CHAPTER 30 – SECTION 2 Johnson’s Great Society

Johnson Takes Over  1948  Wins hard fought Senate race Texas  Reelected in 1954 Senate Majority Leader Influence over legislation  Caretaker  Kennedy’s people and his policies  Secured tax cut bill and civil rights legislation Cut federal budget by $100 billion  “Roosevelt New Dealer” “Kennedy was to conservative for my taste”  Appointed 27 women to upper-level govt. positions Mexican Americans to high positions

The War on Poverty  Kennedy’s antipoverty initiative  Learned of it 1 st day in office  Advisors Implement slowly Few cities Johnson “Big and Bold and hit the nation with real impact” “Unconditional war on poverty in America”  War on Poverty  Creation of office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) Budget of $1 Billion Job Corps, Head Start, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)

Johnson’s Vision for America  Major Goals  Fulfilled in 8 months  “Kennedy inspired…Johnson delivered.”  Domestic Reform Program  The Great Society “More concerned with the quality of their goals than the quality of their goods”  1964 Election  Johnson – Humphrey – Landslide Victory 61% of pop vote, 486  Republicans – Barry Goldwater (Arizona) – William E. Miller “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no Vice!...Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”  Democrats response  “In your heart you know he’s right” “In your gut you know he’s nuts”

Johnson and Congress  Goals  Civil Rights legislation, health care, education, urban renewal  Congress = Democrat – dominated  Programs  Medicare National health insurance program people over 65  Medicaid Gov’t program that provides free health care to needy Signed bill in Missouri, 81 year old Harry Truman  Elementary and Secondary Education Act 1.3 billion to aid schools in poor areas  Department of Housing and Urban Development Robert C. Weaver – 1 st African American member of Presidential Cabinet

Quality of Life  National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)  National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)  Corporation for Public Broadcasting  Nonprofit organization Educational television programming Sesame Street   Rachel Carson  Marine Biologist  Silent Spring (1962) Pesticides and wildlife  Died in 1964  Johnson  Water Quality Act of 1965  Air Quality Act of 1967  Water Pollution Act of 1968  New National parks