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President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law on this day in history, July 2, 1964 — “the most sweeping civil rights law since Reconstruction,” as the National Archives states on its website.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 “prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made discrimination in the workplace illegal,” according to the Archives.
Passage of the Civil Rights Act was a long time coming, the same source said.
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On June 6, 1963, then-President John F. Kennedy addressed racial equality in a nationally televised speech.
Later, Kennedy requested that Congress move forward with legislation “that would address voting rights, public accommodations, school desegregation, nondiscrimination in federally supported programs, and more.”
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law on this day in history, July 2, 1964. The bill was long overdue—and had been proposed by Johnson’s predecessor, John F. Kennedy. (Getty Images)
That request from Kennedy would eventually become the Civil Rights Act of 1964, though he would not get to see it.
He was murdered in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.
After being sworn in as president, Johnson began working to make Kennedy’s dream come true.
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The bill faced many obstacles in both houses of Congress, according to the National Archives.
In the House of Representatives, opponents of the bill tried to thwart the process in the Rules Committee.
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The House of Representatives passed H.R. 7152 on Feb. 10, 1964, and sent the bill to the Senate, according to the U.S. Senate website.
President Lyndon B. Johnson (center, seated) shakes hands with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In an effort to avoid the same committee delays on the Senate side, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, D-Montana, bypassed the Senate Judiciary Committee and placed the bill on the Senate calendar, according to the Senate website.
At the time, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee was Senator James Eastland, D-Mississippi, an opponent of civil rights legislation.
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“Mansfield moved to pass the measure on March 9 and it became the pending Senate case on March 26, prompting Southern senators to launch a filibuster,” the Senate website notes.
The filibuster and other debate over the bill lasted until June 10, 1964, when cloture was invoked. This came after an impressive amount of bipartisanship.
In late May, Senate Majority Leader Everett Dirksen, R-Illinois, introduced the Dirksen-Mansfield-Kuchel-Humphrey “compromise bill” that both Republican and Democratic members supported.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law on July 2, 1964. The other signatures on the bill are those of House Speaker John McCormack and Senate President Pro Tempore Carl Hayden. (Getty Images)
“Formerly an opponent of civil rights legislation, Senator Dirksen urged Republicans to support the bill as ‘an idea whose time has come,'” according to the Library of Congress website.
The actions of Republican and Democratic leadership in the Senate were enough to end the months-long filibuster.
Johnson signed the bill surrounded by notable civil rights leaders.
The Senate filibuster was overcome by the floor leadership of Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, the significant support of President Lyndon Johnson, and the efforts of Senator Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois, who convinced enough Republicans to support the bill because of Democratic opposition. .” said the National Archives.
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The Senate finally voted on the bill on June 19, 1964—and it passed by a vote of 73 to 27.
The new compromise bill went to the House of Representatives, where it was also adopted.
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Johnson signed the bill surrounded by notable civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr.
Christine Rousselle is a lifestyle reporter at Fox News Digital.
