Lyndon B. Johnson
Ryo Yoshida
Johnson as President
- After assassination of John F. Kennedy, Johnson took over to serve the rest of Kennedy's term
- Democrats nominated Johnson for election of 1964
- Republicans nominated Barry Goldwater
- Goldwater attacked income tax, TVA, civil rights, and Great Society
- Johnson won by a landslide
The Great Society
- Johnson's reform plan
- Passed many New Dealish economic and welfare measures that transformed the American way of life
- Included Medicare, Medicaid (medical assistance for the disadvantaged), civil rights legislation, and education reform
24th Amendment
- Johnson knew that few blacks were registered to vote
- 24th amendment stated that the poll tax in federal elections be abolished
- Still hampered blacks from voting
Tonkin Gulf Resolution and Vietnam War
- August 1964- US navy cooperated with South Vietnam to attack North Vietnam at the Gulf of Tonkin
- US navy attacked by North Vietnam on August 2nd and August 4th
- Johnson said attack was unprovoked
- Through the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, Johnson could enforce any measures he thought necessary without congressional approval
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act
- Civil Rights Act of 1964: Banned racial discrimination in most private facilities open to the public
- Voting Rights Act of 1965: Banned literacy tests and sent federal voter registers into Southern states
1968
- January 1968- The Tet Offensive ended in military defeat for Viet Cong but Americans demanded end to Vietnam War
- March 31, 1968- Johnson shifted responsibility to the Southern Vietnamese and start withdrawing forces
- April 4, 1968- Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee
- June 5, 1968- Robert Kennedy was assassinated