The assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963 threatened the legislation he had fought so hard to achieve. However, an unlikely supporter in the minds of most civil rights organizations was found in the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson (EEOC, n.d.). With the nation still grief-stricken by its tragic loss, President Johnson addressed Congress in a humbling manner, in which he stated “We have talked long enough in this country about civil rights. It is time to write the next chapter and to write it in the books of law . . . . No eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy 's memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought so long” (EEOC, 2004, para. 4). In June 1964, one year after President Kennedy’s proposal, the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 73 to 27, and was signed into law by President Johnson on July 2, 1964. …show more content…
Civil rights leaders, who were initially skeptical of President Johnson, soon came to recognize him as a true supporter and worked closely with him to ensure the successful passage of the Act (EEOC,