Lyndon Johnson was a Democratic man born and raised in Texas, in his early adult years he was a teacher at a segregated Mexican-American school. Here he witnessed discrimination in schools firsthand and experienced the effects it had on the kids in the school, making him think negatively about segregation in the first place. He could be described as a very hard-working man, with all his ambition he went to D.C. where he won a seat in the House of Representatives and would work in the Senate for 12 years. After some time he ran with Kennedy and became vice president, eventually becoming president when Kennedy was assassinated. He wanted to fight for civil rights even if that meant losing the South’s support for him as well as the election. …show more content…
In a recorded conversation between Johnson and Senator Richard Russel they state, “Russell: You may do that, but, by God, it’s going to cost you the south and cost you the election. Johnson: If that's the price I’ve got to pay, I’ll pay it gladly.” (Dallek, 1998). This is proof that Lyndon Johnson’s reason for signing the Civil Rights Act was not politics, it shows how much he disregarded the South’s support for him as a member of Congress as well as their possibility to vote for him in the future by outright saying that he didn’t care if he lost them, and that all he wanted was for the Act to be signed. In an interview with Johnson done by Roy Wilkins he says, “Johnson was describing himself as liberated from his southern bonds or as a man who could now fully put the national interest and moral concerns above the political constraints.” ( Dallek,1961-73). This is proof of Lyndon Johnson ignoring the public and politics when supporting the Act by showing Johnson’s feelings towards Southern politics during this time, not caring about what they would think and feeling like he couldn’t do what he actually wanted with the South “watching over