April 4, 1968: Why Martin Luther King Had to Die

On February 12, 1968, Martin Luther King and his staff completed the master plan for what they called the “Poor People's Campaign.” The purpose of the campaign was to mobilize America’s impoverished masses to descend upon the nation's capital to “place the problems of the poor at the seat of government” and there remain until the government declared substantive measures to address their plight. King was murdered less than two months later, on April 4, 1968 -- just days before the Poor People's Campaign was to begin. Was this mere coincidence? Or was there something more at work? A largely forgotten event in American history might offer an answer.