Politics or Principle As the United States was facing more and more prejudice and racism, people started to search for a better option. When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, his Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson stepped-in. Johnson’s political background consisted of him voting against Civil Rights laws. In his presidency though, he tried to continue what President Kennedy had started in promising equality. He signed off on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that guaranteed voting rights, equal employment opportunity, and use of all public facilities. These laws apply to all Americans. Many people argue on whether President Johnson passed the Bill based on politics or principle. Politics was why Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Civil …show more content…
Johnson had a very high public approval rating at the beginning of his presidency. In February 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson had 39% of people say that he was pushing integration about right in his presidency (Doc B). This shows that Johnson was making decisions for the people. He wanted a high public approval rating across the U.S. to boost his presidency. Once again, in April of 1964, 57% of people approved of how Johnson is handling the Civil Rights problems (Doc B). This is more than half of the country he has on his side because of his decisions for these people. Also, people had increased sympathy for Civil Rights because that is what President Kennedy was pushing for before he was assassinated. Although President Kennedy had only 27% of people saying he was pushing integration about right (Doc B), they felt that President Kennedy had been doing the right thing. Johnson did want to push for Civil Right like Kennedy had previously, and he made his decisions based on public …show more content…
He did not directly go against the Civil Rights Bill proposed in 1957, but did try to make a revision in saying, “anyone accused of violating the act would get a jury trial,”(Doc D). The only issue with this is that almost any defendant in the south would be tried to an all-white jury, and acquitted of the charges against them (Doc D). In the presidential election of 1960, John F. Kennedy, and his vice- president Lyndon B. Johnson had most of the southern states voting for them. The southern states, at this time were against Civil Rights. This would usually mean you would pass laws and bills for the states that voted for you, but they Civil Rights Act of 1964 was not passed in favor of the southern states. This bill was passed in favor of all of the United States, and not on Johnson’s personal preference (Doc C). President Johnson’s previous decisions in his job as a Texas state senator, and in John F. Kennedy’s presidential election in 1960 show that President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 based on the nation’s