GOP President (Not LBJ) was First Civil Rights Champ

[3dartistguy]

IT WAS President Kennedy who put his presidency on the line for the cause of civil rights. It was the Kennedy adminstration that supported the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King, Jr and others. Kennedy may have paid his life for the civil rights movement becuase Kennedy's civil rights law wasn't passed until 1964 as a tribute to Kennedy's memory.

[snakes3425]

With Ike, though his bill lacked the teeth of the more famous 1964 Civil Rights Act, without it, the 1964 Act would never had passed. Ike should also be commended for being the first president to actually have a backbone, in terms of using the Army to enforce the Desegregation orders, when dealing with the pro-Segregation crowd. The southern states had since 1865 to get rid of Jim Crow on their own without Federal intervention, but chose to do nothing

[emmettk]

The Republican party can factually point to many instances in which they were on the side of racial equality and justice. The deception is that the propagandists try to hide the fact that today, "Republican" and "conservative" have become almost synonymous, as have "Democrat" and "liberal". Those historical events that the Republicans proudly point to, ignores the fact that in those instances, starting with Lincoln, the Republicans involved were more "liberal" than their Democratic counterparts.

[TheCaliCapitalist]

No matter what is said conservatives have no claim to the civil rights movement. I really think they should stop because they had little to nothing to do with it being passed. In fact they stop in the way of it and would over turn it completely if given power to today.

[chernmax]

@TheCaliCapitalist You do know the Civil Rights Bill would NEVER have passed if: Republicans favored the bill 138 to 34; Democrats supported it 152-96. Democrats from northern states voted overwhelmingly for the bill, 141 to 4, Democrats from southern states voted overwhelmingly against the bill, 92 to 11. A bipartisan coalition of Republicans and northern Democrats was the key to the bill's success. This same arrangement would prove crucial later to the Senate's approval of the bill.

[TheCaliCapitalist]

@chernmax

Right it could easly be said that it was north for south issue. For northerners have always been more progressive/liberal than the south which has always been extremely conservative.

[crackmonster99]

They love to give Eisenhower credit for desegregation but he considered it disruptive to the social order. Little Rock wasn't so much about him being for integration as much as Ike hating the southerners question his/federal authority.

[jahermos]

Okay, let's elect an Eisenhower-style Republican for president.... which means a 91% marginal income tax rate.

Remember, Republicans back then were a different beast----they believed in taxes. Which is why the country's government institutions (e.g., public education) were so much more functional than today's.

[pf1030]

I miss those kinds of Republicans. you know the kind that think every ones equal! god bless Eisenhower!! it really was a "GOP" before 1964!!

[VinnyShitHead]

Was JFK reluctant on Civil Rights, the major issue of the day?-Reeves p416 JFK made campaign promises to blacks he did not keep which led to riots. Akhil Reed Amar of Yale Law School faults JFK for appeasing So.(D) by stocking the lower fed bench w/"notorious segregationists" RFK ordered extensive electronic surveillance of MLK admittedly "investigating the love life of the leader for dissemination in the press. When caught Jgar produced the signed doc's & Booby still denied it! WTF, JFK?

[AWE319]

I'm a Republican, and I'm here to defend IKE. Ike thought integration ought to be approached slowly, and carefully to not cause an uproar among citizens and Southern Politicians. That is why he was reluctent to support Brown V. Board Of Education. He strongly supported the removal of that discriminatory poll tax, which also in many ways is being a champion of Civil rights. Richard Nixon as VP was a less reluctent supporter of Integration than Ike, and worked w/ the senate to ensure passage.

[less01]

Exeptional Man Ike!!!!!

[ZoGoBo]

Didn't John F. Kennedy wiretape and investigate REPUBLICAN Martin Luther King Jr.?

Plus JFK voted against the 1957 Civil Rights Act.

