and mans feel win to everett dirksen, the ranking member, and the leader of the southern block, and said we're going to try to break your filibuster. you're going to have every chance to make your case and we're going to do everything we can to overcome it but i'm not keeping people here all night and trying to break them that way. >> so interestingly here you have a contrast in leadership between lbj, the former senate leader, and mansfield, now the president, still coming from a different position. >> lbj's accomplishments in civil rights will always be remembered. he picked up the mantle after president kennedy was assassinated. 1963-1964 -- the hostic injustice of civil rights was going to be dealt with, but the senate was the last bastion of resistance that had to be overcome, and what mansfield did with hubert humphrey and everett dirksen and the other senators, they won an overwhelming victory for what was probably the most important piece of legislation ever enacted, the civil rights act of '64. >> in addition to civil rights, which obviously was of enormous consequence for the c

of resistance that heterosexual to be overcome and what mansfield did with hubert humphrey and everett dirksen and the other senators they won an overwhelming victory for what was probably the most important piece of legislation ever enjaktd, the civiling rights of '64. >> shapiro discusses his book with bernie sanders of vermont this friday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on "after words" here on c-span radio. ♪ >>> this is an economic relief package. because the president's policies have not only failed, they've actually made the economy worse. we were doing policies like those that we've passed and sent over to the senate be no need for this type of economic relief package. >> i'm just glad for the american people that the drum beat that president obama created across the country, remember public sentiment is everything and the public overwhelmingly supported a payroll tax cut for 160 million americans. the republic overwhelmingly supported that we have unemployment compensation. >> the democratic leader in the house of representatives, congresswoman nancy pelosi and the speaker of the house john boeh

and at one point, in the signing of one of those bills, he turned and handed the pen to everett dirksen, the senior republican from illinois and the leader of the republican minority in the senate and he was the one who, in the critical moments, brought a number of moderate republicans to vote for the civil rights bill. you're saying that was a deciding moment, a defining moment? >> so there are three major historical facts, or changes, that have gotten us into the mess that we're in. so the first is the realignment of the south into the republican column, which allowed both parties now to be pure. so that now there are basically no liberal republicans matching up with conservative democrats. so, the parties are totally separated. the second thing that happened was the replacement of the greatest generation by the baby boomers. >> the greatest generation fought world war ii. came home. built the country, ran the economy. people's politics, and, created this consensual government your talking -- >> exactly. these are people who joined groups, had a sense of civic responsibility, particip

it was a senate minority leader every rst -- everett dirksen, who helped right -- write the first civil rights act of 1964, widely regarded as the most influential of them all. in recent years, it's been the republican party that has fought to prevent african-americans from being trapped in a permanent underclass through dependence on government handouts. in the 1990's, they have republican-controlled 104th congress that passed the personal responsibility and work opportunity act then democrat president bill clinton signed it only after reluctantly vetoed it twice. this reform changed the face of welfare, ensuring that recipients who were able to work will be required to seek employment. no longer would government checks be seen as an entitlement. no longer would states have a financial incentive to add as many names to their welfare rolls as possible. finally there was an alternative to the cycle of poverty caused by years of misguided democrat policy. it's been republicans who have continued to fight for the underprivileged communities even as we're paint as the party of the white upp