8.9 The Great Society

Great Society, Lyndon Johnson, war on poverty, The Other America, Michael Harrington, Barry Goldwater, National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities, Medicare, Medicaid, Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Unsafe at Any Speed, Ralph Nader, Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, Beautify America, Immigration Act of 1965

war on poverty

• Lyndon Johnson declares war on poverty 1964

• The Other America (1962) by Michael Harrington - best selling book that focused attention on 40 million Americans in poverty

• Democratic Congress created Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO)

election of 1964

Democratic Johnson wins against Republican and conservative Barry Goldwater

Great Society

Lyndon Johnson’s social reform program

• Food Stamp Act (1964) - expanded federal program to help low-income people buy food

• National Foundation of the Arts and Humanities (1965) - federal funding for arts and creative and scholarly projects

• Medicare (1965) - provided health insurance for all people 65+

• Medicaid (1965) - funds to states for medical care of poor and disabled

• Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965) - provided federal funds to poor school districts and special education programs

• Higher Education Act (1965) - provided federal scholarships for higher education

• Immigration Act of 1965 - abolished discriminatory quotas

• Child Nutrition Act (1966) - added breakfast to school lunch program

• establishment of new departments in cabinet: Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

• Lady Bird Johnson’s Beautify America campaign - Highway Beautification Act removing billboards from federal highways

literature leading to Great Society reform

• Unsafe at Any Speed (1965) by Ralph Nader - led Congress to pass automobile industry regulations

• Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson - exposé of pesticides, led Congress to enact clean air and water laws

changes in immigration

• dramatic shift caused by refugees leaving Communist Cuba and Vietnam

• Immigration Act of 1965 - ended ethnic quotas from 1920s favoring Europeans, led to sharp increase in legal immigration

• Immigration reform and Control Act of 1986 - penalized employers hiring illegal immigrants in response to rise of Latin American immigrants