The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act

by Clay Risen

"[A] smart and stirring new history." --New Republic

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, American History, African American, Race, Social Justice

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Cynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Journalists can bring urgency and swiftness when discussing historical events. I have seen it in Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann and Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent. So when a GR friend asked if I would read with him, I agreed.

I made the same mistake that I often fault other readers for: Not doing research prior to doing a buddy or group read. I knew this book is available to me at Scribd, so I could have checked for strength/weakness of thesis statement before agreeing to buddy read. My mistake. In nonfiction writing, maybe maybe most particularly insociopolitical writing, a strong thesis statement is of first priority for the writer and the first hurdle for the reader.

I will research better next time.

[Porter Broyles · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a disappointing read. I was so looking forward to reading this book because the passage of the Civil Rights Act was so pivotal---and full of so much drama.

But the book presented here was meh at best.

The author's premise is that the prime actors usually presented when talking about the battle for the Civil Rights Act have been over-rated. Ok, this is a reasonable premise. The notion that LBJ, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King were the prime drivers understated the role of other characters is entirely believable.

But the author fails to bring those characters alive.

The problem with the book is that he fails to adequately define his thesis. When presenting the events, he fails to fully define the tension between the characters or actions, even when talking about challenges from the opposition, there is never a question of "how was this overcome?"

So what does the book do right?

It presents a host of character that the other books on the subject seem to forget and it tells a fascinating story that would take effort to ruin.

[Andy Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows America at its best, our country coming together to give our federal government the power to tell southern states that they could no longer discriminate on the basis of race. And it worked, the de jure segregation ended almost overnight after passage of the federal law

One thesis of this great book is that history has simplified the passing of the Civil Rights Act as being due to the efforts of Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King but that the reality is that they had little to do with the passage. The book focuses on the individuals who united to pass the bill, from legislative leaders including Hubert Humphrey, Thomas Kuchel(the liberal Republican from California)and GOP congressman Bill McCullough who lead the fight to move the bill out the infamous House Rules Committee to NAACP lobbyist Clarence Mitchell, to Nicholas Katzenbach the assistant attorney general who was the DOJ contact and to the efforts of the churches who were instrumental in swaying the conservative Midwestern Republicans who were key to overcoming the Southern filibuster

The descriptions of the legislative strategies and intrigue will satisfy the strongest political junkie, one great example being when Humphrey had to call out certain Democrats who chose vacation over doing duties on quorum calls. The personalities shine and not all positive; Sam Ervin, the Watergate hero was horrible, he was Strom Thurmond's twin whose rude tactics dismayed even segregationists such as Richard Russell. Liberal Republicans such as John Lindsay in the House and Javits, Keating and Case in the Senate are given much credit for pushing their own party and Congress in general. And the largely white mainstream churches of the Midwest are described as being key

Again, this is a great book that while acknowledging the warts and trauma of our history also shows America at its best

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bill of the Century had some interesting points to it although I should have liked to have learned more about the people involved and their personal experiences for being for or against the bill and how much did it actually help African-Americans.

[Steve Kettmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to give this book to at least five family members and friends to read, that's how highly I regard its insights and importance.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Now I want to read a bio of Mike Mansfield.

For a further review: http://susannag.booklikes.com/post/88... .

My ARC courtesy NetGalley; much thanks.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this was a great book, was very well-researched, and does a great job demonstrating how chaotic and unwieldy the U.S. legislative process is. It was pretty interesting to see how all the power dynamics among the different players played out (though no question somewhat over-simplified). There isn't much depth on the substance of the civil rights bill, but the story of the politics and process is pretty fascinating. The book is generally pretty quick and fast-paced, but I found it getting a little bogged down at times. My biggest criticism of the book is there were a number of places where there was a lack of explanation/color/context, especially when it came to the legislative tactics - it was hard to understand what exactly was happening and why different members of congress were doing what they were doing.

[Polly Rosenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I found this book very detailed and sometimes hard to keep up with the cast of characters, all in all I thought it was a good rendering of what it takes to get a controversial bill through Congress. This is good reporting on this important piece of legislation.

[Alex Orr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Risen's book is a cold hard look at the legislative process involved in getting the Civil Rights Act passed. The level of research is absolutely breathtaking and frequently becomes a day-by-day account of the shifting allegiances, strategies, and fortunes of the bill, its supporters, and those determined to stop it. The legislative process is something that is often overlooked or simply ignored by casual, and even emotionally invested political observers, and as a result, it's wonderful to have a book that explains in such minute detail the slow passage through the house and Senate of one of the most controversial pieces of legislation ever passed by the government. Students of policy in particular will want to read through this a couple of times.

