How did public officials respond to the actions taken by the federal government in the Meredith case? This section, which features the perspectives of three public officials, emphasizes the inherent tensions between state and federal power. Governor Patterson of Alabama invokes the Tenth Amendment in his telegram to President Kennedy; South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond argues for the right of Mississippi to control its own educational system; while Hawaii Governor William F. Quinn commends the President for defending the "rights and dignity of man."