Lyndon B. Johnson
1963- 1969
How He Came to Office
- President Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while in Dallas
- Johnson being was the vice president and was sworn in that day
Election of 1864
Democrat-
- Nominee- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Running Mate- Hubert Humphrey
- Electoral Vote (states carried)- 486 (44+DC)
- Popular Vote- 43,127,041 (61.1%)
Republican-
- Nominee- Barry Goldwater
- Running Mate- William E. Miller
- Electoral Vote (states carried)- 52 (6)
- Popular Vote- 27,175,754 (38.5%)
- Johnson won by a significant amount
- victory brought a heavily democratic congress
- Brought a "Great Society"
The Great Society
- "The big four" aid to education, medical care for the elderly, "medicaid", immigration reform and educational aid
- Medicare was medical care for the elderly, Medicaid was for the poor
- War on poverty
- 2 new cabinets, Department of Transportation and the Department of housing and urban development.
- The Immigration and and Nationality act 1965- doubled the number of immigrants that could enter the United States
- conservatives were upset as they thought that poverty couldn't be fixed
24th Amendment
- 24th amendment
- passed in 1964
- abolished the poll tax in federal elections, it was still difficult for Blacks to vote
- First step in helping blacks gain more voting rights
Tonkin Gulf Resolution and Vietnam War
- U.S. goal was to stop communism
- resolution was an unofficial way to declare war
- America could assist any country in southeast Asia
- 1965- American army base bombed
- Operation rolling thunder- sent air raids over North Vietnam
- over 500,000 Americans fighting at one point
- Cost around $30 billion
- Many soldiers died
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act (Johnson’s Civil Rights)
The Civil Rights Act 1864
- gave the federal government more authority to enforce desegregation in schools
- prohibited racial discrimination in all kinds of public accommodations and employment
- We start to see more change in favor of civil rights
Voting Rights Act 1865
- banned literacy tests
- sent federal voter registers into several southern states
- Helped blacks gain the right to vote
1968 – A “watershed” year
- Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated
- Robert Kennedy is assassinated
- 500,000 Americans fighting in Vietnam, many of whom were dying
- Americans didn't achieve their goal in Vietnam and were forced to end the war
- Over 100,000 Casualties in Vietnam