[Nekquai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a must read for everyone, it just gives a much deeper background into all of the work that it takes to pass a bill,any bill not just the civil rights bill

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing story. Histories of the Civil Rights movement tend to focus on the protests, the marches, the violence, but Risen reminds us that the drawn-out debates and networking and compromises in Congress were just as important. It’s a tough project, since it inevitably means lots and lots (and lots) of dry biographies of congressmen. My eyes tended to glaze over when the text descended into minute-by-minute descriptions of some discussions. As someone not inherently interested in legislative power politics, it was often very, very dry reading. But I’m so glad I stuck with it because this books paints such a compelling picture of the political maneuvering that was going on in the midst of the March on Washington and the church bombings and the sit-ins. I was particularly impressed by how many personal grudges and how much debating over key wording played into the final text of the bill. From today’s perspective, the lack of diversity in Congress is gob-smacking. Yes, we know that not so long ago, it was considered perfectly OK to have a Congress consisting almost entirely of older white men. But seeing it in action is still startling. I also appreciated the reminder that Lyndon Johnson, while significant, was not the key driver of this bill. The members of Congress who fought for this bill — and the everyday Americans who pushed them to do so — deserve the smart, insightful treatment that Risen provides.

[Jc · Rating 5 out of 5]

In case anyone wasn’t sure, Schoolhouse Rock’s "I'm Just a Bill" song was a bit simplistic, and overly hopeful. This book helps demonstrate how much more complicated – and political — the birth of a real “bill” can be, and usually is. It helps one understand how many an important bill never sees the light of day, and how much bad legislation becomes law. Bill of the Century shows the stark reality that is still our government, barely changed nearly 60 years later. But aside from being a fascinating and sometimes disturbing view of what goes on behind the scenes in Washington, this book also details an “epic battle” that is still raging in America – the question of equal rights for all its citizens. The Civil Rights act was more of a skirmish in this un-ending war which is still going strong (witness the recent storming of the capitol along with the need for the Black Lives Matter movement). Risen’s book can help one understand how it really works, and how the United States still refuses to let this horrible disease of racial inequality come to an end. [I read this 4-5 months ago, but somehow it never made it to my list]

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's inspiring to read an account of a remarkable legislative achievement, one which produced lasting benefits for millions of Americans. I came away with a better understanding of how legislation gets made – Risen does a good job giving you a sense of the day-to-day swings in momentum that the bill faced, and the conflicting personalities trying to influence the bill as it made its way through Congress.

There were times when I wanted less of the "this, then this, then this" nature of the story, and a bit more color. At times, motives are assumed or inferred, with what appeared to be little evidence - which left me wanting to know more about *why* they did what they did.

Overall, glad I read it. Learned a lot, and it gave me hope that we might be capable of similar progress in the future.

[Hasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every book and/or account that I've read about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the broader Great Society agenda credits Lyndon Johnson as the master legislator. There's probably a lot of truth to his unique tactical and legislative skills that helped shepherd through the most transformative agenda in American history. This book focuses on the Congress and the Kennedy Administration and how they played a major role in shaping the bill and getting it through various committees. In fact, the book tries to take away credit from Johnson, which is interesting. But it's informative and illuminating, which is always a great trait in a book about an often written about time.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely detailed account of how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, which dispels the popular myth that Lyndon Johnson's tactical genius was responsible for its success. You come away with a precise sense of how MLK and other Civil Rights leaders, the Kennedy brothers, the Justice Department, Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and of LBJ all specifically contributed to the effort. Some of the legislative history gets a bit tedious at a times, but it's a valuable read for anybody interested in the history of social movements and how dramatic change has actually happened in Washington.

[Craig Werner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically an overview of the Civil Rights Movement from about 15,000 feet with the Civil Rights Act at the center. There's nothing non-standard about the overview--there are better sources, but this is okay. The problem comes when Risen dips closer to ground level with the Act itself. He's correct that Ohio Republican William McCullough and the National Council of Churches played important roles that are overlooked in popular memory, if not in other histories. But he's flat out wrong that Lyndon Johnson's importance has been overstated. For chapter and verse, see Robert Caro's LBJ biography Passage to Power and Todd Purdum's vastly superior book on the act itself.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give this book 4.5 stars. The author does a good job of mixing the larger societal context of the Civil Rights Act with the smaller dramas that played out in Congress. It made for compelling reading and I learned quite a bit about this seminal piece of legislation. If nothing else it was interesting to learn about a time when there were liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats. Who would have thought.

