Lyndon Johnson’s Vision for A Better America

The Great Society

Johnson’s Idea of a “Great Society”

• 1964 wins election

• Plans a program of economic and social reforms “Great Society."

White Board: What party was LBJ and how did he become President?

Elements of the Great Society

•unfinished goals of New Deal – universal health care & civil rights

•American culture through Federal aid to the arts, sciences, and humanities.

•Show the world “American Way” was superior to the ideas of “world socialism-USSR”

•COLD WAR

Civil Rights was key part of the Great Society

64 Civil Rights Act65 Voting Rights

Act Both pushed by the

grassroots of the civil rights movement

Expanding Voting Rights1965, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act,

•He pushed it through Congress.

• The act outlawed literacy tests as a way of limiting the right to vote. It also provided Federal resources to investigate actions to prevent people from voting

DiscussHow does Civil Rights fit in the Great

Society Agenda?

War on Poverty1964 State of the Union

Johnson "today, here and now, declares

unconditional war on poverty in America, and I urge this Congress and all Americans to join with me in that effort.“

Program Focused"chronically distressed areas"

of the country, a youth employment ("job

corps") plan, expansion of the food stamp

and unemployment relief systems

special aid to schools, libraries, hospitals, and nursing homes.

Problems with the War on PovertyWar on poverty was greatly underfundedPoverty continued and today gap between

rich and poor is greater than before1960’s America was spending on another

major eventWhite Board question “What was draining

American money and taking away from the war on poverty?”

1965: Title XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act

Medicare (Title XVIII) established to provide health insurance coverage to persons over age 65

Medicaid (Title XIX) established to provide health insurance coverage to low income women and children (also, aged, blind and disabled)

MEDICAREMedicare is a government service that

helps provide health care for senior citizens and disabled U.S. citizens.

Medicare part A: helps with hospital costs Medicare part B: requires a monthly fee

and helps pay for medical costsMedicare part D: pays for prescription

drugs

White BoardWhat is one benefit and one problems in

this system

1966: Highway Safety Act and the National

Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act Authorized the

federal government to set and regulate standards for motor vehicles and highways

Vehicles were built with new safety features, including head rests, energy-absorbing steering wheels, shatter-resistant windshields, and safety belts

By 1970, motor-vehicle-related death rates were decreasing

1968: School Lunch and Child Nutrition Act Expanded

In 1968, Congress expanded the School Lunch and Child Nutrition Act.

A program was created to provide food for

school-age children during the summer. Additionally, a year-round program was

initiated to provide food to low-income children, as well as children in day-care centers and Head Start programs.

Head Start-free low income pre-school

DiscussCan all these programs make a “Great

Society” ?Would you call the “Great Society a success

or failure

Money for Culture

Johnson also supported bills to establish the National Endowment for Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Both the NEA and the NEH, created in 1965,

DiscussWhich party supports increased funding for

these programs and who is in favor of reducing funding? Why do you think that is?

Impact of the Great Society

•Most of the Great Society programs remain intact in some way.

• Funding for each program, however, has varied according to holds power in the Federal government and in each of the state governments.

•the programs have always been part of the ongoing debates over “American values.”

•Programs have run costly and pushed our debt.

•Social Security and Medicare take largest part of the us Budget.