Lyndon B. Johnson
Nicole Francis
Path to Presidency
JFK assassinated November 22, 1963, LBJ immediately sworn into Office
Election of 1964Rep. Candidate: B. Goldwater
Dem. Candidate: L. B. Johnson
The Great Society
- Congress doubled the appropriation of the Office of Economic Opportunity to redevelop Appalachia
- National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities designed to improve America's culture
- Created two new cabinet offices: Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development (R. Weaver named first black cabinet member)
- Educational aid to students, not schools to avoid separation of church and state
- Medical care for the elderly and indignant
- Immigration reform- Immigration and Neutrality Act of 1965
- Voting rights bill
Tonkin Gulf Resolution and the Vietnam War
U.S. Navy ships cooperated with South Vietnamese in raids of North Vietnam
Two U.S. ships were allegedly fired upon
LBJ called the attack "unprovoked"
LBJ ordered a "limited" retaliatory air raid against the North Vietnam bases
Congress passes Tonkin Gulf Resolution
LBJ given blank check for further force in Southeast Asia
March 1965 "Operation Rolling Thunder" bombing attacks against North Vietnam
Tet Offensive- caused American public to demand end to Vietnam war
March 31, 1968 LBJ begins to shift power to South Vietnam
Civil Rights
- Banned racial discrimination in public facilities
- Strengthened government's power to end segregation in schools
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to end discrimination in hiring
Voting Rights Act of 1965- banned literacy tests and sent federal voter registers into several southern states
Watts explosion shows increasing military force in blacks' struggle
Black Panther Party- growing group who resisted peaceful protest for civil rights
Malcolm X- black separatist, Muslim leader
MLK Jr.- Baptist preacher who advocated anti-violence in fight for blacks' civil rights
1968
June 5- Robert Kennedy assassinated by an Arab immigrant
The most deadly period of the Vietnam War