LBJ and the Great Society
By:
Greg Michalczyk and
Claire Kapp
LBJ’s Path to the White House
• Senator from Texas
• Influential in the Senate
• Nominated for the Vice Presidency in 1960
• Became President upon Kennedy’s
Assassination
• Nominated in 1964
• Won Election in November 1964
Lyndon Johnson being Sworn in
– Nov, 1963
The Great Society
• The Election of 1964
• The Tax Cut
• The War on Poverty
• Aid to Education
• Medicare and Medicaid
• Immigration Reform
LBJ Beating the Drum for the
Great Society
The Election of 1964
• Defeated Senator Barry Goldwater
• Was Liberal related to Civil Rights
• Ran a controversial commercial about
nuclear war
• “Landslide Lyndon”
– 61 % Popular Vote
– 486-52 Electoral Votes
– Carried 44 States
Johnson’s Campaign
Commercial
The Tax Cut
• The economy was not doing well
• Kennedy wanted to put more money in
people’s pockets by cutting taxes
• This was opposed by many conservatives
• Johnson proposed to both cut taxes and cut
spending
• The tax cut then passed
The War on Poverty
• Johnson was from a poor family
• In the 1960’s poverty was a real problem in the
U.S.
• Applied $950 million towards fighting poverty in
ten separate projects
– Head Start – preschool program for low income
families
– VISTA sent volunteers to help people in poor
communities
Aid to Education
• $1.3 billion given to the States to help with
education
• Money was given in relation to how many
poor families lived in the State
• Signed the bill into law in Johnson City
Texas where he went to school
Medicare and Medicaid
• These were to help low income people
with health insurance
• Medicare – Hospital and low cost medical
insurance to those 65 and older
• Medicaid – Coverage to poor people
regardless of age
• Most significant improvements since
Social Security in 1935
Immigration Reform
• Eliminated the quota system
• Set a limit of 20,000 per country per year
• Set overall limits
The Warren Court
• Social Issues
• Criminal Procedures
• One Man - One Vote
The Warren Court
Social Issues
• Liberalized the definition of Obscenity
• Outlawed religious prayer in public
schools
• Struck down laws prohibiting birth control
Criminal Procedures
• Cannot use illegally seized evidence
• Suspects have the right to free legal advice
• “Miranda Warning” put in place
One Man – One Vote
• Number of people in a congressional
district should be about the same
• This helped poor and minority people be
better represented in Congress
Effects of the Great Society
• LBJ was enormously popular for awhile
• Not everything worked as it was intended
• Complaints that too much money was
being spent on the poor
• Put too much authority in the federal
government’s hands
• But, number of poor people were reduced
from 1960 to 1970