rights movement. His introduction of a comprehensive civil rights bill in 1963, for example, together with representatives John Lindsay of New York and Charles Mathias of Maryland, put pressure on President John F. Kennedy to present his own act to Congress several months later. He had few African-American constituents and so had few votes to gain from introducing or supporting civil rights legislation. McCulloch's influence with the Civil Rights Act led President John F. Kennedy to declare, "Without him it can't be done." McCulloch was recognized by Kennedy's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, under whom the act was passed, as "the most important and powerful political force" in passing the Act. Todd Purdum, in his history of the Civil Rights Era, An Idea Whose Time Has Come, said in an interview: [McCullough] had been distressed when then Senate Majority Leader Johnson watered down civil rights bills in 1957 and 1960 to make them practically unenforceable. McCulloch was the ranking minority member of the House judiciary committee, and he told the Kennedy Administration that he would back a strong bill in the House – and urge his fellow Republicans to follow suit – but only if the White House agreed not to trade away the bill's strongest provisions in the Senate, and also agreed to give Republicans equal credit for passing it. McCulloch voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Open Housing Act of 1968. In 1970, he opposed the Nixon administration's efforts to weaken temporary provisions in the 1965 Voting Rights Act regarding voting rights of Black southerners. Despite his leadership to pass the civil rights acts, McCulloch did not have many votes to gain from his constituents but rather felt that it was his obligation to implement Constitutional rights. In 1971, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis wrote a letter to McCulloch, crediting him as being one of the most important people for the civil rights legislation in the 60s. Other issues Throughout his career, McCulloch was a conservative, as demonstrated by his low Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) scores, and was a strong supporter of civil rights. As ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, he and Democratic Chairman Emanuel Celler pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through the House of Representatives. During the Great Society Congress, he opposed most Great Society legislation. After the Great