Drawing from government data, legislative history, Supreme Court decisions, survey results, and the 2006 reauthorization debate, When the Letter Betrays the Spirit examines how executive and judicial discretion facilitates violations of the Voting Rights act. Connecting Johnson to Obama, the book challenges the executive-centered model of leadership and proffers a Congress-centered approach to protecting voting rights. This approach would both satisfy the goals of the black civil rights movement and give fuller support to the Fifteenth Amendment.