Selma to Montgomery marches Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Johnson's decision and the Voting Rights Act==== On March 15, the president convened a joint session of Congress, outlined his new voting rights bill, and demanded that they pass it. In a historic presentation carried nationally on live television, making use of the largest media network, Johnson praised the courage of African-American activists. He called Selma "a turning point in man's unending search for freedom" on a par with the [[Battle of Appomattox]] in the [[American Civil War]]. Johnson added that his entire [[Great Society]] program, not only the voting rights bill, was part of the Civil Rights Movement. He adopted language associated with Dr. King, declaring that "it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we ''shall'' overcome."<ref>[http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/speeches.hom/650315.asp "President Lyndon B. Johnson's Special Message to the Congress: The American Promise, March 15, 1965"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128231939/http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/speeches.hom/650315.asp |date=November 28, 2014 }}, (As delivered in person before a joint session at 9:02 p.m.)</ref> Afterward, King sent a telegram to Johnson congratulating him for his speech, calling it "the most moving eloquent unequivocal and passionate plea for human rights ever made by any president of this nation".<ref>{{cite book |last=Pauley |first=Garth E. |title=The Modern Presidency & Civil Rights: Rhetoric on Race from Roosevelt to Nixon |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2001 |page=189 |isbn=978-1585441075 |volume=3 |series=Presidential Rhetoric and Political Communication Series}}</ref> Johnson's voting rights bill was formally introduced in Congress two days later.{{citation needed|date = March 2024}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page