Johnson and His Necessary Casualty In the tumultuous aftermath of president John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) assumed the office of the presidency and inherited Kennedy’s passion for civil rights. His push for civil caused immense friction within the democratic party, as well as the entire country. Johnson redefined the democratic party reforming it into a progressive liberal party. Johnson 's push for civil rights and reformation of the democratic party caused widespread backlash in southern whites severely weakening Democratic control of the “solid south”, the backlash stemmed primarily from the south’s history of racism and segregation and was further incensed by Vietnam and the various civil reforms of Johnson …show more content…
Johnson always had acute awareness of the nation’s minorities. Johnson had been a teacher at a segregated school for Mexican Americans and he remarked that they were “lashed by prejudice” (Trueman. NP.) However Johnson would become a congressman for the state of Texas which was democratic, and he was forced to vote against what he stood for, and instead participated in preventing any and all civil rights laws from being passed. However Johnson did not forget his principles. As vice president under Kennedy the pair pursued civil rights aggressively, changing the issue from a legal issue into one of utmost moral importance. Upon assuming the presidency Johnson’s major goals on assuming the presidency were to continue the civil rights reforms being pursued by his predecessor such as the momentous Civil Rights Act of 1964. Johnson and his new Democrats stood behind the bill pushing it through congress. The most important part of the act was that “all persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of goods, services… without discrimination or segregation.” (Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title II). This act was by definition an attack on segregation and discrimination in southern states. This in itself would be enough to alienate southern voters. Yet Johnson pushed on with the Voter Act of 1965 which doubled down on Johnson’s pro civil rights stance by definitively stating “No voting qualifications or prerequisite to voting… shall be imposed, or applied, by any state or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.” (Law 89-110. Sec. II) Johnson more than once attacked the Jim Crow laws supported by southern whites, highlighting his deliberate departure from the traditional conservative wing of Democratic Party in favor of the Liberal wing, and its
Andrew Johnson was doomed from the beginning of his political career when Lincoln asked for his vice-presidency. Johnson was an untrusted Southern Democrat that was not worth his weight in gold. After the assassination of Lincoln, the Radical Republicans had hoped his hatred for the planter aristocrats would help their cause in the form of the Wade-Davis bill. His rooted beliefs to help the less fortunate vanished when he realized his power over the southern aristocrats and passed the "10%" Reconstruction Plan instead. He pardoned the southern congress men, accused of treason, and continued to veto bills that would promote the freedmen.
Other than the few minor “cheap shots” made about Johnson, there was one statement that Blight makes that gives an indication of the black plight after the Civil War; “He was not only not anti-slavery, he was an open racist.” Johnson believed America should be a white man’s country forever, even though originally it was controlled by another
Very soon after Lincoln died, and his Vice President Andrew Johnson was placed into presidency. The summer of 1865, Johnson focused on another plan for reconstruction without help and opinions from Congress. When Johnson invited people to read his course of action for reconstruction, he was the laugh of the South, and many state governments began to evade the laws. Thus, created Black Codes, which gave White Southerner 's supremacy to newly freed slaves.
People who are desperate to become accepted by all the people in America, can do some pretty unpredictable things. Lyndon B. Johnson is an example of this. Before he became president, Johnson changed his mind about some things and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Why did L.B.J. sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act for political reasons like, gaining the approval of the public, showing people that he has changed, and to please the people of America.
The usage of personal stories creates depth and dimension to the position he’s taken on the nation’s bigotry; the addition of quote for other significant civil rights activists add to his knowledge base and give Johnson a stronger foundation for his beliefs. He uses Abraham Lincoln’s civil rights movement to back up statements and positions he has taken on the horrific incident in Selma, Alabama. Appealing to Lincoln creates a precedent about his stance because of Lincoln’s impact on the civil rights movement; the usage of his name and actions builds Johnson’s credibility by using Lincoln’s as support. This speech was a call to action of the nation’s congress on racial differences, most bigotry was found in the south. “As a man whose roots go deeply into Southern soil…” was a portion of Johnson’s speech.
