Johnson
Johnson's Election
- First took over in 1963 after Kennedy's assassination
- Sworn in on airplane with Kennedy's body heading back to Washington
- Ran in 1964
- Democrat
- Ran against Barry Goldwater
- Ran with Hubert Humphrey
- Won by around 15 million popular votes and around 430 Electoral votes
The Great Society
- The Great Society was name given to Johnson's New Dealish domestic programs and policies
- Aimed at combating poverty in America
- Supporters of Great Society initially seized congress after 1964
- Increased funding to Office of Economic Opportunity and funded redevelopment of Appalachian region
- Created the Department of Transportation and The Department of Housing and Development
- Big Four achievements: aid to education, Medicare care for elderly and indigent, immigration reform, and new voting rights bill
- Accompanied by Medicaid for the poor
- Immigration and Nationality act of 1965 accomplished third of the big Four, abolishing previous quota system and doubled allowed annual immigration cap
- Led to a decline in poverty rates
- Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed literacy tests and other means of discrimination in South
- The 24th Amendment of 1962 banned poll taxes as a means of discriminating against black voters
Civil Rights Continued
- Voting Rights Act made headway against voting discrimination
- The 24th Amendment of 1962 banned poll taxes as a means of discriminating against black voters
- To combat discrimination, blacks began migrating towards south
- The more violent black power movement replaced the peaceful methods of MLK in the fight against discrimination
- Malcom X became Black Power leader and preached a movement of blacks towards mainstream Islam
Tonking gulf and the Vietnam War
- While campaigning against Goldwater, Johnson got the Tonkin Gulf Resolution passed, giving him power to declare war in Vietnam instead of Congress and gave him a blank check to do so
- 1965 saw an attack against a US airbase by Vietcong at Pleiku, leading to retaliatory bombing raids
- Also provoked Operation Rolling Thunder, the first ordered attack by US soldiers on North Vietnam and regular bombing raids against the north
- Communist will to resist increased as result
- Turned global opinion against US, leading France to order NATO out of its land
- Ussr took advantage of distraction to grow its power in the mediteranian
1968
- FBI headed "Cointelpro" begins targeting growing anti-war supporters in US
- MLK was assassinated in 1968 outside of a hotel by James Earl Ray
- Robert F. Kennedy, cousin of John F. Kennedy, was also assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan while giving a speech
- The Tet offensive by Viet Cong, while unsuccessful, inflicts heavy losses on US and proves Johnson's strategy of increasing pressure won't work
- Prompted a call for 200,000 more men in Vietnam
- Eugene McCarthy became leader of antiwar college students in "Children's Crusade" against the war
- Johnson announced that he would begin halting escalation in Vietnam
- Also pleaded that the nation unify until victory was achieved and announced he would not run for president in 1968
- The nation was now firmly divided between pro-war and anti-war supporters, and the foundation of the government began to crumble