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Depiction of Lyndon B. Johnson in ‘Selma’ Raises Hackles (Published 2015)
Was Lyndon B. Johnson a civil rights mastermind, or a reluctant follower pulled along by activists led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?
"...But it has also drawn some sharp criticism for its depiction of Johnson as a laggard on black voting rights who opposed the marches and even unleashed the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an effort to stop Dr. King’s campaign.
The charge began on Dec. 22, three days before the movie’s release, .. the director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, wrote an article in Politico saying that the film was trying to “bastardize one of the most hallowed chapters in the civil rights movement.” ..Joseph A. Califano Jr., ..
The criticism of the film’s depiction of the president ..but from some historians who said they admired other aspects of the film..."
December 14, 1964 :
The real story behind 'Selma' | CNN
Julian Zelizer says the powerful new film gets most of the story right but isn't faithful to LBJ's real role.
By Julian Zelizer, CNN Contributor,
"...Only a month after his election victory, President Johnson can be heard telling Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach on December 14, 1964, that he should start crafting a strong piece of legislation that would create a “simple, effective” method to register African-Americans to vote.
Over the next few months, Johnson instructed Katzenbach to conduct secret negotiations with Republican Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen to design the framework for a bill, which they would reach agreement on by early March.
December 14, 1964
Conversation with NICHOLAS KATZENBACH, December 14, 1964 | Miller Center
VOTING RIGHTS BILL; LBJ SETS GOAL OF 100% VOTING; WAYS TO IMPROVE VOTER REGISTRATION; POSSIBLE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT; HENRY REUSS' CHARGE OF DELAY IN CIVIL RIGHTS PROSECUTIONS; SUPREME COURT DECISION AFFIRMING CIVIL RIGHTS ACT; JOHN CONNOR; NEW IDEASmillercenter.org
LBJ : "..and try to figure out with Bar Associations, progressive governors, and everything else, what I can do to get 100 percent of people to vote. Our goal is to be
100 percent and they claim that 63 percent voted in '60 and 62 percent this year.
Katzenbach : Uh-huh
LBJ : I already told (Sen.) Dick Russell and some of them that we're going to try to get everybody to register and that those that don't register we're going to
register with the postmasters, let the congressmen nominate them and the senators confirm them and they're bound to be good men, even in Mississippi and
Georgia. But we're going to see that the attorney general and the postmaster general got the blanks, whatever they need, and they're registered, if they get halfway
qualified, and he (Russell) growled a little bit and that may not be the way, I don't know, I want you to undertake the greatest midnight legislative drafting since Corcoran
and Cohen wrote "The Holding Company Act".
Katzenbach : Alright
LBJ : On that, I basically believe that if we can have a simple, effective method of getting 'em registered, now if the state laws are too high... they disqualify a bunch of 'em,
maybe we can go to the Supreme Court and get them (the state laws) held unconstitutional. Or, if the registrars make them stand in line too long, maybe we can work that out where the postmasters can do it. Let's find some way where...
Katzenbach : The big problem you know, under the constitution, their qualifications..
LBJ : Yes, that's right, I know that. How can we beat it? Can we uh, beat that some way?
Katzenbach : It's uh, we tried hard to uh beat it, and of course that's what we have in the (Civil Rights) Act that you got through and then these modifications in the '57,
'60, and now (garbled) with all those problems ...
LBJ : No, I'm really not, I don't know uh, I don't know what we're really doing but I know this...
Katzenbach : A constitutional amendment, Mr. President, to you know, just flatly have federal officials register (voters) for federal elections..
LBJ : Well let's do that, let's shoot at that, let's recommend that, if you can't do it any other way..
Katzenbach : Well let;s go into all of the other alternatives and then uh...
LBJ : Well let's just get the best people you've got, Joe Ryle's been talking about the postmasters...
But the movie is correct in asserting that Johnson disagreed with civil rights leaders on the timing; he was not ready to actually propose a bill to Congress. While Johnson wanted a bill, he didn’t feel he could deal with the issue until later in 1965. Johnson feared that the time was not right. He sensed that he wouldn’t be able to find enough support in the House and Senate..."
