2. Johnson's Great Society

Dream of a ‘Great Society’ characterised by…

• End poverty

• Racial equality

• Educational reform

• Modern housing

• End of urban decay

• Renewed sense of community

• Environmentalism

• Peace with other nations

75%

Approval rating by polls

Civil Rights law was stuck…

In Congress at JFK death

Johnson insist best way to commererate his death was to pass it

‘Imprisoning n-word in slums’

Johnson argued it was immoral and wanted integrated housing

White people oppose: racism or property values fall if there was black movement

1968 Act: MLK assassination inspired

‘Fair Housing Act’ prohibited discrimination in sale or rental of housing

Difficult to enforce because of white opposition

1965 Executive Order

Required any institution recieving federal funding to employ more non-whites

Accelerated spread of affirmative action: liberals praised v conservatives thought it discriminatory

‘I think Johnson was the best we ever had.’

Bayard Rustin civil rights activist

1964 Economic Opportunity Act & War on Poverty Actions

44 States had anti-poverty programmes

53 job centres providing job training were recieving work training: 25,000 impacted

90,000 joined basic education programmes

4mil People recieved Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits

4mil people recieved…

Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits

90,000 people joined…

Basic education programmes

44 States had…

Anti-poverty programmes

1964 Office of Economic Opportunity financed programmes such as…

Head Start

Upward Bound

War on Poverty Programme: 1mil children enrolled in LBJ presidency

Head Start

Enable poor preschool children to catch uo with other children before beginning of school

War on Poverty Programme: 50,000 disadvantaged students participate annually

Upward Bound

Linked higher education institutions with poorer students with college potential

Anti-poverty measures extended JFK programmes

1964 Food Stamp Act

35% rise in minimum wage

LBJ Expenditure on the ‘War on Poverty’

1972 Poverty fall 17% to 11%

1966 Expenditure for the poor increase from $13bil to $20bil

1972: 17% to 11%

Povetry falls

1966: $13bil to $20bil

Expenditure on poor people

Weakness and implementation of anti-poverty programmes

1/3 non-white families still live bellow the poverty line

Infant mortality rates nearly 2x as white

‘Nothing matters more to the future of our country’

Education

Education problems

54mil Americans never finish highschool

100,000 high-school graduates couldnt afford to enter college

Schools overcrowded and run down & shortage of good teachers

$8bill Expenditure

LBJ persuade Congress to double federal expenditure on Education

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

Higher Education Act (HEA)

1965 ESEA

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

1965 HEA

Higher Education Act

1965 ESEA opposition

National institute of education est half expenditure gone to children living above the poverty line

President paid little attention to how legislation worked in practise

1965 ESEA defenders

Defenders say 6.7mil poor children benefitted

Helped galvanise state gov into greater investment on education

1965 HEA impacts

25% college students recieved some financial aid

1950-1990 34%-52% of 18-22 year-old students rise

Opportunities for students that come from low-income families & poorly funded black colleges

25%

College students recieve financial aid from 1965 HEA

Johnson Education: Achievements

Millions of children benefit from federal aid

% of those with high-school diploma rose

Shortage of teachers ended & new buildings built

Department of Housing and Urban Development tackled…

Housing shortages

Urban decay

Slums

2/3 of Americans lived in urban areas

2/3 of Americans…

Lived in urban areas

1966 Demonstration Cities Act

Money spread too thinly: Congress expand schemes from 6 cities to 10 cities

Aimed to imporve: lack of cheap housing, good transportation and slum clearance

1965 Omnibus Housing Act: Provisions

Improved ghetto housing: LBJ encourage builders to create affordable housing through federal loans

Provided: $8bil for low/moderate income housing

1965 Omnibus Housing Act: Problems

Ghettos remained poor

White taxpayers opposed funding and integration

Environmental legislation

Wilderness Act: Protected 9.1mil acres of federal land

Highway Beautification Act: reduce billboards, junkyards, added 50 new National Park areas

New National Parks

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

North Cascades National Park

Redwood National Park

Pollution laws

Water Quality Act

Clean Air Act

Clean Water Restoration Act

Medicare

Federal health insurance: 65+ and disabled Americans

Covered regardless of: income, existing conditions

19mil enrolled in 1966

Medicare

Medicaid

Federal aid to states for poorer citizens needing medical care

Healthcare spending rose

1965 5% GNP to 15% 1990

Affordable healthcare for all Americans still unresolved

Medicare costs

$3.5bil 1966 to $144bil 1993

‘The woman I really loved’ v ‘The b-word of a war’

Great Society v Vietnam

Vietnam drained money from War on Poverty

Spending difference for Vietnam v Great Society

$15.5bil v $120bil

Liberals v Conservative view of Great Society

C: too expensive and increased dependency

Nixon called War on Poverty: ‘A cruel hoax’

L: reforms not far enough as problems remained