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. . . [N]o memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the Civil Rights Bill for which he fought so long. —President Johnson, Speech before a Joint Session of Congress, 1963

Election of 1964: LBJ (D) vs. 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. Democrat LBJ vs Republican Nominee Barry Goldwater According to Goldwater, social and economic issues, such as racism and poverty, should not be addressed by the federal government. Goldwater wanted to cut taxes and shrink the federal government President Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater in a landslide.

LBJ’s Great Society For Johnson, the Great Society demanded “an end to poverty and racial injustice” and opportunity for every child. Under the Great Society LBJ Plans to: Aid education Attack disease Urban renewal Beautification, conservation, and development of depressed regions Passed legislation to improve water an 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

Great Society : Education The 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act was designed to aid schools in poorer communities. It provided federal funds to improve school libraries, learning centers, language laboratories, and services in impoverished school districts. The act dramatically increased funding for Indian, inner city, and Mexican-American schools.

Great Society: Attack Disease Johnson’s agenda amended the Social Security Act by adding the Medical Care for the Aged Program, or Medicare. Medicare provided basic health insurance for Americans in the Social Security system who were age 65 and older. The new law also included Medicaid that provided basic medical services to poor and disabled Americans who were not part of the Social Security system.

Great Society: Environmental and Consumer Protection (URBAN RENEWAL) The Great Society program extended to improving the overall quality of American life. In the early 1960s, several best- selling books raised Americans’ awareness about environmental and consumer problems. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) detailed how chemical fertilizers and pesticides were damaging the fragile ecosystem. The Water Quality Act (1965), The Clean Water Restoration Act (1966) The Air Quality Act (1967) aimed at improving air standards in the country.

Great Society: Environmental and Consumer Protection Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed (1965) attacked the automotive industry for its lack of concern for passenger safety. Led to: The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (1966) established safety standards for automotive vehicles and created the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to administer them.

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 1965-1970

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.

The Warren Court ruled on many significant issues. In four landmark cases, the Court broadened the individual rights of accused criminals and narrowed those of federal, state, and local government officials. In Mapp v. Ohio (1961), the Court ruled that evidence obtained illegally violated the Fourth Amendment and had to be excluded from federal and state trials. In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the Court decided that all accused criminals had the right to a lawyer whether or not they could pay for one. In Escobedo v. Illinois (1964), the Warren Court expanded on Gideon v. Wainwright by adding that every accused lawbreaker had to be offered access to a lawyer before questioning, and all evidence obtained from a suspect who had not been informed of his or her right to a lawyer could not be used in court. Finally, in Miranda v. Arizona (1966), the Court ruled that an accused criminal had to be informed of his or her Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights before being questioned.

Warren Court: Voting Rights Voter’s Rights: “One Man One Vote” Baker v. Carr (1962), the Supreme Court ruled in favor of reapportionment on the basis of “one man, one vote.” Electoral districts, it said, had to reflect the numbers of people in those districts. In Reynolds v. Sims (1964), the Court reaffirmed its decision, adding that any arrangement other than “one man, one vote” violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Warren Court: School Prayer the case of Engel v. Vitale (1962). The case involved whether or not a public school could require students to recite a state-sanctioned prayer. The Court ruled that school prayer was a violation of the First Amendment and an attempt by a governmental body to promote religion.

Johnson and 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

Election of 1964 With Robert Kennedy gone, the Democratic party nominated Johnson’s vice president, Hubert Humphrey. Humphrey continued to support the Vietnam War, while Republican nominee Richard Nixon promised “peace with honor”.

President Richard Nixon(R)—37th President 1969-1974 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

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 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)

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

26th 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 26th 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?