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Today: LBJ and his Domestic Policies Comparison of New Frontier and Great Society WHERE WERE YOU WHEN 9/11 HAPPENED?. LBJ. The “Johnson Treatment”.
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Today: LBJ and his Domestic Policies Comparison of New Frontier and Great Society WHERE WERE YOU WHEN 9/11 HAPPENED?
The “Johnson Treatment” • The treatment of others by former president Lyndon B. Johnson, in which he would hypothetically 'pop one's bubble' to demand their attention. The 'Treatment' was described as having 'a large St. Bernard licking your face and pawing you all over.' - Also used when describing being 'violated' by unwanted company. UrbanDictionary.Com
LBJ was a seasoned politician who was best at negotiating in the back rooms of power • He passed many of Kennedy’s stalled programs and more than a few of his own • In the 1964 elections, he won in a landslide against Barry Goldwater (61.1% of the vote!)
Momentum for Civil Rights • On becoming president, LBJ promptly pushed the passage of civil rights legislation as a memorial to JFK • LBJ wanted to place his mark on the presidency • Civil Rights Act (1964) • Outlawed Employment discrimination • Desegregated public facilities throughout the south • 24th Amendment (1964) • No more poll tax • Voting Rights Act (1965) • Black voter registration rose dramatically
Great Society • Democratic gains in both Congress and the state legislature strengthened LBJ politically • LBJ not only had a civil rights agenda, but also wanted to bring about what he called the “Great Society”
Great Society • 25% of Americans lived below the poverty line • Isolated miners and farmers, migrant workers, Native Americans, urban ghettos • Johnson wanted to put and end to poverty • Expanded social insurance, welfare and public works (like the New Deal)
Great Society • Federal Health Insurance Legislation • Medicare • Care for the elderly - funded through social security • Medicaid • Care for the poor - funded by tax revenues
Great Society Not just for the disadvantaged! National Endowment for the Arts National Endowment for the Humanities • Supporting artists and historians! YAY!
Great Society • By the end of 1965, the Johnson administration had compiled the most impressive legislative record of liberal reforms since FDR’s New Deal • Expanded the federal government’s role in protecting citizen’s welfare
Great Society - Problems • Great Society never quite lived up to the extravagant hype • Interest groups got involved • American Medical Association • Diverse group of supporters fought amongst themselves • Limited funding • $22 billion on Vietnam, $1.2 billion on War on Poverty • “Great society was shot down on the battlefields of Vietnam” - MLK