Page 105 - Lbj News Today

>> so we deliberately negotiated with the justice department that if stopped we would turn around and go back to the church. >> the best we can do now is just hope that wallace will be true to his word and king will break them up peacefully after 35 or 40 minutes. >> and king did break them up peacefully to go back. >> i dont know if lyndon johnson knew we would have bloody sunday, and at that moment it meant people couldnt turn away anymore. johnson recognized that moment would provide the legi...

States. at the same time he doesnt tell king that he himself is trying to work out through non-legislative means a way to get voting in the south. hes keeping that up his sleeve because he wants martin luther king to put it all out there for this cause. he wants him to think that its all on him. >> johnson certainly is well aware of kings great strategic abilities and his ability to put moments in front of not just the nation, but in front of the entire world and would create greater support, sy...

Lifetime. >> he knew that the soul and the democracy of an america was dependent on the notion that every citizen in america would have the right to vote and i think thats why he and uncle martin worked so tirelessly for the passage of the voting rights act. >> they were both committed. they were both terrific politicians. i think they knew that they were doing something that they needed the other one for. >> the voting rights act signed in law in august, 1965, and johnson was so happy. he viewe...

Didnt know how to deal with it. and keep the south. up until that time, there was almost no civil rights legislation. the things kennedy did, he did with executive orders. that wasnt much. >> kennedy was reluctant to to support civil rights because he didnt think it would pass congress. so he didnt think it was worth investing any political capital whatsoever. >> lyndon johnson knew all too well what was at stake. martin used to say, look, nobody can blame me because i was born black. i cant bla...

I think we have great challenges and opportunities ahead, and we all are with you. >> thank you, doctor. thank you so much. >> president lyndon johnson invited us to come to the white house after winning the nobel prize. we had an appointment at 4:00 and didnt get to see him until almost 7:00, and bundy and russell were coming out as we were going in, and we realized what was going on. they were trying to get him to escalate the war in vietnam. my feeling was that this wasnt the president johnso...

Part. lbj wants to see this march come to fruition. to show such a thing is possible in the united states in america. >> there may be three or four things that could be explored with the attorney general, and one is letting them march part of the way or agreeing in some way where it did not endanger lives. >> johnson and his administration were actively brokering between the two sides to try and make sure that the horror that had taken place would not be repeated. >> lbj is over every single det...

Of the house, a member of the senate, a minority leader, a majority leader, vice president. and a president of the united states. that is a wealth of experience. >> i wish i wasnt here. i dont know what i can do about it. all i want to do is be a good president and save my country. ive got ply ideas about what needs to be done. >> he wanted to be a great president and great presidents do big, bold tlings. he was unelected, but that moment came and he moved.

Laurels if he cant get as much as of legislation through as he can. >> he picked up something like 37 seats in the house and a couple seats in the senate. he had everything he needed to be able to move a legislative agenda, and being lyndon johnson he was not going to let a moment go to waste. >> almost in the very hour the polls closed the president was whipping his staff into a greater frenzy. >> johnson was a man on a mission, not knowing how long his money moon would last how long he would b...

Is to find a way to gather a majority on the right side of history. almost always, the congress is on the wrong side of history. and we always felt that president johnson was determined to be on right side of history. >> it was said of lbj, he was a man who would not make waves unless he knew he owned the ocean. when lbj had the power, first as senate majority leader, then as president, he used that power to make a difference on civil rights. >> so he called the white house, the patriarch of the...

>> there had been organizing and efforts already under way in selma, but when king gets there it really lights a fire. >> all of a sudden people from all over the united states as well as the world came here to meet with dr. king. >> by marching from selma to montgomery, we were not only taking the movement to the cradle of the confederacy, we were taking it to george wallaces doorstep. >> the planning of the march, of course, involved washington very heavily, and president johnson, even though ...