The LBJ Foundation Urges Elected Officials to Protect Voting Rights

In March 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson gave perhaps his most memorable and enduring address to the American people. As voting suppression pervaded parts of the country, evidenced by the brutal attack on civil rights marchers by state troopers in Selma, Alabama, President Johnson stated firmly, “It is wrong, deadly wrong, to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country.” Invoking the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, he went on to declare, “It is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice—and we shall overcome.” 

While President Johnson championed and signed scores of transformative laws—including the Civil Rights Act, the Clean Air Act, Medicare, Head Start, federal aid to education, and comprehensive immigration reform—he held up the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as his proudest legislative accomplishment. If all eligible Americans were given the chance to vote unimpeded, he believed, we were meeting our most basic ideal as a nation. 

 That which was true in 1965 is just as true today; it is deadly wrong to systemically deny fellow Americans their most sacred right, the ability to vote free and unfettered. In fact, nothing is more fundamentally un-American. 

We, the trustees of the foundation that bears President Johnson’s name, implore our elected officials in Texas and across the country to overcome any attempts to disenfranchise voters or weaken voting laws. Moreover, we urge lawmakers to make it easier for our citizens to cast their ballots, not more onerous or burdensome. As President Johnson knew, the strength and promise of America depends on it.

LBJ Foundation 2021 Board of Trustees

Larry E. Temple, Chairman

W. Thomas Johnson, Chairman Emeritus

Honorable Ben Barnes, Vice Chairman

Elizabeth Christian, Vice Chairman

Ambassador Lyndon L. Olson, Jr., Vice Chairman

Mark K. Updegrove, President & CEO

Honorable Stacey Abrams

Robert Allbritton

John Beckworth

Honorable Joseph A. Califano, Jr.

Honorable Julián Castro

Nicole Covert

Senator Tom Daschle

Commissioner Rodney Ellis

Wayne Gibbens

Ambassador Lloyd Hand

Honorable William P. Hobby

Luci Baines Johnson

Ambassador James R. Jones

Ambassador Ron Kirk

Jack Martin

Ambassador Vilma Martinez

Edward Mathias

Cappy McGarr

Catherine Robb

Lynda Johnson Robb

Roy M. Spence, Jr.

Courtenay Valenti

Casey Wasserman

Tonya Williams