1. An Expanding Role for the Government
Section 2
An Expanding Role for the Government

2. A. The Warren Court
Earl Warren – appointed as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme by President Eisenhower.
1. Extending Individual Rights
a. Ernesto Miranda arrested on the basis of a confession obtained without access to a lawyer.
b. Violated the Fifth Amendment
c. Tinker v. Des Moines expanded the concept of freedom of speech.
d. Administrators suspended students for protesting the Vietnam War, violating their freedom of speech.

3. 2. Judicial Activism
a. Warren believed that the Constitution must be interpreted flexibly.
b. The Warren Court struck down laws that the justices regarded as unfair, regardless of past decisions or the exact wording of the Constitution.
c. Critics argued that following their own ideas of fairness gives judges too much power.

4. B. Kennedy’s Brief Presidency
1. Election of 1960
a. One of the closest presidential elections ever.
b. John F. Kennedy became the youngest president at the age of 43.
c. First televised presidential debate helped him gain votes.

5. 2. Mixed Success
a. One fifth of Americans lived below the poverty line.
b. His most lasting accomplishment was the space program.

6. 3. Assassination a. JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
b. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of JFK.
c. Commission headed by Earl Warren concluded that Oswald had acted alone.

7. C. Johnson’s Great Society
1. Johnson’s Background
a. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as President.
b. Growing up poor, Johnson wanted to help the nation’s poor and oppressed.

8. 2. A Flood of Legislation
a. Johnson persuaded Congress to enact more new laws than at any time since the New Deal.
b. “The Great Society” goal was to expand opportunity and provide a decent standard of living for all Americans.

9. 2. A Flood of Legislation
c. Much of this legislation was part of what Johnson called his War on Poverty.
d. Welfare – a system in which government agencies make cash payments to the poor.
e. Medicare helped citizens 65 years of age or older to pay their medical bills.
f. Medicaid provided money to assist poor people of all ages who were not covered by Medicare.
g. The Great Society expanded the role of the federal government

10. Homework
Questions 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 4