It was Abraham Lincoln who struck off the chains of black Americans, but it was Lyndon Johnson who led them into voting booths, closed democracy's sacred curtain behind them, placed their hands upon the lever that gave them a hold on their own destiny, made them, at last and forever, a true part of American political life. How true a part? Forty-three years later, a mere blink of history's eye, a black American, Barack Obama, was sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office. Robert A. Caro
About This Quote

Lincoln is known as the Great Emancipator during the American Civil War. He abolished slavery and granted freedom to all African slaves, but it was Johnson who actually made this happen. After the end of the war, black Americans still had to fight for the right to vote. In 1957, the federal government moved with a new policy called "affirmative action." They passed a law that said companies could not discriminate against anyone based on race or sex. This meant that those who were discriminated against would now have a chance to gain employment and be treated with fairness and equality.

Source: The Passage Of Power

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