Johnson domestic, Kennedy legacy & protests

domestic successes

-congress/natoin thought there should be a legislative tribute to JFK so Johnson used this to obtain anti poverty legislation & CR bill

-LBJ won over 60% popular vote 1964 so clear mandate to pursue own policies rather than kennedys

-point of American dream is that opps are equally available to all, allowing aspirations + goals to be achieved. this was purpose of Johnsons great society (natural progression of dem ideas: new deal, fair deal, new frontier)

-aims: peace w/ other nations, racial equality, end of poverty + urban decay, educational reform, modern housing

-american cities had poverty + poor housing, discrim in housing, segregated + expensive.

-solution: 1968 fair housing act to end discrim + ghetto overcrowding. 1965 housing & urban development dept created to combat housing shortages + decay. 1965 omnibus housing act financed $8bill of low/moderate income housing. 1966 demonstration cities act for Chicago/detroit/houston/LA/philadelphia/washington DC to have govt + community clearing slums & working on affordable housing

-54 mill Americans had never finished highschool, 8 mill had under 5yrs schooling, 100,000 high school graduates coudln’t afford college. schools overcrowded w/ shortage of good teachers but education seen as state issue

-solution: obtained congressional agreement for fed expenditure on education to be doubled to $8bill. 1965 elementary & secondary education act + higher education act put money towards poorest states + children. head start programme run by OEO as 8 week summer camp. ESEA funded preschool programmes, supported school libraries, purchased textbooks, provided SEN services

-impact: 13bill + children benefitted from fed aid to education, % of ppl w/ high school diploma rose, teacher shortage ended, new buildings constructed. accessibility of college education inc so 25% college students got financial aid from HEA. 50,000 students benefitted from upward bound programme

-elderly made up large proportion of americas poor & healthcare was a great expense. ideas that free/subsidides healthcare was too commie. elderly/poor were mainly uninsured

solution: 1965 SS act established medicare & medicaid. healthcare for poor went from $1.3bill 1965 - $2bill 1966. medicare covered medical + physician costs for elderly. medicaid covered healthcare costs for ppl getting cash assistance from govt

-impact: millions of elderly Americans lifted out of poverty. medicare so popular that no president has opposed it to this day. 19 mill benefitted in 1966 & 1/5 of pop benefitted from 1 of the 2 by 1976

-overall % of pop in poverty fell from 17% 1965 - 11% early 1970s. min wage Rosie by 35 cents. 44 states had anti poverty programmes by 1965 & many training/employment programmes

-1964 CRA meant fed funding couldn’t be given to segregated schools

domestic failures

-death of young charismatic Kennedy traumatised nation. chaos over whodunnit

-many in White House (Robert Kennedy) thought Johnson wasn’t to be trusted w/ the Kennedy legacy

-LBJ lacked popular mandate until 1964 election

-problems of GS: infringing upon state rights, funding programmes (need taxes), resistant republicans, too much fed intervention seems communist

-housing impacts: continuation of ghettos who’s discontent towards housing caused 1967 Detroit riots. white opposition to fair housing act left it unsuccessful. demonstration cities act underfunded, Johnson estimated $2.4bill total cost but NYT said NYC alone needed $6bill. number of cities incl increased so money to spread out to be effected

-healthcare impacts: medicare & medicaid far more expensive than anticipated. gaps in coverage between the two. cost issue remained for all Americans.

-ethnic minorities still largely below poverty line

-still massive ghetto problems & poor accommodation. 32% ghetto pupils finished highschool compared to 56% white

protests successes

-counter culture = anti establishment, protesting war, disobeying parents, hippies, social revolution

-rocketing student pop inspired by CR movement & resented college authorities who often ignored soc issues. hope from kennedys new frontier. students became politicised

-especially involved in CR movement, sit ins & freedom rides. only 12% identified as new left in 1970 so not all liberal. 1st half of 1968 alone - 221 major demonstrations at unis like Stanford, Yale, Harvard, UC Berkeley. rise of bands exploring drugs & sexuality encouraged youth. generation gap had emerged

-berkelys free speech movement: uni didnt allow fundraising/political activity on campus so students protested infringement on their constitutional right to free speech. 800 arrested. uni backed down & allowed political discussion/activity on campus. FSM triggered nationwide protest

-1959 student peace union had 3000 members by 1962 but more became anti war protestors. may 1964 1000 Yale students protested in NY. 1965 many unis held teach ins + anti war lectures/debates. 1965 SDS led protest in Washington DC, 25,000 marched opposing the draft + war. brought SDS national attention

-massive Columbia uni protests (assisted govt/viet war in weapons research + expanded campus evicting mainly black/hispanic students). students siezed 5 uni building & put pics of Malcolm X, che Guevara, Marx + communist heroes. police used clubs, 692 arrests

-NOW (national org for women) founded 1966 (friedan key leader). wanted equal opps in jobs + education & end to workplace discrim/unequal pay. supported legal cases & helped push anti discrim laws

-womens liberation movement was younger + more radical. tried to liberate women from patriarchal soc. focus on social & cultural oppression not just legal. focus on sexual freedom, reproductive rights, beauty standards & gender roles

-used protests + demonstrations & ‘consciousness raising’ groups

-1963 equal pay act + 1964 CRA banned sex discrim

-johnsons exec order banning gender discrim by fed contractors. NOW monitored its enforcement, fighting 1000+ discrim cases & winning $13mill compensation for women by 1971

-acceptance of casual premarital sex + abortion grew. widespread availability of first oral contraceptive pill

protests failures

-violent protests: ‘stop the draft’ week - draft cards publicly burned + demonstrators faced 2000 police who attacked them w/ clubs. retaliated w/ cans, bottles, smoke bombs

-hippies opposed american values, war, nuclear weapons, mainstream society so promoted a new lifestyle. drug experimentation + sexual liberation. 1969 Woodstock festival had 400,000 attending w/ strong anti war messages in music. movement faded by mid 70s & was less influential than CR + anti war groups

-divisions in women’s movements: NOW thought women’s liberation were too dramatic & alienated public. women’s movement dominated by white mc concerns

-abortion still illegal until 1973