LBJ and Civil Rights (PM)

Lyndon Johnson is one of the most complex men I’ve had to be president. He was capable of great cruelty and insensitivity. However, as President  LBJ became a tireless champion of the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed within the USA. This multimedia program covers the fascinating evolution of Lyndon Johnson’s thinking about the government’s role in guaranteeing freedom of equality for African-Americans. LBJ and civil rights may seem like an unlikely tandem. But ultimately, other than Abraham Lincoln, no president did more to advance the cause of African-Americans than Lyndon Baines Johnson!

LBJ and Civil Rights

We will begin with a quick overview of Johnson’s personal sympathies regarding helping the poor and contrast it with his votes in the House of Representatives against civil rights legislation. Beginning in 1957, LBJ, as majority leader, became a tentative ally of the civil rights movement. As president, LBJ used all of his political skill and muscle to get Congress to pass two landmark bills that reshaped justice and upended the electoral map in ways that are still important.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 finally ended legal segregation in America. The Voting Rights Act (1965) established the government as a powerful ally in guaranteeing African-Americans in the South would have the right to vote. Few presidents have ever passed two more significant, breathtaking pieces of legislation. They reshaped American expectations about race.

The Election of 1964, on the surface, does not seem particularly interesting. Lyndon Johnson crushed Republican Barry Goldwater in a massive, historic landslide. However, that election began a process of changing the political parties that impact us today!

I hope you will join us for this thought-provoking history program!