From the Annals of the Good LBJ – In 1965, Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson notified Alabama Gov. George Wallace that he was calling up the Alabama National Guard to supervise a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery.  The action followed the confrontation of Bloody Sunday on March 7 when a group of 600 protestors were attacked by state and local police wielding billy clubs and firing tear gas in a brutal clash that was widely broadcast on television to the revulsion and outrage of millions of decent Americans.

After an Alabama federal judge ruled that the planned march to Montgomery could go ahead, President Johnson and his advisers worked quickly to find a way to ensure the safety of King and his demonstrators on their way from Selma to Montgomery. Standing in the way was ardent segregationist Wallace.   The Governor initially promised LBJ that he would call out the Alabama National Guard to maintain order, but then went on television to demand that LBJ send in federal troops instead.   LBJ was understandably enraged and sent out a press release stating that because Wallace refused to use the National Guard to preserve order,  he would call up the guard and give them all necessary support. Several days later, some 50,000 marchers followed King on the 54 mile march guarded by state and federal troops. Arriving safely in Montgomery on March 25, they watched King deliver his famous “How Long, Not Long” speech from the steps of the Capitol building.  One can only imagine how the despicable Wallace felt seeing his Capitol being used by King and his followers.