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| Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy |
By Larry Elder,
Apr. 6, 2014
The NAACP,
for his role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, posthumously gave
Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-IIl., an award for his leadership. The nation’s
then-largest black newspaper, the Chicago Defender, saluted Dirksen’s “generalship”
in securing the necessary votes.
But
almost completely forgotten is Republican civil rights champion Rep. Bill McCulloch,
R-Ohio. (House Speaker John Boehner now occupies McCulloch’s seat.) But for McCulloch,
then-chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and his efforts in putting together
a coalition to pass the ’64 act, the outcome might have been different.
In 1971, when
Jackie Kennedy learned of McCulloch’s retirement, she wrote the following letter to praise this
lawmaker whose district had less than 3 percent black votes.
“I know that
you, more than anyone,” wrote Jackie, “were responsible for the civil rights legislation
of the 1960s. You made a personal commitment to President Kennedy in October 1963,
against all the interests of your district.
“When he was
gone, your personal integrity and character were such that you held to that commitment
despite enormous pressure and political temptations not to do so. There were so
many opportunities to sabotage the bill, without appearing to do so, but you never
took them. On the contrary, you brought everyone else along with you. …
“And as for
my dear Jack, it is a precious thought to me that in the last month of his life,
when he had so many problems that seemed insoluble, he had the shining gift of your
nobility, to give him the hope and faith he needed to carry on.”
Now you know.
Related: The Elder Statement: Who
was Republican Bill McCulloch -- And Why Did Jackie Kennedy Praise Him?
Related: Unknown
History: The Republican Who Saved
Civil Rights--Jackie said, "You, more than anyone were responsible..."
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