UNIT 11 LBJ Presidency

After Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as President, he worked for the same goals Kennedy had championed. ■ Johnson was a seasoned politician who built consensus in Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Election of 1964: LBJ (D) v Barry Goldwater (R) ■ Johnson used his popularity to call for a Great Society that would end poverty and racial injustice and provide opportunity for every child. In the 1964 presidential election, President Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater in a landslide.

LBJ’s Great Society ■ Johnson’s Plan to: – Aid education ■ Created Headstart program (early pre-k for lower socioeconomic areas) ■ Provided funds for poor districts – Attack disease ■ Medicaid and Medicare – Urban renewal ■ Beautification, conservation, and development of depressed regions – Passed legislation to improve water and air quality – War on Poverty – Control and prevention of crime – Removal of obstacles to the right to vote – Created a national endowment for the Arts and Humanities – Passed the Immigration Act of 1965 to lift immigration quotas

President Johnson convinced Congress to pass a big tax cut for the middle class. ■ He also established the War on Poverty to promote job training, education, and healthcare for those in need.

As part of the War on Poverty, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964: created the Job Corps to train young people in work skills established VISTA to send volunteers into poor American communities formed Project Head Start to fund preschool programs

The Great Society (control and prevention of crime) ■ Gun control Act of 1968 regulates the firearms industry and firearms owners. – Passed in response to the assassination of JFK, RFK, and MLK ■ (answer to promise of Control and prevention of crime)

LBJ’s Presidential Accomplishments ■ Passed Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which outlawed most forms racial segregation – Prohibited discrimination ■ Passed Voting Rights Act of 1965 (removal of obstacles to the right to vote) – which outlawed remaining obstacles of discrimination in voting (literacy tests) – Thus allowing millions of blacks in the South to vote for the first time ■ Started Affirmative Action Laws ■ Passed Immigration Act of 1965 which allowed more non- European people to immigrated to the US – Immigration more than doubled between

The Warren Court ruled on many significant issues. Voter’s rights: “one man, one vote” Rights of the accused: (Miranda v Arizona (1966)) To have a lawyer present To have a court-appointed lawyer To be told about rights Prayer in school

During Johnson’s presidency, the Supreme Court decided many cases involving controversial social, political, and religious issues. ■ Called the Warren Court after Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Supreme Court supported civil rights, civil liberties, voting rights, and personal privacy.

Johnson and Vietnam Vietnam ■ The Vietnam Conflict dominated much of president Johnson’s presidency ■ Believed in the Domino Theory ■ Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964) – Congress gave Johnson the power to wage war in Vietnam as he saw fit

1968 Election ■“I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President” –LBJ

1968 Election ■ LBJ Did not run for re- election due to the unpopularity he gained for the Vietnam War ■ JFK’s younger brother Robert F Kennedy ran for the democratic nomination— – He wanted to focus on the end to discrimination – He was assassinated on June 5, 1968—in LA California

President Richard Nixon(R)—37 th President ■ Vice-President of Eisenhower ■ Lost 1960 election to JFK ■ The only person to be elected twice to both the presidency and the Vice Presidency ■ Only President to resign from office

Nixon and Vietnam ■ Vietnam Conflict dominated much of his presidency – War became very unpopular – Promised to end the war—”Peace with honor” ■ Expanded the war to Cambodia and Laos – Bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail – Kent State (1970)

Silent Majority ■ Nixon believed he has a ‘silent majority’ of Americans who supported his policies toward: – Vietnam – Protests ■ On the heels of a major nationwide protest against the Vietnam War in October 1969, President Richard Nixon delivers a speech on November 3, laying out his plans for ending the war through diplomatic negotiations and asking for the support of the "great silent majority" of Americans. Order”.

Nixon and Vietnam ■ Started Pulling Troops out of Vietnam as Promised ■ The Nixon Doctrine – “Vietnamization” of the war ■ Paris Peace Accords signed in 1973 stopped the fighting and got the U.S out of the War

26 th Amendment means change…. ■ In response to the growing anti-war movement and events like: – Kent State – The My Lai Massacre – And the Pentagon Papers (published march 1971 in the New York Times) ■ America will pass the 26 th Amendment which lowers the voting age to 18

OTD ■ 1. What was LBJ’s plan/platform called? ■ 2. Name one goal/program from LBJ’s plan. ■ 3. What will dominate LBJ’s presidency forcing him not run in 1968? ■ 4. Who runs as the democratic candidate in 1968 and is assassinated? ■ 5. What group/part of society does Nixon believe supports him? ■ 6. What voting measure is passed as a result of the Vietnam War?