Section 3
Pages 910-917
Section 3 Objectives
 1. Explain how President Johnson’s War on Poverty
affected American communities.
 2. Identify the problems that the Great Society
programs addressed.
 3. detail how the Warren court expanded individual
liberties.
 4. describe why support for the Great Society programs
declined during the late 1960s.
Johnson Takes Over
 President Johnson came from a poverty background and
rose to prosperity.
 Johnson was hardworking and was able to rise in the
Democratic party.
 One of his greatest attributes, he was a master of
compromise.
 Establishing continuity: Johnson was able to make the
transition to the presidency with ease due to his years of
experience. He was quoted: “ 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.”
 Johnson operated on very little sleep and focused on
the passage of Kennedy’s tax cut bill and civil rights
legislation which had been stalled in Congress.
 Johnson with the help of his aides designed the federal
budget to incorporate a spending cap at $100 billion
dollars.
 In his cabinet meeting he announced that this was an
end of an era of top positions only being reserved for
men.
The War on Poverty
 Office of Economic Opportunity: sent bill to
Congress on the creation of the office. This office
would coordinate new antipoverty programs. Job
Corps, work training for young people between the
ages of 16-21, Head Start, preschool educational
program for low income families, and Volunteers in
Service to America (VISTA), domestic version of the
Peace Corps. Congress passed the legislation in
August, 1964.
Johnson’s vision for America
 Domestic program called the Great Society.
 1964 Presidential Election: Johnson chose Hubert
Humphrey –Senator from Minnesota.
 Republicans: Senator Barry Goldwater from
Arizona, running mate was from New York William
Miller.
Johnson and Congress
 The programs: 1965
 Medicare: national health insurance program for
people over age 65.
 Medicaid: government program that provided health
care for those in need.
 Independence, Missouri: signed the bill in front of
the former president Harry Truman who was 81 and
first had proposed the idea under the Fair Deal.
 Elementary and Secondary Education Act:
provided 1.3 billion to public schools in low income
areas.
Johnson and Congress Continued
 Omnibus Housing Act: billions would be spent on
urban renewal and housing assistance for low income
families.
 Robert C. Weaver: first African American to the
presidential cabinet. The new department, Housing
and Urban Development to oversee federal housing
programs.
Quality of Life
 Nation Endowment for the Arts and National
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Endowment for the Humanities: offered grants and
fellowships to artists, writers, and scholars.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting: nonprofit group
that was committed to educational television
programming.
Rachel Carson: marine biologist who wrote the book
Silent Spring.
Water Quality Act of 1965, Air Quality Act of 1967,
Water Pollution Act of 1968.
Johnson was responsible for creating new national parks
and wilderness areas.
Multimedia Presentation on The
Great Society
 Organized into five different groups.
 Each group will be assigned one of the following topics
related to Johnson’s Great Society: health care,
education, housing, culture, or environment.
 Each group will develop and create a multimedia
presentation on the assigned topic.
 The presentation should include, general summary,
possible images, analysis of the Johnson’s programs in
the assigned area, and the program’s short and long
term effectiveness.
The Warren Court Decisions
Case: Baker v. Carr– 1962: led to ruling that electoral
districts had to have the same number of voters.
Case: Gideon v. Wainwright-1963: declared that states
had to provide lawyers for the impoverished
defendants charged with serious crimes.
Case: Escobedo v. Illinois-1964: declared that the
accused had the right to have a lawyer present during
police investigations.
Case: Miranda v. Arizona-1966: declared that accused
person had to be informed of their rights at the time of
arrest.
The Warren Court Decisions
 The Supreme Court of the 1960s was about social
activism. Chief Justice Earl Warren defined and
expanded individual rights.
 Reynolds v. Sims-1964 and Wesberry v. Sanders1964: Court extended equality in the voting booth by
affirming the “one person, one vote” idea. The court
went on to state electoral districts must contain
approximately the same number of voters to ensure
fair representation for all Americans. Within two
years almost all states had redrawn their legislative
districts.
The Decline of the Great Society
 Foreign Policy: President Johnson was committed to
his domestic agenda, but international issues
demanded his focus.
 April, 1965: Dominican Republic was being
threatened by rebels with Communist influence. The
Johnson administration intervened. By 1966 the
marines had withdrawn from the Dominican Republic.
 Spring, 1965: Johnson had become involved in
Vietnam and away from the Great Society. By 1966 the
government had spent 18 times more on the Vietnam
War.
Domestic Opposition
 Congress had passed 181 of 200 major bills that the
president requested in 1965-1966. Some members of
Congress had spoken with the president to slow down.
 1966: Midterm elections were a definite signal to the
president that the Republicans were gaining in the
Congress.
 Problems with the Great Society programs were starting to
arise such as politicians disliking the War on Poverty due to
the fact they had no control over the selection and funding
of community projects.
 Johnson’s influence on our lives has endured long
after the end of his presidency. Medicare, Medicaid,
Head Start, and other Great Society programs.