"And we shall overcome": Lyndon Baines Johnson and the Battle for Civil Rights

Abstract

Historians will continue to debate Lyndon Johnson's place in history. Many will view the disaster of Vietnam as the most compelling legacy of his presidency and forever judge him by his tragic mistakes. But not all will or do share this view. Most civil rights leaders, for example, though bitter over the decline in civil rights legislation in the second half of his presidency, still hold Johnson in high regard, crediting him with doing more for civil rights than any president in history. Thurgood Marshall expressed those sentiments best when he said, "I just think Lyndon Johnson, insofar as minorities, civil rights, people in general, the inherent dignity of the individual human being -- I don't believe there has ever been a President equal to Lyndon Johnson-bar none!"[4] Johnson needs to be remembered for both his failures and triumphs. Though the country was ripped apart by his escalation of the Vietnam War, it also became a more just nation because of his leadership in civil rights. While Johnson's contemporaries remember his administration with scorn because of its involvement in war abroad, it should not be forgotten that his presidency showed genuine compassion for the oppressed at home. [From Conclusion]