PRESIDENT JOHNSON
After President Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded him and immediately continued the campaign for a major civil rights bill. Johnson had to use a number of strategies to convince Congress to pass the bill. He also took advantage of the national sympathy and mourning that went with Kennedy’s tragic death. He urged passage of the civil rights act as a lasting legacy to the past president. In the Senate, Johnson faced a filibuster that lasted 83 days. Johnson was victorious in the end and on July 2, 1964, he formally signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law banned racial discrimination in several places and guaranteed equal job opportunities.
By Christine Edwards