1. 10-4: Liberalism and Domestic Programs of the 1950s-1960s

2. Thematic Learning Objectives
POL 1.0 Explain how and why political ideas, beliefs, institutions, party systems, and alignments have developed and changed.
POL 2.0 Explain how popular movements, reform efforts, and activist groups have sought to change American society and institutions.
POL 3.0 Explain how different beliefs about the federal government’s role in U.S. social and economic life have affected political debates and policies.

3. Key Concept
New movements for civil rights and liberal efforts to expand the role of government generated a range of political and cultural responses.

4. Contemporary Ideologies
Liberalism
Government involvement in economy
Higher taxes
Equal opportunity for all
Generally vote for Democrats
Union members, minorities, young adults, single women
Conservatism
Limited role of government
Lower taxes
Individualism leads to economic growth
Generally vote for Republicans
Rural areas, white males, middle-aged

5. Truman (D), 1945-1953 Fair Deal Civil rights
Enlargement of the New Deal
Increased minimum wage
Health insurance
Federal aid to education
Public housing
Repeal of Taft-Hartley Act (workers rights)
Coalition between Republicans and Southern Democrats limited Truman’s ability to achieve his goals

6. Eisenhower (R), 1953-1961 Conservative economic policy
Basic features of the New Deal
Lower taxes
Controlling government spending
Warnings about “military-industrial complex”

7. Election of 1960 JFK vs. Nixon Role of Catholicism
Role of televised debates
Results

8. Kennedy (D), 1961-1963 New Frontier Assassination
Emphasis on addressing poverty
Aid to education
Urban renewal
Medical care for elderly
Lower taxes
Coalition between Republicans and Southern Democrats limited Kennedy’s ability to achieve his goals
Assassination

9. Johnson (D), 1963-1969 Great Society Goals Legislation
Build of ideas of JFK
Use the federal government to enhance social welfare
End the cycle of poverty
Legislation
Civil Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
Medicare
Medicaid

10. Johnson (D), 1963-1969 Great Society Legislation
War on Poverty
Economic Opportunity Act
Job Corps
Head Start
Funding for the Arts
Housing and Urban Development
Rent supplements for low-income families
Funding problems (Vietnam War)

11. Controversy over the “Safety net”
President Barack Obama:
“What President Johnson understood was that equality required more than the absence of oppression. It required the presence of economic opportunity. A decent job. Decent wages. Health care. Those too were civil rights worth fighting for.”
Former Cabinet Member David Califano:
“From 1963 when Lyndon Johnson took office until 1970 as the impact of his Great Society programs were felt, the portion of Americans living below the poverty line dropped from percent to 12.6 percent, the most dramatic decline over such a brief period in this century.”

12. Controversy over the “Safety net”
Historian Alan Brinkley:
“The gap between the expansive intentions of the War on Poverty and its relatively modest achievements fueled later conservative arguments that government is not an appropriate vehicle for solving social problems.”
Economist Thomas Sowell:
“The black family, which had survived centuries of slavery and discrimination, began rapidly disintegrating in the liberal welfare state that subsidized unwed pregnancy and changed welfare from an emergency rescue to a way of life.”