During the five terms of the FDR and Truman presidencies, the Democrats did not propose any civil rights legislation. President Dwight Eisenhower, in contrast, asked his Attorney General to write the first federal civil rights legislation since the Republican Party’s 1875 Civil Rights Act. On this day fifty-three years ago, President Eisenhower signed the 1957 Civil Rights Act into law. Many Democrats in the Senate filibustered the bill, but strong Republican support ensured passage. Score one for America!