Jul 2, 2024 - Politics & Policy

60 years ago today

Mike Allen

Lyndon Baines Johnson, referred to as LBJ, served as the 36th President of the United States from (1963-1969). Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act, 2 July 1964 as Martin Luther King Jr looks on — The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood over President Lyndon Johnson's shoulder as he signed the Civil Rights Act in the East Room on July 2, 1964. Photo: Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Sixty years ago today, President Biden says in a proclamation, "President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in history — the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

"It prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. That day, our Nation moved closer to our North Star, the founding ideal of America: We are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives."

The actual Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 document and pen is on display in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., July 1, 2004. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law on July 2, 1964 — The Civil Rights Act of 1964, and a pen used to sign it, were displayed in the East Room in 2004, when President George W. Bush marked the 40th anniversary. Photo: Mannie Garcia/Reuters

"We have never fully lived up to that idea," Biden adds. But "we have never walked away from it, either. On this anniversary, we promise we will not walk away from it now."

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60 years ago today

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