12?8 President Johnson?s Veto of the Civil Rights Act, 1866 The Civil Rights Act was the first major piece of legislation to become law over a president?s veto. John- son?s veto message helped make the estrangement between Congress and the President irreparable. Johnson?s constitutional arguments induced Congress to enact the Fourteenth Amendment, which for- bade individual states to deprive citizens of the ?equal protection of the laws.? SOURCE: Richardson, ed., Messages and Papers, Vol. VI, p. 405ff. WASHINGTON, D.C., March 27, 1866. To the Senate of the United States:?I regret that the bill, which has passed both Houses of Congress, entitled ?An act to protect all persons in the