Lyndon Johnson on the Civil Rights Act

[snopes]

Comment: Did Lyndon Johnson really say "We have lost the South for a
generation" after signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is sometimes
prefaced "legend has it," sometime it is said to have been a comment made
to Bill Moyers, sometimes to Jack Valenti, sometimes to both. The
earliest mention that I can find for it on Google Books is 1999, which
seems like a prediction made after the fact. Presumably if Bill Moyers
was the source it would be citable from one of his books, but I can't find
a verified citation. This seems fishy to me. I assume any qualified
Johnson scholar could verify the quote, or consign it to legend.

[Bonnie]

Bill Moyers (himself) notes the following in his Moyers on America (2004; p. 167), viewable via Google Books.

When he signed the act he was euphoric, but late that very night I found him in a melancholy mood as he lay in bed reading the bulldog edition of the Washington Post with headlines celebrating the day. I asked him what was troubling him. "I think we just delivered the South to the Republican party for a long time to come," he said.

[Dear Babby]

Am I understanding correctly that Bill Moyers was right there in the bedroom with Lyndon Johnson?

[fitz1980]

Johnson did sometimes meet with people while using the toilet so I could see him meeting with an aid in his bedroom.

[Lainie]

When you live in the same building where you work, and you work extremely long hours and are essentially on call, it doesn't seem that odd to me that an a meeting might happen in the bedroom.

Meeting while you're on the toilet is a whole 'nother matter. LBJ was quite a character.

There's a scene in The American President after Michael Douglas and Annette Benning spend their first night together -- at least two members of Douglas' staff are in the bedroom by the end of the scene.

"Uh, Sydney, you should have taken a cab. . . "

[diddy]

Yea, I can see a bedroom meeting say in the morning when the President is just getting up or at evening when he is laying down on top of the bed relaxing, maybe watching the game or what not.

[Bonnie]

When I first typed up the excerpt, my fingers were apparently ahead of my brain,

When he signed the act he was euphoric, but late that very night I found him in a melancholy mood as we lay in bed reading the bulldog edition of the Washington Post

I fixed the typo before I posted those few sentences.

Bonnie "the Moyers the merrier" Taylor

[Lainie]

Bonnie, the mental image is priceless. Both of them with their glasses on, swapping sections of the paper. . .