Civil Rights Speech by Sen. Harry F. Byrd

  • Date: July 16, 1957
  • Creator: Harry F. Byrd
  • Archive: Albert H. and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia

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Description

Byrd's speech on the U.S. Senate floor labelled the 1957 Civil Rights Bill "the most vicious bills ever presented to the Congress." Byrd considered the bill an example of federal "bayonet force." The bill, he considered, would set up the Attorney General as an "American Caesar."