Offered is a pen used by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson to sign a milestone Civil Rights act, a cornerstone of his administration’s “Great Society” programs. Both pens in this lot have black plastic grips and a clear plastic, tapered handle, with the legend “The President – The White House” engraved on the handle.  The lot is accompanied by a white paper strip with the notation, typed in black,  “One of the pens used by the President, July 2, 1964, in signing H.R. 7152, An Act to enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and for other purposes.”

Formerly the 37th vice president of the United States from 1961 to 1963, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Johnson signed civil rights bills into law during his presidency that banned racial discrimination in public facilities, interstate commerce, the workplace and housing; the Voting Rights Act prohibited certain requirements in southern states used to disenfranchise African Americans. Johnson's presidency marked the peak of modern liberalism after the New Deal era. The pen is offered in a 1 x 7-inch white cardboard box, with the black stamped seal of the President and his signature on the top.

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