lbj’s great society

U S H I S T O R Y S T A N D A R D S :S S U S H 2 1 T H E S T U D E N T W I L L E X P L A I N E C O N O M I C G R O W T H A N D I T S I M P A C T O N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S , 1 9 4 5 - 1 9 7 0 . B . D E S C R I B E T H E I M P A C T T E L E V I S I O N H A S H A D O N A M E R I C A N C U L T U R E ; I N C L U D E T H E P R E S I D E N T I A L D E B A T E S ( K E N N E D Y / N I X O N , 1 9 6 0 ) A N D N E W S C O V E R A G E O F T H E C I V I L R I G H T S M O V E M E N T .

S S U S H 2 2 T H E S T U D E N T W I L L I D E N T I F Y D I M E N S I O N S O F T H E C I V I L R I G H T S M O V E M E N T , 1 9 4 5 -1 9 7 0 . D . D E S C R I B E T H E S I G N I F I C A N C E O F M A R T I N L U T H E R K I N G , J R . ’ S L E T T E R F R O M A B I R M I N G H A M J A I L A N D H I S I H A V E A D R E A M S P E E C H . E . D E S C R I B E T H E C A U S E S A N D C O N S E Q U E N C E S O F T H E C I V I L R I G H T S A C T O F 1 9 6 4 A N D T H E V O T I N G R I G H T S A C T O F 1 9 6 5 .

S S U S H 2 3 T H E S T U D E N T W I L L D E S C R I B E A N D A S S E S S T H E I M P A C T O F P O L I T I C A L D E V E L O P M E N T S B E T W E E N 1 9 4 5 A N D 1 9 7 0 . B . D E S C R I B E T H E P O L I T I C A L I M P A C T O F T H E A S S A S S I N A T I O N O F P R E S I D E N T J O H N F . K E N N E D Y ; I N C L U D E T H E I M P A C T O N C I V I L R I G H T S L E G I S L A T I O N . C . E X P L A I N L Y N D O N J O H N S O N ’ S G R E A T S O C I E T Y ; I N C L U D E T H E E S T A B L I S H M E N T O F M E D I C A R E .

S S U S H 2 4 T H E S T U D E N T W I L L A N A L Y Z E T H E I M P A C T O F S O C I A L C H A N G E M O V E M E N T S A N D O R G A N I Z A T I O N S O F T H E 1 9 6 0 S . E . E X P L A I N R A C H E L C A R S O N A N D S I L E N T S P R I N G , E A R T H D A Y , T H E C R E A T I O N O F T H E E P A , A N D T H E M O D E R N E N V I R O N M E N T A L I S T M O V E M E N T . F . D E S C R I B E T H E R I S E O F T H E C O N S E R V A T I V E M O V E M E N T A S S E E N I N T H E P R E S I D E N T I A L C A N D I D A C Y O F B A R R Y G O L D W A T E R ( 1 9 6 4 ) A N D T H E E L E C T I O N O F R I C H A R D M . N I X O N ( 1 9 6 8 ) .

LBJ’S GREAT SOCIETY

JOHNSON BECOMES PRESIDENT• After Kennedy’s

assassination, Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president aboard Air Force One• He vowed to

continue Kennedy’s policies and retained most of his team

PASSAGE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1965

• To honor Kennedy’s memory, Johnson urged the quick passage of the civil rights bill• Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned racial

discrimination in most private facilities open to the public (ex. Theatres, hospitals, restaurants)• Strengthened government’s power to end

segregation in schools and other public places• Created Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission (EEOC) to eliminate discrimination in hiring, including gender and racial discrimination

BEGINNINGS OF THE GREAT SOCIETY

• Johnson pushed Kennedy’s stalled tax bill through Congress and added programs for a billion-dollar “War on Poverty” to address the 20% of Americans and 40% of African Americans who lived in poverty

ELECTION OF 1964• Johnson (top right) was chosen by

acclamation as the Democratic candidate for president in 1964 • The Republicans chose Conservative

Barry Goldwater as their candidate• Goldwater’s beliefs:• Attacked federal income tax• Social Security system• TVA• Civil rights legislation• nuclear test-ban treaty• Great Society

RESULTS OF ELECTION OF 1964

GREAT SOCIETY CONGRESS• Johnson’s huge victory and two-to-one

Democratic majority in Congress created a flood of legislation creating all of the following:• Office of Economic Opportunity• Department of Transportation• Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) –

first black cabinet secretary, Robert C. Weaver• National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities• Creation of PBS and NPR

MORE PROGRAMS OF THE GREAT SOCIETY

• Education Aid• Head Start – preschool for needy kids

• Healthcare Reform• Medicare – healthcare for the elderly• Medicaid – healthcare for the poor

• Immigration Reform• Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 – abolished the

“national-origins” quota system in place since 1921• Doubled the number of immigrants allowed to enter annually• set limits for the first time on the number of immigrants

allowed to enter from the Western Hemisphere• Allowed for admissions of close relatives of US citizens• Act creates shift from European immigration to Latin

American immigration

IMPACT OF GREAT SOCIETY

• Expensive• Poverty rate declined from 21% in 1962 to 11% in

1973• Medicare reduced poverty among elderly• Infant mortality rates fell

PREVENTING THE BLACK VOTE• In the 1960s in Mississippi, only about 5% of

eligible blacks were registered to vote• Tactics which prevented blacks from voting:• Poll tax• Literacy tests• Intimidation• State law in Mississippi required the names of blacks who

registered to vote to be published in the newspaper for two weeks

24TH AMENDMENT• Ratified in January

1964• Abolished the poll tax

FREEDOM SUMMER

• Blacks joined with white civil rights workers from the North in a massive voter registration drive during Freedom Summer of 1964• June 1964 – one black and two white civil rights

workers were found murdered• White juries refused to convict those responsible• Similar violence occurred during Martin Luther

King, Jr.’s voter registration campaign in Selma, AL

BLOODY SUNDAY

REACTION TO THE VIOLENCE

• Americans watched this violence on their televisions and were shocked by it• Johnson delivered an address on television, telling

Americans to “overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice”• http://

www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lyndon+johnson+we+shall+overcome&FORM=VIRE5&adlt=strict#view=detail&mid=595A0E0866FAD7D7F722595A0E0866FAD7D7F722

VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965

• Eliminated literacy tests• Gave federal examiners the right to register

voters in the South

NIXON’S ENVIRONMENTAL REFORMS

• Creation of Environmental Protection Agency (1970)• Creation of Occupational Health and Safety

Administration (1970)• Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was published in

1962• Discussed impact of

pesticides on the environment• Start of modern

environmental movement