Johnson and “The Great Society”

Johnson and “The Great Society” • Jared Clark and Zachary Gorski

Outline I Pre Presidency A. Senator and Vice President II Domestic Policies III Vietnam

Key Terms • Lyndon B. Johnson • Civil Rights Act • “The Great Society” • The Big Four Legislative Achievements • Vietnam War

Pre – Presidency • Lyndon B. Johnson was born near Stonewall, Texas, on August 27, 1908 • June 28 1941 he was defeated in a senatorial race • December 9, 1941 Johnson serves on active duty in the U.S. Navy • November 2, 1948 Jonson was elected as a Texas senator after changing his platform to be more conservative

Senator and Vice President Johnson • January 5, 1955 elected senate majority leader • July 14, 1960 Johnson Becomes JFK's running mate • November 8, 1960 JFK was elected President and Johnson his VP

November 22 1963 John F. Kennedy was assassinated • Later that day Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in to the presidency aboard Air Force One

Domestic Policies • After becoming President Johnson was notably more liberal than in his days as a Texas Senator • July 2, 1964 Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 • This outlawed racial discrimination in most public places and gave the government greater power to end segregation

Civil Rights Act (cont.) • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) created to end discrimination in who was hired • Republicans added an equal rights for women section to the bill hoping that would remove its ability to pass, which backfired when it passed anyways

War on Poverty • Johnson began a $1 billion “War on Poverty” which he added to one of Kennedy’s old tax bills that had not yet passed • He gained support for this “war” from the statistic that 20% of Americans were impoverished • Johnson deemed his domestic plans and reforms “The Great Society”

1964 Election • November 3, 1964 Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater in the presidential election • Many voters were scared of Goldwater's “trigger happy” foreign policy and seeming non-discretion in nuclear weapons use

Johnson's Second Term • In his second term Johnson had large Democratic majorities in both houses of congress allowing him to increase his war on poverty • He doubled funds to the Office of Economic Opportunity and granted $1 billion to redeveloping Appalachia

The Big Four Legislative Achievements • Johnson's Big Four Legislative Achievements were aid to education, medicare and medicaid, immigration reform, and a new voting rights bill

Aid to Education • Johnson's plan gave educational aid “to students not schools” • This allowed much needed funds to go to schools with religious education without violating separation of church and state

Medicare and Medicaid • Medicare for elderly and Medicaid for the poor allowed medical insurance to millions who could not afford it

Immigration Reform • Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the national origin quota system, doubled number of immigrants allowed to enter annually, limited the number coming from the Western Hemisphere, allowed admission of close relatives of those who were already citizens, over 100,000 people utilized this per year

Voting Rights • The Voting Rights Act, August 6, 1965, suspended literacy tests in counties where below 50% of the eligible voters had cast ballots in 1964 • It also began the process of ending Poll taxes which where ultimately removed by the Supreme Court in 1966

On July 4, 1966 he signed the Freedom of Information Act

Vietnam • August 2 & 4, 1964 American destroyers were allegedly fired upon by the North Vietnamese • details of these events remain uncertain • Johnson used this to order a “limited” retaliation and he claimed he did not want a full scale war

Tonkin Gulf Resolution • Congress then passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which essentially removed their role in declaring war and gave Johnson full power to utilize force in Southeast Asia

Vietnam escalates • by 1968 There were almost 500,000 American troops in Vietnam • US focus began to shift to offensive tactics as opposed to just defending the South • Operation Rolling Thunder: 1965-68 Johnson ordered bombings of North Vietnam to stop supplies and men from reaching resistance in the South

Tet Offensive • Despite problems Johnson feared his strength and word would be doubted if he pulled out of Vietnam • On January 30, 1968 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong Began Tet offensive • Over 100 cities and military bases in South Vietnam were attacked, and the US embassy in Saigon was briefly occupied

Tet Offensive (cont.) • In the end the campaign was a military failure for the North but had a dynamic impact on the American home front as it showed that Johnson's strategy of slowly escalating the war until the North could not keep up would not work • The public demanded a swift end and protests began gaining strong support • Many began criticizing that Johnson's war policies were depleting funds available for popular “Great Society” programs

The End Of Johnson • American leaders requested a 200,000 troop increase, causing many to doubt the strategy after this seemingly unrealistic request • Johnson began to lose support, even among his own party and support for having Eugene McCarthy as the democratic nomination for president grew • Robert F. Kennedy (JFK's brother) announced himself as a candidate as well. Both he and McCarthy operated on antiwar platforms

The End of Johnson (cont.) • March 31 1968 Johnson announced he would not run for another term • October 31, 1968 Johnson ordered an end to bombings of North Vietnam

Johnson and “The Great Society”