LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON
36TH PRESIDENT
1963-1968
 House
of Representatives
 U.S. Senate
 Senate majority leader (1955)
 Vice president under Kennedy (1961-63)
 Helped Kennedy win key states in South
including Texas
 President of U.S. (1963-1968)
 The “Johnson Treatment” persuaded
Senators to support his bills
 Civil Rights Act 1964: ended segregation
in public facilities
 Tax reduction bill: 11 Billion in tax cuts
spurred economic growth
 LBJ:
Democratic Candidate (very
popular)
 Barry Goldwater: Republican Candidate;
Arizona Senator. Very conservative. Not
government’s responsibility to right
social and economic wrongs (poverty,
discrimination, etc). Hard line on foreign
affairs, suggesting we use nuclear
weapons on Cuba and North Vietnam
(frightened people)
 http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/co
mmercials/1964
 http://www.270towin.com/
 LBJ
won by a landslide (90% of electoral
vote)
 Democratic majority in Congress
 Allowed Johnson to enact legislation from
“The Great Society” (end to poverty and
racial discrimination)
 Most important expansion of government
since the New Deal
 206 bills became law
 Goals
of the Great Society:
• End poverty (War on Poverty)
• Pass Civil Rights legislation
• Increased funding for education
• Protect the environment
• Protect the consumer
 Economic
Opportunity Act (1 billion for
anti-poverty measures, small business
loans, job training, etc.)
 VISTA (domestic Peace Corps)
 Head Start (for underprivileged
preschoolers)
 Medicare (health insurance for elderly)
 Medicaid (health insurance for poor)
 Food stamps
 HUD (low income housing)
 Elementary and Secondary
Ed. Act (1 billion
in fed. Aid to help public and parochial
schools)
 Water Quality Act
 Clean Air Act
 Truth in Packaging Act
 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act
 Immigration Act of 1965
 National Endowment for the Humanities
(PBS)
 Greatly
expanded the role of government
(education, environment, etc)
 Did these changes make the nation better or
worse off than before?
 New awareness of social problems (poverty
reduced from 25% in 1962 to 11% in 1973
 Growing budget deficit for next three
decades
 Is gov’t an appropriate vehicle for solving
social problems?
 Vietnam War
(1967 attention shifted to
foreign policy and fighting communism)
 Who knows how much further
government would have went to address
social problems.
 What would America be like today?