I'm not really going to comment on the motives of the radical republicans, as they were very much outside the mainstream of american politics at the time. While

I'm not really going to comment on the motives of the radical republicans, as they were very much outside the mainstream of american politics at the time. While they did seek to help the black man, it was not because of their belief in equality, but rather to punish the south, which in my opinion doomed the effort to failure from the start. LBJ was probably the most politically skillful president politically we've ever had - he knew where all the hidden levers were in Congress and used them to his full advantage to get the Civil Rights Act passed. I'm not a huge fan of LBJ's politics (I'm more on the libertarian side of the street), but I'm in awe of his abilities. The story as it goes as to how LBJ changed from someone with little opinion on race to a champion of civil rights is amusing, purportedly LBJ, Lady Bird, and their cook Zephyr were on a trip thru rural Texas, LBJ and Lady Bird stopped to use the restroom at a service station, about 5 miles down the road after, Zephyr asked LBJ to pull over, so she could use the restroom - he asked her why she didn't use it previously at the service station, she responded that there were no colored restrooms there, so he pulled over and did her business on the side of the road - that was purportedly the catalyst moment for him - he'd also had experience as a schoolteacher at a segregated mexican school in the 30's, which also shaped his view.