Lawford organized the Inaugural Gala in
Washington, D.C., held on the evening before new President John F. Kennedy was sworn into office. The event, featuring many big show business stars, was an enormous success, raising a large amount of money for the Democratic Party. Sinatra also organized an Inaugural Gala in California in 1962 to welcome second term Democratic Governor Pat Brown. Sinatra's move towards the Republicans seems to have begun when he was snubbed by President Kennedy in favor of Bing Crosby, a rival singer and a Republican, for Kennedy's visit to Palm Springs in 1962. Kennedy had planned to stay at Sinatra's home over the Easter holiday weekend, but decided against doing so because of problems with Sinatra's alleged connections to organized crime. Sinatra had invested a lot of his own money in upgrading the facilities at his home, in anticipation of the President's visit. President Kennedy's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was intensifying his own investigations into organized crime figures at the time, such as Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, who had earlier stayed at Sinatra's home. The 1968 election illustrated changes in the once solidly pro-JFK Rat Pack: Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Shirley MacLaine all endorsed Robert Kennedy in the spring primaries, while Sinatra, Dean Martin and Joey Bishop backed vice-president Hubert Humphrey. In the fall election, Sinatra appeared for Humphrey in Texas at the Houston Astrodome with President Lyndon Johnson, and also re-stated his support for Humphrey on a live election-eve national telethon.