The Great Society

1. http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/docs-pix/johnson.jpghttp://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/docs-pix/johnson.jpg The Great Society Angela Brown Chapter 19 Section 2

2. Learning Targets: • Describe Johnson’s path to the White House. • List some of the programs and effects of Johnson’s Great Society. • Identify some of the landmark cases handed down by the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren.

3. LBJ’s Path to the White House • House of Representatives in 1937 – New Deal Democrat from Texas • 1948 Senate by 87 votes • Johnson became famous for ability to work within the political system to accomplish his goals.

4. Johnson • Bid for democratic nomination failed in 1960 • Agreed to vice-presidential position but soon frustrated by powerlessness of office – missed Congress

5. Building the Great Society • Swift passage of Kennedy’s Civil Rights and tax bills followed the assassination. • Johnson branched out; he sought laws to aid public education, provide medical care for elderly and eliminate poverty. • 1964 called goals the Great Society

6. The Election of 1964 • Landslide victory for Johnson over Barry Goldwater. • (486 to 52 electoral votes – 61% of popular vote) • Democrats established a majority in both houses.

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8. Barry Goldwater • Goldwater’s conservative views seemed radical to Americans. • He opposed Civil Rights legislation and believed military commanders should be allowed to use nuclear bombs as they saw fit in battle.

9. The Tax Cut • Believed a budget deficit could be used to help the economy • Johnson agreed to cut government spending to get tax cut through Congress. • GNP rose 7.1% in 1964; 8.1 % in 1865; 9.5% in 1966 – the deficit shrank • The revival of prosperity generated new tax revenues – unemployment fell, and inflation remained in check

10. The War on Poverty • The Economic Opportunity Act of 1954 was created to combat illiteracy, unemployment, and inadequate public services - $950 million. • Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) sent volunteers to help in poor communities.

11. Aid to Education • Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided aid to states based on # of children from low-income homes. • ($1.3 billion to both public and private schools) • 1965 Head Start Programwas created to prepare economically disadvantaged preschoolers for school. • Today serves 11 million children under age five.

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13. Medicare and Medicaid • Medicare provided hospital and low-cost medical insurance for most American age 65 and older. • Medicaid provided low-cost health insurance for poor Americans of any age. • Most important Social Welfare legislation since the passage of Social Security Act in 1935 • Demonstrated government commitment to provide help to those Americans who needed it.

14. Immigration Reform • Immigration Act of 1965 eliminated quotas for individual countries and replaced them with more flexible limits • 170,000 from Eastern Hemisphere • 120,000 from Western Hemisphere

15. Family members of U.S. citizens exempt from quotas, as were political refugees. • 20,000 maximum from any one country • 1960’s 350,000 immigrants per year; 1970’s 400,000

16. Earl Warren • Law degree University of California at Berkley • District attorney, attorney General of California, Governor, Republican Vice-Presidential candidate in 1948 • Appointed Chief Justice of U.S. by President Eisenhower in 1953 served until retirement in 1969

17. Earl Warren http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/0405/ijde/warren.jpg

18. Overturned many old laws to establish new legal precedents • (Brown v Board of Education, Connecticut law against birth control, prayer in public schools unconstitutional)

19. Criminal Procedure • Concerned to safeguard constitutional rights of individuals against power of state • 1961 Mapp v Ohio – evidence seized illegally could not be used in a trial • 1963 Gideon v. Wainwright – suspects in criminal cases who could not afford attorney were given free legal aid

20. http://www.schwartzbooks.com/mas_assets/full/74/0894905074.jpghttp://www.schwartzbooks.com/mas_assets/full/74/0894905074.jpg http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/pictures/long0906.jpg

21. 1964 Escobedo v Ilinois – accused must be given access to an attorney while being questioned • 1966 Miranda v Arizona – suspect must be warned of rights before being questioned = Miranda Rule

22. Congressional Reapportionment • Apportionment – distribution of a legislative body’s seats among electoral district’s • Most state governments had not redistributed districts to reflect population shifts. • Rural citizens were over-represented and urban citizens were under-represented. • 1962 Baker v Carr – declared congressional districts had to be apportioned “one person, one vote”.

23. Reapportionment http://majikthise.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/pagecgd109_tx2.jpg

24. Today each of the 435 seats in the House represents an average of 665,000 persons • 1964 Reynolds v Sims – not based on “one person, one vote” violated equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment • Many decisions were controversial. • People believed court had gone to far and hoped for more conservative judges.

25. Effects of the Great Society • At first very popular – New Programs raised expectations • Disillusionment followed when not all demands could be met. • Complained too many tax dollars spent on poor • Too much authority in hands of federal government

26. Number of people living in poverty cut in half during the 1960s and 1970s. • Some complained not enough money spent by government.

27. Exit Slip: • A major part of Johnson’s Great Society was…. • Several of the decisions of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren focused on… • Critics of the Great Society complained that it…