Johnson Overview
By Conner Mann
The Election of Johnson
- LBJ was sworn in as President on Air Force One after President Kennedy was assassinated.
- LBJ went against Republican Barry Goldwater in the Election of 1964.
- The 3 major issues of the Election of 1964 were federal income tax, Social Security System, and the Civil Rights Legislation.
- LBJ defeated Goldwater 486 to 52 electoral votes in the Election of 1964.
The Great Society
The Great Society President Johnson's version of the Great Reform Program passed in 1965 that included Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid for education.
24th Amendment
24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1964) that eliminated the poll tax (tax on very adult, regardless or income or age) as a prerequisite to vote in national elections.
Tonkin Gulf Resolution and Vietnam War
- Antiwar demonstrations increased significantly and more US soldiers died
- The Tonkin Gulf Resolution gave LBJ direct authorization, without congressional approval, for use of military force in southeast Asia.
- By 1968 the Vietnam War had become the longest and most costly war in American history
- President Johnson failed to provide incentive and motivations for war.
- In 1967, Johnson ordered the CIA to spy on domestic antiwar activists.
- The Tet Offensive ended in a military defeat for the Viet Cong, but it caused the American public to demand an immediate end to the war.
- In 1968 Johnson announced he would not be running for reelection
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act
- Civil Rights Act of 1964: legislation that outlawed racial segregation in public. The bill was broadened to include women and whites, which therefore helped to give unalienable rights to move people.
- Voters Rights Act 1965: Outlawed discriminatory voting practices in the US. Specifically, voters did not have to take a literary test.
1968- Watershed year
- Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were Assassinated
- Riots at the Democratic National Convention
- Ted Offensive
- Prague Spring
- My Lai Massacre
- Civil Rights Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination based upon race, religion, sex, origin
- Nixon wins the Presidential Election of 1968