The Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed Congress with 65% of Democrats and 80% of Republicans voting for it. Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson then signed it into law. Before and since that time, Republicans have consistently supported civil rights, while Democrats and the media have spread the falsehood that Republicans engaged in a "Southern Strategy" to gain votes in the South by opposing civil rights and appealing to racism. Primary sources, documented in the footnotes at the second link below, prove that accusation false.