[Scott Welfel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setting the record straight

Countless authors give Lyndon Johnson the majority of the credit for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but Clay Risen demonstrates that Johnson played more of a supporting role to McCulloch, Humphrey, Dirksen and others. Important look into the true mechanics of how this bill became law.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good resource book, but not well-written. Gets bogged down in details that are not necessary. But there are some excellent stories in here — who knew that John Lindsay was a congressman, much less a strong proponent of civil rights?

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly outstanding !!! A thorough history in which the author avoids any sweeping editorializing until the final eight pages, which are insightful and very satisfying. I am very happy to have found this book.

[Alexei · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed and reasoned account

This book gives a very detailed account of how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was conceived and what it took to put it on the president's desk. The authors make a very explicit point against the great people history by outlining efforts of individual legislative and civic leaders, as well as the larger effort of many in the civil rights movement. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more books like this one, and at just a couple of dollars it's a steal!

[Lane Willson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concocted from a recipe of political players and events so surreal it would give Salvador Dali pause, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is most assuredly the single piece of legislation with the greatest impact on the United States in my lifetime. Clay Risen’s The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act does a wonderful job of bringing the tension between President Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963 and the elections that would follow a year later.

The frequency with which the bill flatlined and was close to death during the process was amazing. The fifty years elapsed since the bill's passage has smoothed the story’s rough edges and minimized the significance of all involved, friend or foe. It’s much easier to allow the stereotypes to drive the story, a South doing all it can to remain segregated, a black community that is finally beginning to understand their power and how to use it, and the non-southern white community that falls somewhere between benign apathy and progressive support of the African-American cause. Risen is not satisfied with the usual roles of the players, and, on the whole, does a good job of recognizing contradictions, and eccentricities demonstrated by all involved.

Dr. King, though clearly the most notable African-American of his day, not to mention the most influential Negro voice to ever be heard over the din of American history, was in no way the lone voice. One of the moments that stood out was when Dr. King, Malcolm X, and a host of other black leaders were all in the gallery witnessing the proceedings at the same time. Many in Congress, who would go on to different roles later in their career, can be seen prior to their transformation. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the last Klan Grand Wizard to serve in either chamber of Congress, fought the bill as though he were Strom Thurmond’s ally. Alabama’s George Wallace found victory not among the racist segregationist he lived among and whose schoolhouse doors he tried to block, but in Wisconsin!

The only bone of contention I have with Mr. Risen’s book is that I felt he did not give enough weight to how important it was to President Johnson that the bill be pushed through by a Southerner. Risen all but ignores the significance this held for Johnson, choosing instead to highlight the hard feelings shared by Johnson, as well as the Kennedy family. President Johnson coldly, almost cruelly, giving one of the pens used to sign the act to Bobby Kennedy as an afterthought.

Clearly the shootings that have dominated the news in recent months remind us that a tremendous amount of work separates us from true justice. Prejudice, anger, and dogma are so combustible and can so quickly consume progress and hope. Mr. Risen’s book reminds us how important it is that we not allow that to occur.

[Ted Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cliché says that lawmaking is like making sausage; while the end product might be tasty, you do not want to see it happening. And that is one of the points of this book about the creation and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was a messy, picayune, exasperating process, one that included the longest filibuster in American history, and this book provides us with all of the messy details. The focus is on the individuals who were largely responsible for its passage, people who do not always get the credit that the author believes they deserve: Senators Mike Mansfield, Hubert Humphrey, and Everett Dirksen ("There is no force so powerful as an idea whose time has come"), countless civil rights activists and ministers, and President John F. Kennedy. The author clearly believes that the role of President Lyndon Johnson is overblown, and much of the book is devoted to defending this thesis. According to the author, it was Kennedy's idea, and he had completely embraced it at the end of his life, but Johnson gets all the credit. The author also emphasizes how little Johnson did during the law-making process, how few minds he changed, and how he distanced himself from the legislative action, so as to protect himself politically. And this is the problem that I have with the book. I really enjoyed learning about all the "off stage" actors and their contributions to the passage of this monumental law, but I believe that the author goes out of his way to downplay Johnson's contributions. He does mention the time and energy that the President devoted to keeping this issue in front of the American people, and thus he raises an interesting question. What is the proper role of the President in the legislative process? Was it that important that LBJ couldn't convince Robert Byrd to abandon the Senate filibuster if he promoted the ideals of this law in his speeches? Teddy Roosevelt said that the Presidency must be used as a "bully pulpit," and that is just what Johnson did on this issue. Sure, he had an ego (one hundred(!) pens to sign his signature on the bill??), but other historians have noted that this was an issue to which he had truly become devoted. I will be interested to read Robert Caro's next addition to his multi-volume LBJ biography to see how he presents the same events.

