On February 17, 1964, the House of Representatives’ controversial civil rights bill, H.R. 7152, arrived in the Senate. The story continues, examining the strategies developed by the bill’s proponents to end the anticipated filibuster of the bill and force the Senate to vote on H.R. 7152. For the first time in modern Senate history, the pro-civil rights forces, a bipartisan coalition, seemed to be as organized as the bloc of opposition. On March 26, 1964, civil rights opponents launched a filibuster and no one could predict its outcome.
