LBJ & The Great Society

1. LBJ & The Great Society The Warren Court

2. Today’s Objective • After today’s lesson, students will be able to… • Discuss and evaluate the importance of LBJ’s Great Society • Essential Skill • Explicitly assess information and draw conclusions

3. Review • What were some of the accomplishments of Kennedy’s Presidency? • What happened at the Bay of Pigs? • Where did Kennedy find the most conflict with the USSR? • Who assassinated JFK? • What was “flexible response?” • How did the USSR respond to East Berliners leaving?

4. Origins • Following the assassination of JFK, Johnson wanted to further the domestic advances made by JFK, as well as meeting the following three major legislative goals.

5. Stimulate the Economy • Tax Reduction Act of 1964 • Cut taxes by $11.5 billion • Result: consumer spending rose by $45 billion in four years and unemployment feel to under 4%

6. Enact Civil Rights Legislation • Johnson’s View • “We have talked long enough about equal rights in this country. We have talked for 100 years or more. It is time now to write the next chapter and to write it in a book of law.”

7. Enact Civil Rights Legislation • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Outlawed discrimination in public facilities • Authorized the attorney general to sue to desegregate public facilities and schools • Stopped federal funds to states and localities that failed to integrate • Forbade the unequal application of voter registration standards • Forbade discrimination from employers or labor unions on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, physical disability, or age

8. Declare War on Poverty • Over 35 million Americans trapped in poverty during the “Affluent Society” of the 1950s • Environment of poverty is characterized by disease, helplessness, drug and alcohol abuse, and increased crime. • Poverty increased in urban slums and economically depressed rural areas • Destroy poverty and the country can combat the other ills more effectively • Needed new programs that were designed to meet the needs of the poor

9. Declare War on Poverty LBJ with an impoverished family in Appalachia

10. Declare War on Poverty • Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 • Provided $1 billion to develop a number of programs, including the ones below • Job Corps: provided employment for youths 16-21 • Job training for unemployed adults • Work-study funds for college students.

11. Declare War on Poverty • Loans for employers to train low-skilled workers • Head Start Program • Intended to improve the early education of economically-challenged youngsters • VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) • A domestic Peace Corpssent to depressed areas to aid in training, education, and establishing schools and other public institutions

12. Declare War on Poverty • Creation of HUD(Department of Housing & Urban Development) • Headed by Robert C. Weaver, the nation’s first African-American Cabinet member • Job was to oversee housing requirements and standards for the poor, inspect urban areas, and develop programs intended to clean up cities

13. Other Legislative Programs

14. Legislative Programs • Ended the National Origins Quota System • Opened immigration to people from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe • Purification of Air & Water Act • Enacted to clean up industrial centers, restore polluted waterways, and combat smog-laden air

15. Legislative Programs • National Foundation of the Arts and Humanities • Encouraged cultural and artistic development in America by providing grants to artists and writers, as well as programs to have new works displayed and disseminated to average Americans and schools

16. Legislative Programs • Truth in Lending Act • Designed to give consumers greater protection in credit transactions • Medicare Amendments to the Social Security Act • Provided hospital insurance and certain post-hospital care for all Americans over the age of sixty-five • Also made available inexpensive medical insurance that covered doctors bills, diagnostic procedures, and other medical services and supplies

17. Impact of The Great Society

18. Success of The Great Society • Brought hope to millions of Americans • Enabled more than 11 million students to receive loans for college graduation • Prepared more preschoolers for grade school and low-income middle years students for high school and college • Provided some important programs for the poor, including medical aid, food stamps, welfare, and school lunches. • Over 2 million older Americans were raised above the poverty levels due to the new Medicare program • Created 2 million government jobs, with nearly half of them filled by minorities

19. Failures of the Great Society • Could not accomplish everything it set out to do • Created concern among many whites that the social programs established in the name of the War on Poverty were draining public funds without producing visible results • Felt that very little had been changed despite the amount of money spent • Made Americans reconsider the commitment to expensive social programs that were putting the nation into debt • Would lead to the Conservative Revolution in the 1970s and 1980s

20. Failures of the Great Society • Despite the fact that the economy was expanding again, some people prospered more than others • Many people were still poverty-stricken and depressed • Social dissatisfaction had led to violence and fear, are evidenced by the social unrest of the mid-1960s • African-Americans still found it hard to get jobs or share in the affluence

21. Report Card • Assess each of President Johnson’s legislative acts • Give each program a grade based off of how important/successful you think it is • Be prepared to discuss your rankings

22. The Warren Court

23. Baker v. Carr (1962) • Established that federal courts can hear lawsuits seeking to enforce state authorities to redraw electoral districts

24. Mapp v. Ohio (1961) • Unlawfully seized evidence is inadmissible at trial

25. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) • Suspects are entitled to court-appointed attorney if unable to afford one of their own.

26. Escobedo v. Illinois (1964) • Accused has the right to an attorney during police questioning

27. Miranda v. Arizona (1966) • Police must inform suspects of their rights during arrest process

28. Engel v. Vitale (1962) • Nondenominational prayer in school banned  "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and beg Thy blessings upon us, our teachers, and our country."