Civil Rights Act of 1964
Signing of the 1964 Civil Rights
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act as Martin Luther King, Jr., and others look on.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the most sweeping civil rights legislation to pass Congress since Reconstruction.
When tragedy landed LBJ in the presidency, he set civil rights at the top of his agenda. He knew nothing could honor President Kennedy's memory more than its passage. It took a combination of timing, LBJ's political prowess, and the tireless efforts of the civil rights movement to bring the bill to its final fruition. Yet despite the bill's passing, the south still presented an unflinching opposition to the law.