[MJlove89]

i dont know why ppl thumbs downed you but you are absolutely right

[Keyo09]

yea, but MLK was considered a communist and there was strong evidence supporting that as the people he was affiliated with such as Bayard Rustin who were communists. And JFK nor his brother wanted to wire tap Martin Luther it was due to J. Edgar Hoover pressuring them and being able to potentially black mail them. Don't be one-sided, JFK and his brother were massive supporters they both managed to get MLK out of jail and forced Southern Universities to accept African-American students.

[Ejvs87]

Besides, while the supreme court decision was important. The 1957 civil rights act was essentialy useless. It was not until LBJ signed the civil rights act of 64 and voting rights act of 65 that a really signifigant federal civil rights policy was established. I suspect you know this also

[Ejvs87]

He supported the supreme court. He enforced the decision, was not happy about the decision. Ike did not make a speech to congress about civil rights like LBJ did. He did not make a speech to country like JFK did. He deserves credit, yes, but to say that he was a "civil rights president". That is a deception and I suspect you know that

[justindane123]

I hate to tell u but Harry Truman was the first to champion civil rights when he desegregated the armed forces.

[Jacoby515]

@justindane123 lincoln (GOP) freed the slaves. wilson, (Corrupt-o-crat) wanted to re segregate.

[Willredd94]

@justindane123 Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge (two conservative republicans) were the first big fighters for black civil rights. They spoke at Howard University, proposed anti-lynching legislation and spoke out constantly against the KKK)

[getplaning]

Ike was the last of the honest Republicans. It was Richard Nixon who worked to reorient the Republican Party to the white racist elements in the southern states. Nixon's Southern Strategy involved an appeal to former Democrats in the South who were disaffected by the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act by a Democratic Congress, and the enforcement of these laws by the Johnson administration. The Southern Strategy is still the Republican's central theme every four years.

[ZoGoBo]

...and one of those who voted against the Civil Rights Act was Al Gore SR., yeah Al Gore's father. Not only did he vote against it, but even try to overturn it.

And even TODAY Sen. Robert Byrd leads the Senate Demoracts, and he was a leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

[ZoGoBo]

So 34 Years ago, in your lifetime, getplaning, Al Gore's father fought tough and nail to stop black civil rights.

[Filby]

Speaking as a liberal, I'm perfectly happy to give Ike the credit he's due. He was a great man and one of our best post-war presidents. LBJ also did much good. We wouldn't be where we are today without them both.

[Suprkit]

If LBJ wasn't majority leader, the civil rights act of 1957 would not have been passed.

[arther1046]

@Suprkit

LBJs ultimate reason for civil rights legislation?

In a phone conversation (on tape at the LBJ Library) with Sen. Russell (D) of Georgia, LBJ said, "That'll keep the niggers voting democrat for the next 200 years."

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Pres. Dwight Eisenhower (R) pushed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957, but LBJ & friends screwed it to worthless.

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It was Republicans who founded the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, not democrats.

[arther1046]

@Suprkit

If LBJ wasn't majority leader, the civil rights act of 1957 would not have been made useless. JFK and Al Gore Sr. voted against it. Remember, the world is all politics all the time.

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Why did LBJ want it passed in 1964? One reason was to keep the Republicans from coming back and doing it again, and putting teeth into it that the democrats of that period could not stop. And the ultimate reason?

(continued below)

[v19d]

@Suprkit LBJ was convinced that Civil Rights was needed and before the 1957 civil rights act LBJ wasn't for Civil Rights. Even President Barack Obama said LBJ was not for Civil Rights first but later got Convinced on how it is time for Change in the 1950's and passed the first Civil Rights act.

[Cooman456]

What the hell are you talking about? IKE APPOINTED FIVE PRO-CIVIL RIGHTS JUDGES!!! He wanted to enforce integration, btu was hesitant about doing it because of the backlash. But he was a hero, and he did what was right. He also finished desegregating the armed forces.

[Lordpet8]

I heard that Ike wasn't pleased with the courts descision, he even said that he regreted putting Earl Warren on the court.

But he did do the right thing by sending the troops in