1. Lyndon B. Johnson The Great Society

2. Lyndon B. Johnson
Sworn in as president on after the assassination of JFK

3. Johnson Takes Over Very different than Kennedy
Loud and slightly crude
Loves to shock people with his language, stories & behavior
Physical
Grew up in both poverty and prosperity
Ambitious and hard working

4. “the Johnson treatment”
Johnson Takes Over
U.S. Senate – Senate Majority Leader
Position has a great deal of influence over legislation
Master of compromise; seemed to find a middle on which most people could agree
First Cabinet meeting “the day is over when top jobs are reserved for men”
Appoints women and Mexican Americans to high positions
“the Johnson treatment”

5. Establishing Continuity
Transition was skilled and tactful
“I felt from the first day in office that I had to carry on for President Kennedy, I considered myself the caretaker of both his people and his policies”
Focuses attention on passage of Kennedy’s tax cut bill and civil rights legislation
On March 15, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson calls on Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act.
LBJ's Voting Rights Speech: "The American Promise"

6. The War on Poverty
Kennedy’s antipoverty initiative; Johnson says “I’m sympathetic. Go ahead. Give it the highest priority. Push ahead full tilt.”
Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO)
$1 billion budget
Job Corps – work training program for people between 16 and 21
Head Start – preschool for low income families
Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) – domestic version of the Peace Corps.
American Indians are also allowed to establish their own antipoverty programs on the reservations

7. 1964 Election In your guts, you know he’s nuts” Lyndon B Johnson
Barry Goldwater
In your guts, you know he’s nuts”
“In your heart, you know he’s right”

9. Johnson and Congress “Kennedy inspired, Johnson delivered” Programs
Medicare & Medicaid
Elementary & Secondary School Act
$1.3 billion to schools in poor areas
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Quality of Life
Supports the Arts
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Non profit organization dedicated to educational television programs
Environmental Issues
Beginning to discover the harmful effects of pesticides on humans and wildlife
Water Quality Act 1965, Air Quality Act 1967, Water Pollution Act 1968
Creates several new national parks and wilderness areas

10. Warren Court Decisions
Chief Justice Earl Warren
Baker v Carr, Reynolds v. Sims, & Wesberry v. Sanders
Electoral districts must contain approximately the same number of voters to ensure fair representation for all Americans
Gideon v. Wainwright
States must provide a lawyer for poor defendants
Escobedo v. Illinois
Right to have lawyer present during police investigation
Miranda v. Arizona
Accused must be informed of their rights at the time of arrest
Ensure that the system doesn’t violate individual rights…or overstepped their boundaries???

11. Impact of the Great Society
People disagree whether changes brought about by the Great Society and the Warren Court decisions left the nation better or worse
“War on Poverty” does help
Number of poor people fell 21% in 1963, 1973 only 11%
Massive tax cuts spur the economy
Growing budget deficit to fund programs

12. Decline of the Great Society
LBJ was far more interested in domestic policy, but foreign affairs demanded his attention

13. Foreign Policy Dominican Republic Vietnam Sends 22,000 American troops
Put a pre-American government in power
Vietnam
1966 – government spends more money on Vietnam than on the War on Poverty