President Johnson----Richard Nixon and the Silent Majority

Johnson’s father

Was a tenant farmer which allowed him to have sympathy for the poor

Keynesian economics

Johnson believed this would keep the economy strong and provide a sustainable way to pay for his programs

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Fought for by Johnson, which made segregation and discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin illegal in places that serve the public (government offices, hotels, restaurants, and theaters)

24th Amendment

Protected African American voting rights by making the poll tax illegal

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Gave the president power to outlaw literacy test and send federal officials to make sure African American voters had registered to vote.

FDR’s New Deals

Utilized by President Johnson to use taxpayer funds to provide direct relief to Americans in need and expansion of federal government authority and intervention in his Great Society Program

The Great Society

A collection of programs designed to create more opportunity for poor Americans. It was called a war on poverty.

Economic Opportunity Act of 1964

Established the Jobs Corps, a job training program for needy youth

Head Start

A preschool program designed to give poor youngsters educational enrichment opportunities .

Title I school funding

Gave extra money to schools with large numbers of poor students

VISTA

A program sponsoring volunteer teachers who would help poor communities

Medicare

Government health insurance for the elderly

Medicaid

Government health insurance for the poor and disabled

Public Broadcasting Act of 1967

Established public television and public radio to broadcast educational programs

Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Act and Water Quality Act

To control pollution

The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965

To help cities where the quality of homes and neighborhoods had declined as people left for suburbia

Johnson’s Great Society

Failed due to an increase in political conservatism (dissatisfaction with the Great Society and Civil Rights legislation_

White Flight

Resulted in:

• More middle and upper-class people moving to the suburbs

• Higher unemployment rates in the cities

• A shrinking tax base in cities which led to reduced services

Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965

Ended immigration quotas by country and replaced them with preferences for immigrants with skills needed by employers, who are refugees and who are family members of immigrants already here or family reunification

Third Wave Immigration

After 1965, Caused greater diversity with most immigrants coming from Latin America and Asia

Malcolm X

Became a leader for the Nation of Islam. He preached hatred of whites and supported boycotts of white-owned businesses. He made a pilgrimage to Muslim holy lands and saw white Muslims. He began preaching racial cooperation. He was assassinated by 3 African American men at a New York rally.

Supported some armed or physical resistance to achieve civil rights

The SNCC

Began to reject nonviolent protest as slow and ineffective. They called for Black Power, pride in African heritage , separate black economic. and political institutions, self-defense against white violence, and sometimes violent revolution

Black Panthers

From California began community programs such as free health clinics

Martin Luther King Jr.

Continued his work in nonviolence and civil disobedience. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee

De jure segregation

Ending segregation by law. An example is separating whites and blacks when using public transportation (bus)

Led to white flight or white residents moving from cities to the suburbs or sending their children to private schools

De facto segregation

Voluntary segregation

Busing

Used to integrate public schools

Affirmative actions

Was used to increase the number of minorities at colleges and universities or businesses by taking race or background into account

The Era of Racial Segregation

Included:

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended the Jim Crow Era

• President Truman’s desegregation of the armed forces through Executive Order 9981

• The Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education which declared segregated public schools are unconstitutional

Ho Chi Minh

Established a Communist government in North Vietnam

He used guerrilla fighters called the Vietcong to attack the South Vietnamese

President Johnson vowed

He would not lose South Vietnam to the Communists

The Gulf of Tokin Resolution

Gave President Johnson the authority to defend US forces in Vietnam without declaring war

The Soviet Union and China helped North Vietnam

With loans, weapons, and advice

The Domino Theory

Convinced the US government to get involved in Vietnam

Technology of the 1960s

Aeronautical advancements and the US landing on the moon

The televised “Kennedy-Nixon Debate”

The Vietnam War being televised

TV

Showed the brutality of war

The Vietnam War divided Americans:

Some Americans were upset with the government for limiting the military’s ability to win the war

Others proclaimed the US should not be involved in a civil war

The Anti-War movement

Began in colleges and universities

Campus activism

Led to the burning of draft cards and nonviolent protests

A credibility gap

Occurred when the people lost trust in their political leaders. Both Johnson and Nixon misled the public

Richard Nixon

Was elected president on a platform of “peace with honor” and a promise to end the Vietnam war

4 college students

Were killed during a protest at Kent State University in 1970

A whistle-blower

Gave a reporter copies of the Pentagon Papers a secret government report about the Vietnam War

The Paris Peace Accords called for:

The withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam within 60 days

The release of prisoners of war (POWS)

All parties involved to end military activities in Laos and Cambodia which border Vietnam

The 17th parallel would divide North and South Vietnam

1973

Congress passed the War Powers Act. President Nixon vetoed the Act, but Congress overrode his veto.

The War Powers Act

Requires the president to:

• Consult with Congress before sending troops into conflicts that are likely to turn into combat

• Submit a report to Congress within 48 hours if he or she sends in troops to hostilities

• Withdraw the troops within 60 days after the report if Congress does not approve the president’s actions

Symbolizes the end of the Vietnam Conflict because Congress reasserted its power over the Executive branch

26th Amendment

Was ratified in July 1971 which allows 18 year old’s to vote

Israel and Arab nations

Fought several wars which Israel won

Arab states

Formed OPEC and announced an embargo of oil sales to the US

President Nixon pursued

A policy of Detente or an easing of tensions between the US and the Soviet Union and China

The Silent Majority

Were working and middle-class Americans who were largely conservative

Conservatives

Want to limit government to property rights, a free market, individual freedoms, law and order, and national defense

Liberals

Believed government can solve social problems and support government efforts to help people in need and create a more equal society

Moderates

In the middle between conservatives and liberals. They seek a balance

The exodus of Southern democrats

Began when LBJ supported civil rights which led to the development of the Southern Strategy or white voters turning republican

Watergate Scandal

Occurred when supporters of Nixon broke into the Democratic headquarters. Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment. Nixon would later resign from office after the House of Representatives drew up 3 articles of impeachment