The Great Society

1
The Great Society

• Section 3

2
Lyndon B. Johnsons Presidency
3
LBJs Rise to the Top

• LBJ entered politics in 1937 when he won a
  special election to fill a vacant seat in the
  U.S. House of Representatives.
• He secured key committee assignments in Congress
• In 1948, in a close race, LBJ won a seat in the
  Senate.
• He became the Senate majority leader in 1955.
• JFK chose Johnson as his running mate.
• -Johnson proved himself a master of party
  politics and behind the scenes maneuvering.
• -whatever Lyndon really wants, he gets in
  the end.

4
Lyndon B. Johnson

• In what ways was LBJ different from JFK?
• age
• experience
• home state
• family wealth
• religion
• personality

5
The Art of Persuasion

• Johnson gives "The Treatment" to 90-year-old
  Rhode Island Senator Theodore F. Green in 1957.

6
Johnsons Domestic Agenda

• LBJ urged Congress to move ahead on the civil
  rights and tax-cut bills Kennedy had sent to
  Capitol Hill.
• Congress responded and in February 1964 passed a
  tax reduction of over 11 billion into law.
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited
  discrimination based on race, religion, national
  origin, and gender and granted the federal
  government new powers to enforce its provisions.

7
Johnsons Domestic Agenda

• War on Poverty
• Johnsons agenda included several social programs
  to promote the health, education, and general
  welfare of the poor.

8
Economic Opportunity Act (EOA)

• Congress approved nearly 1 billion for youth
  programs, antipoverty measures, small business
  loans and job training.
• Job Corps youth training program
• VISTA/AmeriCorps (Volunteers in Service to
  America) program
• Project Head Start

9
The 1964 Election

• Lyndon B. Johnson
• enjoyed legislative success

• Barry Goldwater
• was against govt. involvement in trying to right
  social and economic wrongs such as poverty,
  discrimination, and lack of opportunity

10
The 1964 Election
11
the Great Society

• demands an end to poverty and racial
  injustice.
• LBJ set high goals for his nation and for
  himself. He also knew he had to act quickly in
  order to capitalize off his new mandate.
• Did Kennedy receive a mandate in 1960?

12
Landmark Legislation

• Medicare and Medicaid
• Medicare-medical insurance for the elderly
• Medicaid-extended health insurance to welfare
  recipients
• Immigration Act of 1965

13
Focus of the Great Society Programs (pg. 687)

• Poverty
• Cities
• Education
• Discrimination
• Environment
• Consumer Advocacy

LBJ signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act
14
Reforms of the Warren Court

• Rights of the Accused
• Mapp v. Ohio
• Gideon v. Wainwright
• Escobedo v. Illinois
• Miranda v. Arizona

15
Reforms of the Warren Court

• Brown v. Board of Education
• banned prayer in public schools and declared
  state-required loyalty oaths unconstitutional
• reapportionment

16
Impact of the Great Society

• The Great Society succeeded in prompting
  far-reaching social change.
• Failures of the Great Society prove that
  government-sponsored programs do not work.