For many, President Lyndon B. Johnson is chiefly remembered for escalating the United States military involvement in Vietnam. But his legacy is much more than his role in the Vietnam War. In fact, Johnson engineered the passing of two of the most important laws Congress ever approved: the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of President Johnson’s signing of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965, JFK & LBJ: A Time for Greatness airing nationally, Tuesday, August 4, 2015 from 9-10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), examines how Johnson meticulously worked behind the scenes to outwit the Southern segregationists who were determined to maintain the racial divide. He cajoled, flattered, wheeled and dealed, using all the tricks he had learned as a long-serving Senator, to ultimately transform America.
Narrated by Morgan Freeman, JFK & LBJ is from the team that produced JFK: OnePM Central Standard Time which aired on PBS in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy. The dramatic events are told through rare archival footage and reenactments with actor Mark Murphey as Johnson and Dené Hill as Geraldine Whittington, who Johnson hired, the first African American secretary to the President.
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