Lyndon B. Johnson
Josh Syre
In Office: November 22, 1963 - January 20, 1969
Key Events
- Succeeded to presidency after assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
- Vietnam conflict continues - 1963-1969
- Civil Rights Act - 1964
- Twenty-fourth Amendment ratified outlawing the poll tax - 1964
- Medicare and Medicaid - 1965
- Twenty-Fifth Amendment ratified; order of succession for the presidency - 1967
- MLK, Jr. assassinated - 1968
- Robert Kennedy assassinated - 1968
- Pueblo Incident - 1968
Election of 1924
- Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson beats five-term Senator of Arizona Barry Goldwater
- Goldwater voted against the civil rights act and
- Was a strong conservative Republican.
The Great Society
- Set of domestic programs in the U.S. first announced by Johnson at several universities
- Goal was elimination of poverty and racial injustice
- Resembled the New Deal domestic agenda of FDR
- Addressed education, medical care, urban problems, and transportation
24th Amendment
- Passed January 23, 1964
- Johnson was the president at the time during ratification
- Proposes the idea that all American citizens, no matter race nor ethnicity, has the right to vote.
- No government officials can deny the right
Tonkin Gulf Resolution and Vietnam War
- August 7, 1964
- Gave broad congressional approval for expansion of the Vietnam War
- Military had designed major attacks on the North, Johnson believed that the public would not support expansion of war
- Goldwater, Republican nominee for president at the time, criticized Johnson for not taking action
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act
- Civil Rights Act signed into law by Johnson on July 2nd, 1964
- Landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the US
- Outlawed discrimination on race, ethnicity, sex, etc.
- Ended racial discrimination in schools and unequal application of voter registration requirements
- Voting Rights Act signed into law by Johnson on August 6th, 1965
- Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments