LBJ

• Johnson

  Continued Kennedy's work, aiming to create a 'Great Society' and address poverty and racial injustice
• Johnson capitalized on sympathy after Kennedy's death

  Persuading Congress to pass legislation due to his political experience
• Johnson called for an all out war on poverty and put forward a range of policies that aimed to reduce economic inequality, his idea of a Great Society included measures on:

  • poverty
  • civil rights
  • transportation
  • urban renewal
  • the environment
  • healthcare reform
  • education reform
• poverty and LBJ

  • minimum wage rose from $1.25 $1.40
  • 1964 economic opportunity act- money to provide training, development and educational opportunities for the unemployed to break cycle of poverty
  • 1965 housing and urban development act- designed to combat decline in housing standards provided federal funds to cities for urban renewal and established minimum housing standards.
• healthcare and LBJ

  • LBJ able to overcome laissez-faire opposition to healthcare reforms with 2 key measure in 1965:
  • Medicare: funded healthcare for elderly (originally JFK's idea)
  • Medicaid: funded healthcare for the poor and unemployed
• education and LBJ

  • LBJ was a teacher before his political career and believed that education offered a way out of poverty
  • Operation Headstart: funded pre schools for children on low income
  • 1965 higher education act: increased funding to universities created scholarships and affordable loans
  • 1965 elementary and secondary education act: major funding for education in areas with low-income families funded resources and teacher training: one of the most comprehensive laws on education ever passed by congress
• LBJ supporters claim that he made American a better and fairer society, but Johnson faced opposition because of America’s involvement in the costly and unpopular Vietnam War many student protested against the conscription