The Great Society

The Main Idea

President Johnson used his political skills to push Kennedy’s proposals through Congress and expanded them with his own vision of the Great Society.

Reading FocusWhy was Lyndon Johnson’s background good preparation for becoming president?

Why was Johnson more successful than Kennedy in getting Congress to enact Kennedy’s agenda?

In what ways did Johnson’s Great Society change the nation?What foreign-policy issues were important in Johnson’s presidency?

Lyndon Johnson

Personality

Large and intense with none of Kennedy’s good looks, polish, or charmGenuine desire to help others

Greater concern for the poor and underprivileged than KennedyBelieved in an expanded role for government in making Americans’ lives better

Johnson’s skill as a politician gave him success in passing many of former President Kennedy's programs

Enacting Kennedy’s Agenda

Johnson's “Unconditional War on Poverty” started when he asked Congress to pass the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964.

Economic Opportunity ActFunded several new anti-poverty programs

The Job Corps offered work-training programs for unemployed youth.

VISTA was a domestic version of the Peace Corps.

Other programs provided education for adults, work for unemployed parents, and help to fight rural poverty and assist migrants.

The Great Society

In 1964 Johnson told the nation that he had his own plans for the United States. He called the domestic programs of his

administration the Great Society.

Creating the Great Society

Elementary and Secondary Education Act - first large scale program of government aid to public schools

The Higher Education Act - created the first federal scholarships for needy college studentsHead Start – education program for preschool children of low-income parentsOmnibus Housing Act – created Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)Medicaid – program that provides free health care for poor peopleMedicare – health care program for people over age 65

The term “Great Society” came to represent the domestic programs of the Johnson Administration

Johnson’s Foreign Policy

VietnamBy the end of 1966, some 385,000 U.S. combat troops were in Vietnam,

and the government was spending $2.5 billion a month on the warJohnson Doctrine

Policy dictating that revolutions in Latin America were more than local concerns if communism was involved. The U.S. would intervene.

Johnson sent troops to end a revolt in the Dominican Republic in 1965.In January 1968 North Korea captured a U.S. Navy spy ship—the Pueblo—off

the coast of Communist North Korea.The United States claimed it was in international waters and called up

troops.The North Koreans released the crew, but kept the ship.

Enacting Kennedy's Agenda

Get into GroupsMake a list of the strengths that Lyndon Johnson brought to the

presidency. Also make a list of the obstacles he faced as president

We will share the list as a class We will synthesize a letter to President Johnson, as a

class, using the lists we have made