The Great Society

Pre-Great SocietyWithin days of Lyndon Johnson being sworn in as President on board

Air Force One, he began to use his political power to push JFK’s bills through Congress.

• Tax Reduction – it saved the people 10 million.• Civil Rights Act of 1964

LBJ began his personal war on poverty by creating various programs for their direct benefit.

• Economic Opportunity Act• The Job Corps Youth Training Program • VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America)• Head Start• Community Action Program

1964 electionIn 1964 LBJ ran for President himself. He ran against Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) who was one of the forerunners of

modern American conservativism.• Goldwater believed that the federal government shouldn’t be trying to stop social

injustice, instead it was the states and locals job.• Gold water attacked New Deal hold over programs such as S.S.I. & T.V.A.• He felt that America should intervene in Vietnam for one more year, but fight it

TOTALLY.• He felt Cuba could be dealt with by using nukes. This scared the pubic but what drove the point home was the “Daisy Commercial”

LBJ won by 61% of the popular vote and brings an increase of Democrats into Congress so that the Southern Congressmen are no longer needed.

The Great SocietyLBJ’s Great Society, a place where racial injustice and poverty were to end • Using his Congressional connections, LBJ spearheaded a group of acts, some of

which exist today.• First federal aid of its kind sent to the schools of America to buy new materials

(Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965).• Low Income Housing In Urban Areas – established the cabinet post of the Dept. of

Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and appointed Robert Weaver as the secretary and 1st African American to be appointed to a cabinet position.

• Opened immigration by ending quotas based on nationality.• Healthcare – Medicare gave hospital/low cost medical insurance to those 65 and

older while Medicaid extended the insurance to those on welfare.• Safety laws for consumers buying goods.• Cleaning up the environment by (making the States) starting with the rivers of the

states and going after the polluters (Water Quality Act of 1965).

Earl WarrenChief Justice Warren was a social reformer• He legally ended segregation (Brown v. Board of Education 1954)• Reapportionment was stressed through the courts so that States

were forced to redraw their lines to reflect how their populations shifted from one place to another (Baker v. Carr 1962 – Reynolds v. Sims 1964).

• The rights of the accused were expanded by his court– Evidence illegally seized can’t be used in State courts (Mapp v. Ohio

1961).– The courts must provide free legal counsel if a defendant can’t afford

one (Gideon v. Wainwright 1963).– Accused have the right to have an attorney present during police

questioning (Escobedo v. Illinois 1964).– All suspects must be read their rights before questioning (Miranda v.

Arizona 1966).