Chapter 20: The Great Society

1. Chapter 20: The Great Society Section 3: pp. 686-695

2. LBJ’s Path to Power Objective… Describe LBJ’s political path to the White House.

3. How did FDR influence LBJ? • FDR helped LBJ secure key committee assignments that helped direct much-needed electrification and water projects to his district.

4. How did LBJ persuade legislators to support his position? • “LBJ treatment” • Masterful use of party politics and behind-the scenes maneuvering • Senate majority leader by 1955

5. What factors led JFK to ask LBJ to be his running mate? • Legislative results • Congressional connections • Southern Protestant

6. Johnson’s Domestic Agenda & Building the Great Society Objective… -Explain LBJ’s efforts to enact a domestic agenda -Summarize the goals of LBJ’s Great Society

7. Who did the Republican’s nominate in the 1964 election? • Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona

8. What issues where the Republican’s attacking in the 1964 presidential campaign? • Big, intrusive federal government programs that tried to solve social and economic wrongs such as poverty, discrimination, and lack of equal opportunity. • For example Social Security and the Tennessee Valley Authority

9. How did LBJ fair in the 1964 election? • Landslide victory and majority in Congress

10. I & E: Great Society • A series of legislative programs that would not only create a higher standard of living and equal opportunity, but also promote a richer quality of life for all.

11. Tax-cut bill of 1964 • Economic growth • An increase in consumer spending • Business investment • Tax revenues • A reduction in federal budget deficit

12. Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and gender • Granted the federal government new powers of enforcement

13. Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 • Funded youth programs • Antipoverty measures • Small business loans and job training • Created the Job Corps • The VISTA program • Project Head Start • The Community Action Program

14. Elementary & Secondary Education Act • Education “the key which can unlock the door to the Great society” LBJ • Provided federal aid to help public and parochial schools to purchase textbooks and new library materials • Special education classes

15. Medicare • Provided hospital and low-cost medical insurance to most Americans age 65 or older

16. Medicaid • Extended health insurance to welfare recipients

17. Immigration Act of 1965 • Replaced the national origins system with a new immigration quota system that allowed more non-European immigrants to settle in the U.S.

18. What effect did the publication of Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring have on the environmental movement? • The effect of pesticides on the environment • Water Quality Act of 1965 requiring states to cleanup rivers • Chemical and oil companies are targeted

19. What effect did the publication of Ralph Nader’s Book, Unsafe at Any Speed have on auto safety? • Establishment of safety standards for cars and tires. • Additional Standards: • Truth-in-packaging laws set standards for labeling consumer goods • Wholesome Meat Act of 1967

20. Reforms of the Warren Court Objective… Identify the reforms of the Warren Court

21. What ruling did the Warren Court make regarding the practice of state sanctioned prayer in public school? • It is unconstitutional

22. Brown v. Board of Education • Ruled that school segregation is unconstitutional

23. Baker v. Carr • Established the principle of “one person, one vote” • Asserted that federal courts had the right to tell states to reapportion districts for more equal representation

24. Mapp v. Ohio • Ruled that evidence seized illegally could not be used in state courts – the “exclusionary rule”

25. Gideon v. Wainright • Required criminal courts to provide legal counsel to those who could not afford it

26. Escobedo v. Illinois • Ruled that an accused person has the right to have a lawyer present during questioning “…suspect in police custody who has been refused an opportunity to consult with his counsel and who has not been warned of his constitutional right to keep silent, the accused has been denied the assistance of counsel in violation of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments; and no statement extracted by the police during the interrogation may be used against him at a trial.”

27. Miranda v. Arizona • Ruled that all suspects must be “read their rights” before questioning • Established the Miranda rights

28. Impact of the Great Society Objective… Evaluate the impact of the Great Society.

29. Describe how the Great Society expand the power of government? • Americans disagree whether we’re better or worse • All agree that no other president in the post-WWII era did more to expand the power of the federal government

30. How effective was the War on Poverty? • Succeeded in decreasing poverty from 21% in 1962 to 11% in 1973

31. What was the reaction of Republicans regarding the Great Society and the War on Poverty? • Contributed to growing budget deficit • Spurred debates over the program’s effectiveness and the role of the federal government • Conservative backlash grows

32. What event compromised the Great Society? • The growing U.S. involvement in Vietnam against communism