As long as it could, the Administration had avoided going to war with its own Southerners over civil rights. It had wanted to get the rest of the Fair Deal in the works first. But this week President Harry Truman issued his ultimatum: meet the Southerners head on.
The first battle would not be fought on the field of civil rights. Before that issue was joined, North and South faced a preliminary skirmish over a new anti-filibuster rule. Under the proposed rule, two-thirds of the Senate could limit debate on any motion or...
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