[Miles Cotillier sr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most in depth book of true chronological events that help the civil rights bill to be passed.
Wonderfully written by Cly Risen.
A pleasure to have in my library.

[Benjamin Dueholm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This account of the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act eschews deep biographical dives on the key players (a la Robert Caro) and nation-spanning social tableaux (a la Rick Perlstein) in favor of a tight and highly effective focus on the legislative mechanics, lobbying and deal-making that turned the bill into law. It is more surprising and thrilling than a detailed legislative procedural on a famous bill that passed both houses of Congress by big margins has any right to be. It also raises up some individuals and groups that have been sidelined in many accounts of the bill: Robert Kennedy, his deputy Nicholas Katzenbach, Hubert Humphrey, ranking House Judiciary Republican William McCollough, Everett Dirksen, Mike Mansfield, a massive interfaith lobbying campaign, a massive labor lobbying campaign, and the constant effort of some lesser-known figures in the civil rights movement all get a lot of screen time from Risen. He also includes a brief but frank assessment of the bill's ultimate limitations and the limitations of the politics that created it. Though for a longer treatment of that topic, you're in good hands with Perlstein.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

NY Times op-ed editor Clay Risen's history of the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act is one of several published in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the law - Todd Purdom's An Idea Whose Time Has Come is another, but I haven't read it yet. This book is well-researched and well-written, with the feel of lots of "insider detail," because Risen has gone to the archives of more than just newspapers to get his information. Lots of primary sources are cited. It is interesting to read a political analysis in which "liberal Republican" and "conservative Democrat" are not oxymorons. The way we do politics has certainly changed. Risen does a particularly good job of spreading the credit/blame around, presenting a complete and realistic picture of how the legislation was passed. While he doesn't spend a lot of time on the law's effects, he does conclude with an interesting analysis of what it did and didn't address, and the implications of that.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In a tragic counterpoint to the triumph of July 2, two weeks [after the bill had been passed], Harlem and parts of Brooklyn erupted in three days of rioting. The violence was touched off by the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager, but it also gave vent to black anger over unemployment, police brutality, school and housing discrimination, and poor city services in minority neighborhoods. Similar rioting broke out in South Central Los Angeles the next year, Cleveland the year after, Newark and Detroit in 1967, and in more than a hundred cities, including Washington , Baltimore, and Chicago, after the April 4, 1968, assassination of Martin Luther King Jr."

An interesting read for class especially in the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown (Ferguson, MO) and Eric Garner (Staten Island, NY). Probably the most pleasurable read for my class on political polarization.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to read this book, but I learned so much. About one of the most important steps in our country’s modern history, about how our legislative government works, and how the people can wield influence through cultural force. This book puts the years of 1963-1964 into the full context of their social and political climate and follows the many people and paths of influence required to move our country forward.

There is a passage near the end of the book that sums it up succinctly:”At the same time we must remember that there was no single central character, no prime mover, but rather dozens of contributors. And while this lesson is particularly true for the Civil Rights Act, it is also true for the history of American lawmaking in general.”

[Riley Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book in which the author is able to take a topic that might seem rather boring to the average person and make it a suspenseful journey to the passage of the "bill of the century". The characters featured here are colorful politicians who found a way to work together but encountered many obstacles along the way. The author explains - backed by extensive research - how individuals decided to take actions for or against each step of the process. He also addresses topics such as LBJ's role in the passage of this bill, what was left out of the bill, and what parts of the 1964 bill turned out to have far greater impact than originally thought. I would highly recommend this book for those who would like to see how Congress used to actually get things done.

[Bill Sleeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clay Risen has written a detailed and well researched history of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I particularly enjoyed the depth of his analysis of the cloakroom and chamber maneuvers that eventually brought the bill to the floors of the Senate and the House for a vote. In the process we learn that Johnson’s Civil Rights bill really wasn’t and was instead a typical bouillabaisse of ideas, desires and real need (with no small amount of horse-trading) that we learned about in American Government 101. All the big names and many less familiar ones are here. Risen has crafted a history that should be required reading for the current crop of misguided "would be politicos" that are currently occupying the halls of Congress.