For LBJ, the moment  came on November 22, 1963. President Kennedy was dead. Few Americans knew what to make of his successor. To the press, the Texan was known a s  a wheeler-dealer with a cynical disdain for principle. He had stolen (it was rumored) his first election to the Senate. In Congress, he had frequently thwarted the aims of the Democratic Left. His dislike of the Kennedy family was plain. Now, a s  President, he needed to establish his legitimacy. 

 

Less than 24 hours after taking the oath of  office in Dallas aboard Air Force One, President Lyndon Johnson decided to "go for broke" on civil rights.