Johnson Civil Rights Act Of 1964 Analysis

Johnson was born on a Texas farm in 1908. When he was 20, he taught, in Cotulla, Texas, fifth, sixth, and seventh grade at a Mexican-American school that was segregated. After he finished college and got his teaching degree, he worked at Houston High School in Houston, Texas. Some of the teachers called him “steam engine in pants” because he would pour himself into his teaching. Johnson held seats in both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate for Texas. When Johnson was in the US Senate, he opposed the federal government dealing with civil rights, and thought it was a responsibility of the states to handle. After Johnson’s years in the Senate, he ran for president, but lost against Kennedy. But when Kennedy was assassinated, presently the Vice President, he was bumped up to President. Johnson was for federal civil rights, and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. There is controversy on whether Johnson signed this because of a political or principle decision. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because of a political based decision because of the public opinion, the 1957 stumbling block, and because his questionable sincerity. The Civil Rights Act expanded the voting right, which allowed everyone to easily vote, strengthened equal employment opportunity, which gave everyone an equal shot at getting a job, and

“As Senate Majority leader, Lyndon Johnson did not directly oppose the 1957 civil rights bill” (Chicago Tribune 417). Now that he is president, though, he has changed his mind to strongly enforce federal civil rights. stumbles over his past behavior in 1957, so now people distrust his sincerity in 1964 (Chicago Tribune 417). He used to think the states should control civil rights and now he’s pushing for it to be the federal government’s responsibility. This choice is causing him to “stumble” over what he believed in just years