Civil Rights Movement through the Eyes of Lyndon B. Johnson
CHAPTER ONE AN IMPOSSIBLE TIME President Lyndon B Johnson picked up the phone It was late on November 25 1963 It had been a hard day But he needed to make one more call At 9 40 p m Dr Martin Luther King Jr answered the president’s call King was a leader of the civil rights movement The movement worked to establish equal treatment for African Americans King thanked the president for his interest in civil rights He told Lyndon B Johnson took office on November 22 1963 He felt it was important to reach out to civil rights leaders such as King early during his time in office 5
Johnson took the oath of presidential office just hours after Kennedy was killed Johnson he knew it was a difficult time for the US government It’s just an impossible period Johnson responded Just days before on November 22 1963 there was a different president of the United States President John F Kennedy was visiting Dallas Texas when he was shot and killed in his car on the way to an event Johnson was Kennedy’s vice president He 6
was riding in a car behind Kennedy’s at the time of the shooting The afternoon of Kennedy’s death Johnson was sworn in as president on the president’s plane Air Force One He addressed the nation from the airport in Washington DC This is a sad time for all people he said For me it is a deep personal tragedy Still Not Equal Johnson grew up in Texas Over the years he traveled throughout the South which was legally segregated at the time Segregation laws forced African Americans to use facilities separate from white Americans The facilities were often in poor condition Johnson witnessed the humiliation African Americans felt when they were forced to use these facilities Like Kennedy Johnson believed in equality for all Americans regardless of race He saw many people around the country pushing for change While talking to King Johnson listed several bills he wanted Congress to pass One was a civil 7
