The significance of legislative change, the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the attitudes of US presidents

Question 1

Who were the US presidents involved in the Civil Rights movement, when were they in office, and what political party were they?

Answer 1

1. Harry S Truman (1945-53):
   Democrat
2. Dwight D Eisenhower (1953-61): Republican
3. John F. Kennedy (1961-63):
   Democrat
4. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69):
   Democrat

Question 2

What was Truman’s attitude to the civil rights movement?

Answer 2

→ For a southerner, seen as far-sighted and liberal
→ Believed in immediate civil rights progress through legislative action as a ‘calculated appeal to black voters’
→ He said the aim of the country should be ‘to secure fully the essential human rights of our citizens’
→ Addressing NAACP: ‘We can not wait another decade or another generation to remedy these evils’

Question 3

Truman - legislative change?

Answer 3

1948: Executive Order 9980 - eliminated discriminatory practices throughout the federal government

1948: Executive Order 9981 - banned segregation in the armed forces

Question 4

Significance of Truman’s legislative change?

Answer 4

→ First major federal action against racial discrimination since Reconstruction
→ challenged segregation despite risking Southern Democrat support — key shift in party stance.
→ Laid groundwork for future civil rights reforms by making equality a federal responsibility.

Question 5

What was Eisenhower’s attitude to the civil rights movement?

Answer 5

→Reluctant to associate himself with civil rights and doubts around legislation
→ argued that any progress had little to do with Eisenhower, and was a result of the Supreme Court and individuals instead

Question 6

Eisenhower - legislative change?

Answer 6

1953: appointment of Earl Warren as Chief Justice in Supreme Court

Supported Civil Rights Act of 1957: provided basic protection of voting rights for African Americans by giving the power to charge anyone attempting to stop voters with fines of $1000 and 6 months imprisonment

1957: Nationalised the National Guard at Little Rock

Question 7

Significance of Eisenhower’s legislative change?

Answer 7

→ Warren ruled in Brown v BOE, where segregation in schools was deemed unconstitutional, accelerating desegregation and rights. However, Eisenhower did not support, ‘the appointment of that dumb son of a bitch Earl Warren’

→First civil rights law since Reconstruction - symbolically important despite weak enforcement

→ Rare federal enforcement of desegregation, asserting authority over state resistance

Question 8

What was JFK’s attitude to the civil rights movement?

Answer 8

→ Sympathetic ‘in principle’
→ Only pursued black support during the presidential campaign to get support from the North
→ Pushed by black activists, civil rights were not a priority
→ Appointment of LBJ as vice president was seen as a betrayal

Question 9

JFK - legislative change?

Answer 9

1961: Federal observers sent on Freedom Rides and deployment of the National Guard on Freedom Rides

1963: Initial drafting of Civil Rights Bill

Question 10

Significance of JFK’s legislative change?

Answer 10

increased federal involvement and showed growing presidential support for civil rights, however, still reluctant attitudes at the time

Question 11

What was Johnson’s attitude to the civil rights movement?

Answer 11

→ When running for Senate, a vocal segregationist
→ However, increased support in the presidential campaign
→ Genuine desire for social improvement and civil rights but circumstances limited his ability to bring change (riots, Vietnam war)

1964: aimed to exclude MFDP delegates from the Democratic National Convention
→ Disrupted MFDP testimony by calling a televised press conference to divert media attention.
→ Proposed a compromise to seat only two handpicked delegates
Shows his reluctance to support civil rights if it risks Southern backing fully

Question 12

Johnson - legislative change?

Answer 12

NOT LEGISLATIVE:
Plans for Progress to increase black employment
→ 1962: federal jobs increased by 17%
→ 1963: increased another 22%

War on Poverty
→ tax cuts, efficient foreign aid programs, building more homes, schools and libraries

LEGISLATIVE:

Signed Civil Rights Act 1964: Ended legal segregation and workplace discrimination

Voting Right Act 1965

Fair Housing Act 1968 - prohibited discrimination concerning sale, rental and financing of houses

Question 13

Significance of JFK’s legislative change?

Answer 13

→ Plans for Progress boosted Black federal employment, showing economic inclusion efforts

→ Voting Right Act 1965: outlawed poll taxes and literacy tests which had been the ways southern government justified denying the black vote
→ Even Missipi had 59% of blacks registered to vote by 1968