President Joe Biden will visit Austin on Monday to commemorate Civil Rights Act
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will travel to Austin on Monday for a rescheduled appearance at the LBJ Presidential Library to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, the American-Statesman learned Tuesday morning.
Biden's visit, originally set for July 15, was postponed after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. White House sources familiar with the president's trip told the Statesman that Biden will be in Austin on Monday for the previously scheduled celebration. The White House later confirmed the visit in a news release.
Biden, who has been isolating at his Rehoboth, Delaware, vacation home as he recuperates from COVID-19, in a bombshell announcement Sunday said he would not seek reelection amid pressure from Democrats for him to step aside after a disastrous debate performance last month against former President Donald Trump gave rise to concerns about the incumbent's fitness for the office. Biden instead has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination.
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There is a certain poignancy in Biden’s appearance at the LBJ library — the presidential library and museum of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th U.S. president — after his decision to step aside from seeking a second term.
Johnson, a former vice president and Senate majority leader from Texas, was the last incumbent president to forgo reelection to the White House. Johnson decided to step aside in 1968 under pressure from protests against the Vietnam War.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, the first Democratic congressional lawmaker to call for Biden to step aside, made the connection to Johnson in early July ahead of Biden’s planned July 15 appearance in Austin.
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After Biden’s announcement Sunday, Doggett said, “When I respectfully called for President Biden to step aside almost three weeks ago, I recognized that this would be a painful and difficult decision, not unlike that faced long ago under different circumstances by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Today’s courageous action caps decades of selfless service and opens the door to a convention that can build on our progress and prevent a takeover of our country by Trump and his gang.”
In Austin, Biden will be the keynote speaker at the Civil Rights Act commemoration and will receive the Liberty and Justice Award from the LBJ Presidential Library and the LBJ Foundation. The event will take place in the library's auditorium, which can accommodate 1,000 people.
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Joe Biden to visit LBJ Library in Austin at UT for Civil Rights Act
