Clay Risen – “The Bill of the Century”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The groundbreaking bill gave the federal government greater power to strike down segregation, enforce fair hiring practices, and address bias in law enforcement and the courts. While its passage has been credited to the leadership of President Lyndon Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the battle for the Civil Rights Act was much bigger than those two men. Clay Risen, a staff editor for the op-ed section of “The New York Times”, explores the dynamics of the bill’s passage in his new book, “The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act.”