GOP President (Not LBJ) was First Civil Rights Champ

Kasey Pipes, author of "Ike's Final Battle: The Road to Little Rock and the Challenge of Equality," describes how Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower -- not LBJ, as liberals often claim -- was America's first civil rights president.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Eisenhower
• dwight
• equality
• battle
• littlerock
• pipes

[justindane123]

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

[Suprkit]

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

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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)

[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!!