The LuLac Edition #4, 897, January 22nd, 2023

 LBJ GONE @ 50

It was fifty years ago today that the 36th President, Lyndon Johnson passed away of a heart attack at the age of 64, 

Though he left office with low approval ratings, polls of historians and political scientists tend to have Johnson ranked as an above-average president. His domestic programs transformed the United States and the role of the federal government, and many of his programs remain in effect today.

The Civil Rights Act, which Johnson signed into law on July 2, 1964, was the most comprehensive and far-reaching legislation of its kind in American history. Among its provisions were a prohibition of racial segregation and discrimination in places of public accommodation, a prohibition of discrimination by race or sex in employment and union membership, and new guarantees of equal voting rights. The law also authorized the Department of Justice to bring suit against local school boards to end allegedly discriminatory practices, thereby speeding up school desegregation. The constitutionality of the law was immediately challenged but was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1964. The Voting Rights Act and the Open Housing Act were passed in 1965 and 1968 respectively.