OFF THE SENATE FLOOR

1
OFF THE SENATE FLOOR

• The untold story of the Leadership Conferences
  role in the Passage of the Civil Rights Act of
  1964

2
A Little Bit of History

• Conference was founded in 1949 by A. Philip
  Randolph, Roy Wilkins and Arnold Aronson.
• The Conference was composed of smaller civil
  rights organizations.
• Although the Conference was organized, it took
  them several years to really become a strong
  lobbying network. They threw their support
  behind civil rights legislation in the 1950s,
  however their role was more passive than active.
• When President Kennedy made the announcement in
  1963 that he was sending the Civil Rights Act to
  Congress, it was understood by the organization
  that the bill would only pass if there was a
  cohesive lobbying organization in charge of
  sparking public and political interest in the
  bill.

3
Some Perspective on the Issue

• The congressional roadblocks were outlined to
  the meeting. The conservative character of the
  House Judiciary Committee the Dixicrat-Republican
  control of the House Rules Committee the Senate
  filibuster these and other obstacles were
  carefully weighed. Dr. King whispered at one
  stage Mighty complicated, isnt it? But
  complicated or not, there was unanimous
  determination to overrun these roadblocks by
  mobilizing the nation behind the bill.
• Joseph Rauhs Account of the Leadership
  Conference on Civil Rights

4
Purpose

• This paper focuses on the role of the Leadership
  Conference on Civil Rights in the passage of the
  Civil Rights Act of 1964
• The Leadership Conference organized a nationwide
  grass-roots effort which is often credited to
  individual organizations instead of the
  Leadership Conference as a whole
• Example The 1963 March on Washington
• The Leadership Conference Worked Closely with the
  Civil Rights Senators to create a system to fight
  for the bill on the Senate Floor.
• The Leadership Conferences participation in this
  lobbying effort was essential to the passage of
  the bill in the Senate.
• Division of Labor
• Constituent Perspective
• Could act as an outside motivator through
  organizing constituent participation.

5
Secondary Sources

• Secondary Sources for this research are
  particularly interesting and complicated.
• While much has been written on the Civil Rights
  Movement in general and the passage of the Civil
  Rights Act of 1964, very little has been written
  about the Leadership Conferences History or
  their work as a lobbying organization during this
  time period.
• In more recent literature, more credit has been
  given to the Leadership Conferences efforts in
  planning and organizing a behind the scenes
  effort yet in older literature they are very
  rarely mentioned, even though the events they
  helped to organize and the organizations that
  worked with them are often an essential lesson in
  any class taught on the Civil Rights Movement.

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Three Areas of Secondary Sources
7
Primary Sources

• The Papers of the Leadership Conference on Civil
  Rights
• Letters
• Weekly Memos to Member Organizations
• Daily Bi-Partisan Newsletters
• Personal Accounts by Joseph Rauh, Hubert Humphrey
  and John G. Stewart
• The Washington Post
• Speeches by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, Civil
  Rights Leaders and Members of Congress.

8
FINDINGS

• The Leadership Conference Established Two
  Offices in Washington D.C. in Order to
  Facilitate a Successful Lobbying Effort.
• Washington D.C. Leadership Conference
  Headquarters
• Responsible For
• Letter Writing Campaign
• Grassroots Efforts
• Pamphlet Distribution
• Correspondence
• Promoting the Civil Rights Goals
• Promoting Membership Goals

9
FINDINGS

• Senate Office
• Clarence Mitchell and Joseph Rauh set up an
  office in the corridors outside of the Senate
  Chamber, as well as in the Senate Gallery.
• Responsible For
• Daily Meetings with the Civil Rights Leadership
  Team (Senators Humphrey and Kuchel)
• Daily Bi-Partisan Newsletter
• Rallying the Troops Quorum Calls, Extended
  Senate Sessions and Battling the Filibuster
• Liaison between Conference Headquarters and
  Senators.

10
Conflict Resolution

• While the Civil Rights Forces were working as a
  team there was a very clear tension between the
  Senators and the Lobbyists, especially as the
  debate wore into the spring.
• Public Tension and James Farmer.
• The Dirksen Debate
• The Hickenlooper Revolt

11
Victory In the Senate

• Cloture Vote
• The Votes of Engle and Hayden
• First Cloture Vote in History of Civil Rights
  71-29.
• Passage in the Senate
• For days, like men rationing water in the
  desert, the Senators, particularly the
  Southerners, made sparking use of the precious
  sixty minutes each one of them had, in which to
  speak on the bill and any of the more than 500
  pending amendments they chose to call up. In the
  end, with all hope gone of weakening the bill,
  the Southerners simply poured out their anger.
  Much of the debate on the last day before the
  vote sounded like the death scene arias of an
  interminable opera.

12
Conclusions

• The Civil Rights Bill of 1964 required the
  lobbying dedication which the Leadership
  Conference was able to put forth.
• The Civil Rights Act provided a New Foundation
  for the Leadership Conference.
• The Civil Rights Act opened doors for a new
  coalition between the Senate and the Leadership
  Conference.

13

• Oratory and rhetoric will be found in the Record
  in sufficient quantity to please nearly anyone.
  Suffice it to say here that the job was done. We
  have a good bill. We still have a Senate, and we
  have miles to go before we sleep, and miles to go
  before we sleep.
• Final Edition of the Senate Bi-Partisan Newsletter