1964

Watching the American Experience program 1964, I was struck by two related items:

Barry Goldwater's famous line: "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!"

And his reason for voting against the Civil Rights Act:  he believed that Federal Government intervention in enforcing equality in employment and accommodation was too extreme, and that equality for African-Americans in the South should be left to come about by gradual evolution.

Or, as far as liberty and justice for African-Americans went, extremism in the defense of liberty was a vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice was a virtue.