lbj's great society

LBJ's Great Society

President Lyndon B. Johnson's ambitious set of domestic programs launched in 1964-65, aimed at eliminating poverty and racial injustice through federal legislation and social reform

War on Poverty

the centerpiece of the Great Society, a multifaceted campaign to combat economic inequality through federal programs like Job Corps, Head Start, and Community Action

Economic Opportunity Act of 1964

the legislative foundation of the War on Poverty; it created the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to administer 11 anti-poverty programs

Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO)

the federal agency created to coordinate the War on Poverty, overseeing programs like Job Corps, VISTA, Upward Bound, and Community Action

Job Corps

a Great Society program providing vocational training and education for unemployed young men and women to help them secure employment

Head Start

a federally funded program offering comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income preschool children

Community Action Program (CAP)

a War on Poverty initiative that required "maximum feasible participation" of the poor in developing and running local anti-poverty programs

VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America)

a domestic version of the Peace Corps, placing volunteers in poor communities to fight illiteracy, poverty, and unemployment

Election of 1964

a landslide victory for LBJ over Republican Barry Goldwater; it signaled a liberal mandate but also accelerated the conservative movement in the long term

Barry Goldwater's Impact

the 1964 Republican nominee who lost badly but laid the ideological groundwork for modern conservatism and won five Deep South states, breaking the "Solid South"

Medicare (1965)

a Great Society program providing federal health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older, funded through Social Security payroll taxes

Medicaid (1965)

a federal-state program that provides health coverage for low-income individuals and families, with costs shared between the federal and state governments

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965)

landmark federal legislation that provided over $1 billion in aid to schools, targeting resources to help disadvantaged students

Voting Rights Act of 1965

historic legislation that outlawed literacy tests, authorized federal examiners to register voters, and dramatically increased Black voter registration in the South

Selma to Montgomery March (1965)

a series of civil rights marches led by MLK that faced violent suppression; the events galvanized public support for the Voting Rights Act

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

ended the national-origins quota system that favored Northern Europeans, leading to a dramatic increase in immigration from Asia and Latin America

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)

Congress granted President Johnson broad authority to "take all necessary measures" in Vietnam after reported attacks on U.S. ships; it served as his legal basis for escalating the war

Operation Rolling Thunder

the sustained and massive U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam from 1965 to 1968, intended to demoralize the enemy and interdict supply lines

"Search and Destroy" Missions

the primary U.S. military strategy in Vietnam, using mobile forces to find and kill Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army troops, often measured by "body count"

Teach-Ins

anti-war protests that began on college campuses in 1965, where students and faculty held educational sessions and debates to oppose U.S. policy in Vietnam

Tet Offensive (January 1968)

a massive, coordinated surprise attack by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces during the lunar new year holiday; though a military defeat for communists, it shattered U.S. public confidence in the war

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (1968)

the murder of the civil rights leader by a white supremacist in Memphis; it sparked nationwide riots and marked a turning point in the movement

Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (1968)

the shooting of the Democratic presidential candidate by a Palestinian nationalist in Los Angeles; it deepened the national trauma of 1968

1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago

the nominating convention marked by massive anti-war protests and a violent police crackdown, televised nationally as a "police riot"

End of the New Deal Coalition

the political realignment signaled by the 1968 election, where Nixon's victory and George Wallace's third-party run fractured the Democratic Party's traditional base