Lyndon B. Johnson
By Joseph An
Election of 1864
- Shortly after the death of Kennedy, Johnson takes an oath to become president on the plane that was carrying Kennedy to Washington
- Barry Goldwater(republican) vs Lyndon B Johnson(democrat)
- Johnson wins electoral vote 486 to 52
- An attack ad was made against Goldwater, depicting a girl blowing up after picking a "nuclear" mushroom, showing what would happen if Goldwater is elected
- Johnson effectively counterargues Goldwater's criticisms of nuclear ban tests, civil rights laws, social security, etc.
The Great Society
- Johnson's political agenda that hoped to improve human welfare
- Called for "war on poverty" which started a billion dollar program and extending to 3 billion in 1966
- Created the Department of Transportation and Department of Housing/Urban Development
- Promoted medicare for the elderly and poor, voting rights, and allowed for more immigrants
- Project Headstart- funded money for preschool kids that couldn't afford it
- Immigration and Nationality Act- Extended the Immigration act of 1924, allowed for more foreign immigration
24th Amendment
- forbade poll taxes(pay in order to vote)
- ratified January 1964
The Vietnam War
- Johnson orders Operation Rolling Thunder in 1965- completely bombing north Vietnam
- The all-out war caused many people to avoid being drafted.
- Doves: people who were against the war, hawks: people for the war
- Tet Offensive demonstrated that north vietnam was not completely weak and that war would be prolonged
- Tonkin Gulf Resolution- allowed president to retaliate against belligerents
Johnson's Civil Rights
- Voting Rights Act- banned literacy tests for voting polls, would lead to more southern black voters
- Malcolm X- confident speaker, but is also racism towards white men
- Stokely Carmichael started the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
- Carmichael preached Black Power, a slogan that called for all blacks to strive for political and economic power
1968- A Watershed Year!
- Martin Luther King assassinated on April 1968; marked the end of non-violent protests
- Robert Kennedy was shot and killed; signifies the extent of how far someone is willing to go to keep segregation going
- The Tet Offensive brought many American casualties
John F Kennedy
Assassinated Nov 22 1963
Martin Luther King Jr
Assassinated April 4 1968
Robert Kennedy
Assassinated June 6 1968