Transcript: Chapter 18

Demonstrators: [singing] "We shall overcome, we shall overcome | We shall overcome some day"

Narrator: At the same time Johnson was challenging Ho, the civil rights movement was continuing to challenge the South. Despite Johnson's historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 that had put an end to segregation, the web of local laws continued to deny black Americans the right to vote.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: About a hundred and ninety-two Negroes were registered, on the average, a month in the State of Mississippi; all over the state, a hundred and ninety-two a month. Now, on the basis of this rate of registration, it would take exactly one hundred and thirty-five years for half of the Negroes eligible to vote in Mississippi to become registered.

Narrator: Early in 1965, Martin Luther King met with Lyndon Johnson in the White House.

Andrew Young, Civil Rights Activist, Southern Christian Leadership Conference: Martin made the case [that] we were going to continue to have serious problems in racial violence until we got the vote, and that the right to vote was something that we could not afford to wait on. President Johnson said that there could not be a civil rights act in '65 because there had just been a civil rights act in '64, it was just not in the cards, that you couldn't have back-to-back civil rights bills. But we felt like there was no choice, and so we told him then that we would be going to Selma to begin non-violent demonstrations to try to dramatize the need for the right to vote, and that we would stay in touch with him.

Narrator: Determined to force Johnson's hand, King, working with other civil rights groups, organized a series of demonstrations in Alabama, climaxing in a march from Selma to the state capital in Montgomery. Alabama State Troopers brutally attacked the unarmed marchers while television cameras recorded the event for a stunned national audience. It was called "Bloody Sunday." Johnson was outraged. With the rest of the country, he saw it all on television, but he refused to send federal troops to protect the marchers.

Richard Goodwin: There was enormous pressure on Johnson to send down federal troops. He said the last thing he wanted to do was to send the federal army into the South. He said it would be like Reconstruction all over again. He said, "I would lose every Southerner."

Narrator: Johnson said he was afraid to play into the hands of the popular segregationist governor of Alabama, George Wallace, who had turned the State Troopers loose on the marchers; but the civil rights movement was forcing Johnson to action. Demonstrators all over the country demanded that Johnson provide federal protection so that the march could go forward.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Now, they've been slow to do anything about it. They always find ways to get over to you that it can be done. It's still strange to us, though, how millions of dollars can be spent every day to hold troops in South Vietnam and our country cannot protect the rights of Negroes in Selma, Marion, Alabama.

Narrator: Johnson was stunned by the pressure, but refused to be pushed. "I was hurt, deeply hurt, but I was determined not to be shoved into hasty action."

Roger Wilkins: People were demonstrating all over the country. It was just a general uprising. The president was very unhappy. And during that week, I was in the White House, and again we meet him. And he just looked at me; he stared at me as if, "I never saw this person. Where did he come from? I am furious that he is in my sight." It was really frightening. I mean, he looked like -- I hadn't done anything to him, you know? He looked like he was -- and I said, "Hello, Mr. President." And he looked at me and he said, "These demonstrations, what are they all about?" And I said, "People really want to vote, Mr. President. We really need a voting rights act." And I kind of trembled. "Rrrr." He just -- I mean, it was "Rrrr," and he just left. I mean, he did not -- there was no word. No words came out, just "Rrrr."

Richard Goodwin: At that very precise moment, fortunately, Wallace sent a telegram to the White House, saying he'd like to meet with the president to discuss the situation. Johnson said, "Well, you just come right ahead."

Nicholas Katzenbach, Attorney General: That was the most amazing conversation I've ever been present at, because here was Lyndon Johnson, the consummate politician, and George Wallace didn't know what was going on at that meeting.

Richard Goodwin: Wallace is about five-four and Johnson is about six-four, so he leads Wallace in and he sits him down on the couch -- Wallace sinks down so he's now about three feet tall -- and Johnson sits on the edge of the rocking chair, leaning over him.

Nicholas Katzenbach:: "George," he said, "Do you see all of those demonstrators out in front of the White House?" "Oh, yes, Mr. President, I saw them." He said, "Wouldn't it be just wonderful if we could put an end to all those demonstrations?" "Oh, yes, Mr. President, that would be wonderful." He said, "Well, why don't you and I go out there, George, with all those television cameras -- do you see those television cameras?" "Oh, yes, I saw them." He says, "Let's you and I go out there and let's announce that you've decided to integrate every school in Alabama."

Richard Goodwin: And his Southern voice always deepened when he spoke to other Southerners. He says, "Now, you agree the Negroes got the right to vote, don't you?" He says, "Oh, yes, there's no quarrel with that." He says, "Well, then, why don't you let them vote?" And he said, "Well, you know," he said, "I don't have that power. That belongs to the county registrars in the state of Alabama."

Nicholas Katzenbach: And Johnson leaned back and he says, "George," he said, "don't you shit me as to who runs Alabama."

Richard Goodwin: And Wallace insisted; no, he didn't have the legal authority, he said. He said, "Well, why don't you persuade them, George?" He said, "Well, I don't think I could do that." He said, "Now, don't shit me about your persuasive power, George." He says, "You know, I sit down in bed in the morning when I get up, and I got three TV sets lined one right out back of the other. And I got a little button I can press, and I click it whenever I see something I'm interested in. I press the button and the sound goes on. And I had it on this morning, and I saw you, and I pressed the button and you were talking," he said, "and you were attacking me, George." He says, "Oh, I wasn't attacking you, Mr. President. I was attacking the whole principle of states' rights." He says, "You was attacking me, George." He says, "And you were so damn persuasive, I almost changed my mind."

Well, this goes on for half an hour or more, and then, finally, he turns to Wallace. He says, "George, you and I shouldn't be thinking about 1964. We should be thinking about 1984. We'll both be dead and gone then," he said. "Now, you've got a lot of poor people down there in Alabama, a lot of ignorant people. A lot of people need jobs. A lot of people need a future." He said, "You could do a lot for them." He says, "Now, in 1984, George, what do you want left behind?" He said, "You want a great big marble monument that says, 'George Wallace: He Built,' or do you want a little piece of scrawny pine laying there along that hot Caliche soil that says, 'George Wallace: He Hated'?"

Narrator: In the end, Wallace agreed to ask the president to mobilize the National Guard to protect the marchers. The governor was reported to have said afterwards, "If I hadn't left when I did, he'd have had me coming out for civil rights." Two days later, on national television, Johnson presented a tough voting rights bill to a joint session of Congress.

President Johnson: But even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life. Their cause must be our cause, too, because it's not just Negroes, but really it's all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.

Narrator: With the protection of the federal government, the marchers assembled in the heart of the Old South to claim their rights as American citizens.

Roger Wilkins: You felt that the pent-up needs and desires of your people over the generations were going to be achieved in your lifetime -- enormous, when you thought of your ancestors who were slaves. Well, at that point, I was, like, bonded to him. I mean, my transformation as a human being had been complete. I believed by then that he was truly the civil rights president that we wanted and needed.