George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography

(Frankie) #1

primary) using racist and states' rights backlash, but most of all in order to express the deepest
tenets of the philosophical world-outlook of himself and his oligarchical family.
Very early in the campaign Bush issued a statement saying: "I am opposed to the Civil Rights bill
now before the Senate." Not content with that, Bush proceeded immediately to tap the wellsprings
of nullification and interposition: "Texas has a comparably good record in civil rights," he argued,


"and I'm opposed to the Federal Government intervening further into State affairs and individualrights." At this point Bush claimed that his quarrel was not with the entire bill, but rather with two (^)
specific provisions, which he claimed had not been a part of the original draft, but which he hinted
had been added to placate violent black extremists. According to his statement of March 17, "Bush
pointed out that the original Kennedy Civil Rights bill in 1962 did not contain provisions either for
a public accomodations section or a Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) section.""Then, after the hot, turbulent summer of 1962, when it became apparent that in order to get the (^)
Civil Rights leaders' support and votes in the 1964 election something more must be done, these
two bad sections were added to the bill," according to Bush. "I suggest that these two provisions of
the bill-- which I most heatedly oppose -- were politically motivated and are cynical in their
approach to a most serious problem." But soon abandoned this hair-splitting approach, and onMarch 25 he told the Jaycees of Tyler "I oppose the entire bill." Bush explained later that beyond (^)
the public accomodations section and the Fair Employment Practices Committee, he found that "the
most dangerous portions of the bill are those which make the Department of Justice the most
powerful police force in the Nation and the Attorney General the Nation's most powerful police
chief."
When Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts delivered his maiden speech to the Senate in April of 1964,
he included a passage referring to the late John F. Kennedy, saying that the dead President had
believed that "we should not hate, but love one another." Bush lashed out at Kennedy for what he
called "unfair criticism of those who oppos"Kennedy's dramatic, almost tearful plea for passage of the bill presented all those who disagreee the Civil Rights bill." In Bush's interpretation, (^)
with it as hate mongers." "The inference is clear," Bush said. "In other words, Ted Kennedy was
saying that any one who opposes the present Civil Rights bill does so because there is hate in his
heart. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is not a question of hate or love, but of
Constitutionality." Bush "and other responsible conservatives" simply think that the bill ispolitically inspired. "This bill," Bush said, would make further inroads into the rights of individuals (^)
and the States, and even provide for the ultimate destruction of our trial by jury system. We simply
feel that this type of class legislation, based on further federal control and intervention, is bad for
the nation." "Bush said the Civil Rights problem is bascally a local problem, best left to the States to
handle." Here surely was a respectable-sounding racism for the era of Selma and Bull Connor.
Bush was provided with new rhetorical ammunition when Alabama Governor George Wallace
ventured into the presidential primaries of that year and demonstrated unexpected vote-getting
power in certain northern states, using a pitch that included overtly racist appeals. In the wake of
one such result in Wisconsin, Bush campaign issued a release quoting the candidate as being "surethat a majority of Americans are opposed to the Civil Rights bill now being debated in the Senate." (^)
"Bush called attention to the surprising 25% of the Wisconsin primary vote received by Governor
George C. Wallace of Alabama," said the release. In Bush's view, "you can be sure this big vote was
not cast for Wallace himself, but was used as a means of showing public opposition to the Civil
Rights Bill." "If a flamboyant Governor Wallace can get that kind of a vote in a northern state suchas Wisconsin, it indicates to me that there must be general concern from many responsible people
over the Civil Rights bill all over the nation," Bush said in Houston. "If I were a member of the
Senate today, I would vote against this bill in its entirety."
Bush was described in the Texas press as attempting a melange of "Goldwater's policies, Kennedy's

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