ipl-logo

Lyndon Johnson Years Of Ascent Summary

679 Words3 Pages

From Robert Caro’s work ‘The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Means of Ascent’, we can learn that Caro’s main view on the work carried out by Lyndon Johnson in relations to civil rights was satisfactory, but, he could have done more than he actually did given the political climate during his presidency and the attitude people held to racism (there was a growing national sympathy for the cause thanks to the role of the news in documenting the movement and highlighting the level of oppression Black Americans faced). However, Caro does call into question the intentions behind Lyndon Johnson’s work by referring to his consistent record against civil rights and the fact many Black Americans distrusted him and his policies. This indicates that Caro felt that Johnson was …show more content…

This was due to the fact lawsuits made by the justice department were drifting along at a painfully slow pace. LEGISLATION: - He had passed laws which helped bring an end to discrimination in public accommodations, education, employment and even private housing. However, due to the speed at which these laws were passed, they were ‘inadequately thought through, flawed, contradictory, not infrequently exacerbating , at immense cost, the evils they were intended to correct.’ - The Voting Rights Act: Johnson was determined not to all this act be ‘diluted’ by compromise which was what had happened with previous legislations including the civil rights act 1964 – arguably was ineffective as a result. ‘There must be no delay, no hesitation and no compromise.’ MOTIVES: - Many black Americans didn’t trust Lyndon Johnson – some felt that he was insincere and used the fact he didn’t protect the marchers in Alabama to justify it. As well as this, they did not think that Johnson was going to help  Martin Luther King – ‘He was murdered by the timidity of the federal government that… cannot protect the rights of its own citizens seeking the right to

Open Document