When the House of Representatives’ civil rights bill, H.R. 7152, became the Senate’s pending business on March 26, 1964, Senator Richard Russell of Georgia pledged that he and his colleagues in the southern bloc would fight the bill to the bitter end. The story continues as the Senate embarked on a historic debate and filibuster designed to sway public opinion. As the debate wore on, pro-civil rights forces appealed to the one man who could deliver the votes needed to invoke cloture, and then pass the bill: Everett Dirksen of Illinois.
