ABSTRACT
In 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered his staff to prepare the "goddamndest, toughest voting rights bill" they could devise. The ensuing Voting Rights Act turned out to be more far-reaching than Johnson had recognized at the time. The new law quickly achieved its original objective—guaranteeing blacks the right to register and vote. Subsequently, as a result of twenty years of interpretation, revision, and implementation, the law was turned into an affirmative action program for black politicians. Voting rights activists vigorously criticized William Bradford Reynolds and the policies of the Reagan administration. The activists initially faulted Reynolds and Reagan for opposing a 1982 proposal that Reynolds said amounted to a quota system for black politicians. Asserting that Reynolds was dragging his feet on affirmative gerrymandering, the activists accused the administration of disrespect for the established law. At the same time, other critics paradoxically found fault with the Reagan administration for going too far on voting rights.
