1960s TX: LBJ & Civil Rights Essential Questions: Analyze the political, economic, and social impact of political controversies such as poverty and desegregation Describe the civil and equal rights movements and identify its key leaders

1960 Presidential Election Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ), a liberal Democrat, was Senate majority leader and John F. Kennedy’s (JFK) vice presidential nominee. The Kennedy-Johnson ticket won in one of the closest races in U.S. history. When Johnson resigned from the U.S. Senate, Republican John Tower won his seat.

1960 Presidential Election Riding in an open-car motorcade in Dallas’s Dealey Plaza, JFK was shot and killed in 1963. TX Governor John Connally was shot too … but not fatally. Investigators concluded Lee Harvey Oswald was the assassin (conspiracy?). He was shot and killed 2 days later by Jack Ruby on TV! Texas judge Sarah T. Hughes administered the presidential oath of office to LBJ on Air Force One hours after.

LBJ Being Sworn In As President (1963)

LBJ’s Accomplishments In 1964, American voters showed their approval by electing LBJ to 4 more years as president. LBJ’s federal programs to help Americans became known as “The Great Society”. He declared a “war on poverty” because so many people were poor, despite the country’s general prosperity.

LBJ’s Accomplishments Elementary and Secondary Education Act Education was the cornerstone of this program Civil Rights Act of 1964 Supported by Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Outlawed racial discrimination in public places and employment Voting Rights Act of 1965 Protected the rights of all people, regardless of race, to vote

The Vietnam War LBJ sent U.S. troops to support South Vietnam vs. Communist government of North Vietnam Increase in American soldier deaths/wounded The war divided the country—those for the war and those against it Protests and demonstrations about the war AND civil rights often turned violent

The Vietnam War The last U.S. troops left Vietnam in 1973. After the war, thousands of Vietnamese refugees immigrated to the U.S. and Texas. Some Vietnamese worked in the shrimping industry along the Texas coast and lived in cities such as Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Galveston.

President Nixon LBJ decides not to run again for president Republican Richard Nixon was elected president MLK was assassinated in Memphis, TN by James Earl Ray Robert F. Kennedy (JFK’s brother) was assassinated in Los Angeles while campaigning for president by Sirhan Sirhan

President Nixon In 1972, tape recordings revealed Nixon was involved in a cover-up of the burglary of the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. 2 Texans, Jack Brooks and Barbara Jordan, served on the House Judiciary Committee that investigated Nixon August 8, 1974: Nixon resigned from office