Arm Twisting Quotes
In 1953 the Senator had proposed a Constitutional amendment that would severely curtail the treaty making powers of the President. President Eisenhower actively opposed Bricker and the right wing of his own party. The Senator was outraged. Despite Bricker’s complaining, the public and the Congress sided with the President.
The President wanted Anderson to relay his message to other Republicans which he did. At that time the Southern racists were almost all members of the Southern bloc of the Democratic Party. Most Republicans were then advocates of non discrimination. By 2010 virtually all the racists, nativists, neo Nazis, anti Catholics, and anti Semites had gravitated to the Republican party if they were still active in politics. Reasonable Republicans were embarrassed as reasonable Democrats had been before the shift which resulted from passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
2nd Viscount Melbourne. Party discipline has been a problem for party leaders whenever there are political parties.
The state senator had voted to override his own party governor's veto of a popular solid waste disposal project. The governor retaliated by withdrawing nominations for appointments in the senator's district.
What makes this quotation meaningful is the fact that Roosevelt and other Presidents before had not as a rule contacted or lobbied, much less pressured individual members of Congress about specific legislation. While today this is so common that many members of Congress would feel insulted if they did not get a personal appeal from the President to vote for a bill. This was another “first” for TR. The historical bill in question was the National Reclamation Bill.
The Cloture motion was the motion to terminate the Southern Filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Johnson needed substantial Republican support as the Solid Democratic South was all opposed to any kind of civil rights legislation. What is interesting is that Johnson, known as the champion arm twister, knew when to twist and when not to. Mundt, although a serious conservative and generally opposed to the Federal government controlling local human interaction, had also been a school superintendent and was a decent and fair-minded man who was personally offended by the over a century of unfair discrimination and overt racism. Johnson would either have Mundt’s vote from conviction or he would not get it, and pressure was not likely to work with him.
