![]() ![]() ![]() But through all of this there was also Vietnam. What followed the passage of the Civil Rights Act in subsequent years were more successes: the Voting Rights Act, Fair Housing legislation, Medicare, Head Start, and more. "And they said, 'Why don't you just defer civil rights until 1965 after you're safely re-elected?' And Johnson - to his great credit - said, "What the hell is the presidency for if I can't use it for civil rights?'" Beschloss says. Historian Michael Beschloss says LBJ was also being urged by many of his own advisors to take it slow. "I was working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and we immediately called people in Texas and said, 'Who is this guy? What is is about?' And they said, 'Well, he's a tool of the oil interests' and we said, 'Oh my god, this is terrible,'" Bond says.īut he says Johnson turned out to be a powerful ally. But we also want people to see what he did legislatively and how it transformed this country," Updegrove said. "I think it takes a long time to get perspective on our presidents and it's been so true of Lyndon Johnson that it's taken us far longer to get perspective on what he accomplished because Vietnam was so divisive. ![]() Mark Updegrove is the director of the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, which is holding an event this week focusing solely on the issue of Civil Rights. It was a dark moment for LBJ and one that persists in defining him. "I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president," Johnson announced. ![]() Now, there's an effort underway to reassess the 36th President of the United States and to put some of the focus back on an issue that improved the lives of millions of Americans.įor many, the lasting image of Lyndon Johnson is that of a man consumed by the failure of Vietnam, the political damage bringing an end to his presidency. But in terms of LBJ's legacy, this landmark legislation is overshadowed by his escalation of a failed war in Vietnam. When President Lyndon Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act 50 years ago this summer, it was a huge legislative achievement. Martin Luther King Jr., and Whitney Young. The black leaders, from left, are, Roy Wilkins, James Farmer, Dr. President Lyndon Johnson talks with civil rights leaders in his White House office on Jan. ![]()
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