The legislators struggled with the process, and after his own floor leader had resigned the revisions to failure, Sanders visited the House floor on February 21 to encourage the body to keep working. Despite the vocal dissatisfaction of some legislators, a revised districting plan was ultimately passed. Political affairs Shortly after winning election, Sanders visited President of the United States John F. Kennedy. He was generally supportive of the president's administration and used his New Frontier rhetoric. In 1964 Sanders appointed a biracial delegation to represent Georgia at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, the first time that black people were represented on the delegation. Sanders explained, "[T]his is not a social club. This is purely a political organization, based on the fact that every voter should be represented." Under the term limit law then in effect, Sanders was ineligible to run for re-election in 1966. In the general election campaign that year, he endorsed Democratic nominee Lester Maddox, a segregationist, as his successor though the two had disagreed on many issues. At the Democratic State Convention in Macon on October 15, 1966, Sanders told the delegates: "A man should be loyal to his country, his family, to his God and to his political party—and don't you ever forget it." In his speech, Sanders likened Maddox's Republican opponent, U.S. Representative Howard Callaway, to the "arrogance of Richard Nixon, the chameleon ability of Ronald Reagan to switch rather than fight, and the callous concern for human needs that is a throwback to McKinley, Harding, and Coolidge." Callaway criticized Sanders for mishandling the state budget surplus, a position which weakened the Republican among anti-Maddox moderate voters. Callaway led Maddox in the popular vote but failed to win a majority, and the Democratic-controlled Georgia General Assembly chose Maddox as governor. Sanders was succeeded by Maddox on January 10, 1967. 1970 gubernatorial campaign Sanders left office at the peak of his popularity and turned down several offers for federal government positions from President Johnson. Instead he returned to mount an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1970. The other two candidates in the Democratic primary were former state senator Jimmy Carter and black attorney Chevene Bowers King. Sanders was initially favored by most political observers as the candidate most likely to win. Early polls conducted at the behest of Carter showed most Georgians held a favorable view of Sanders' previous gubernatorial term. Carter directed his campaign