He went on to take two six-year terms as a Texas senator, and his hard work made him a majority leader. As a senator, he voted against many civil right laws that were proposed. But, when he later became President, he was the one that passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Why did L.B.J. sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964? If principle decisions are based on strongly-held beliefs, then Cotulla Teaching, Ignoring Southern Reaction, and Change of Heart show that President Johnson was motivated to sign by his principles.
Even though America was a democracy, the poor which were Black, Asians…didn’t have the right to vote. Because of all of the above, president Johnson wanted to change
To keep all of the southern votes he provided a watered down pro-discrimination bill. He was for discrimination as a Texas senator, he needed votes if he ever wanted to achieve that dream. He saw a perfect way to get those votes from the south, give them exactly what they want; even if it is against what he thinks is right. LBJ was
First, he forgave ex-Confederate officials and began fighting with the Republican Congress about Civil Rights. The Congress refused to accept the ex-Confederate officials and the new laws and codes they proposed in 1865. Andrew Johnson apposed and vetoed both the Civil Rights bill and the Freedman’s Bureau bill in 1866 hoping to bring the Southern States back into the union. This only created more distrust and fighting with the majority republicans in the Congress. Andrew Johnson did all these things, and his presidency ended before he expected.
One reason that reveals President Johnson’s principled motivation can be found in Doc A. L.B.J first job after college was being a teacher in Cotulla, Texas. He was teaching Mexican children who were poor but tried their best to learn and look nice for school. He wanted to teach this school of 5,6, and 7 graders because at the time there was poverty and segregation and was willing help even if
President L.B.J. believed it was “the job of the states, not the federal government, to deal with those issues.” To clarify, President L.B.J. believed the states should decide what is “best” for their states, meaning a southern state could withstand discrimination against colored people. This would contradict his stance on the act as president before the presidential election. As a Senate Majority Leader, Johnson did not “directly oppose the civil right bill” however, he did help push through a provision stating that “anyone accused of violating the act would get a jury trial. ”(Holland 1964).
One way Johnson does this is by building up his trust with congress as well as his people through promising appeals. Johnson often uses “we” in most of his speech to prove to the citizens that it is not just them in the fight, but that he is providing assistance to reach their intentions. He continues to build that trust throughout his speech by putting himself as a human as well, not just as the leader of the country. Since Johnson is a white man who is trying to fight for African American rights during that era, it is quite hard to do so considering whites once hated blacks. This being said, it's Johnson's duty to enforce that trust to make the African Americans believe he is attempting to better their lives.
Jeannette Shackelford Duane Watson Engl 1302 02Febuary 2015 Press Hard For the Power to Vote In the speech “We Shall Overcome”, the speech was written by Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, the speech was addressed to Congress on voting legislation and to the United States as a whole. The speech was given on March 15, 1965 in an era where there was much bigotry, racial violence against blacks. The speech was televised a week after the after math of the deadly violence that had erupted in Salem Alabama, which was supposed to be a peaceful protest, that was given by the Negros a protest for equal rights to vote, turned into a violent protest.
Johnson 1963-69 President Johnson served the United States directly after Kennedy’s assassination and continued the same democratic ideals of importance as Kennedy. In 1964, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. Both the act that Kennedy signed and the one Johnson signed address the largest issues of feminism in the 60s, inequality. The acts were very similar and supported each other in broadening and opening up freedoms and opportunities to women and other minorities. Richard Nixon 1969-74
For example, he told Kennedy that in order to gain the black American’s support, he needed to show them that ‘the federal government stood behind their struggles’. Alongside this, the use of the telephone conversation between Johnson and Theodore Sorenson gives us the impression that Johnson felt that the Civil Rights bill of 1963 could have been improved and have been made ‘more constructive’. This indicates that Johnson’s intentions were sincere as it implies that he wanted to pass an effective and strong civil rights act. In addition to this, the fact Johnson was advising Kennedy on the issue could indicate that he had a much deeper understanding of the struggles faced by the Black Americans during this time than one would initially think. This suggests that Johnson’s civil rights effort were good as it implies that he was aware of the situations the Blacks were dealing with and wanted to do everything he could possibly do to improve this.