Great Society
An idealistic call for improved environmental, conservation, racial, educational, and health programs, the Great Society was inspired by JFK and prompted by LBJ’s insecure need to win over the American people. Largely successful in the first two years of the Johnson administration, the idealism would later give way to virulent conservatism and a return to traditional values.
Election of 1964: LBJ, Goldwater: In the election of 1964 Lyndon Johnson, the elected Democratic party majority leader, defeated Barry Goldwater, the elected Republican majority leader. Main issues of the election of 1964 included serious debates over the continuation of Johnson’s Great Society plan, future civil rights legislation and the status of the war in Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson attempted to continue his Great Society program after the election with small social legislation.
Office of Economic Opportunity: The Office of Economic Opportunity was created as a part of President Johnson’s Great Society. Established by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, the office funded the Job Corps to train young people to work, VISTA, and Project Headstart.
War on Poverty: The term, War on Poverty, referred to Lyndon Johnson’s statement describing his goal to create a better America. It was used to describe Johnson’s Great Society package that created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Economic Opportunity Office, which began the first funding for education.
Elementary and Secondary Act: As a part of his Great Society vision, President Lyndon Johnson rallied for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 which gave federal aid to education. The law gave over one billion dollars to public and parochial schools for books and special education programs.
Medicare: A program of national health insurance created by the Social Security Amendments of 1965, this program gave health insurance for persons who were over the age of 65 or seriously disabled. Although some states refused to administer the insurance the Kerr-Mills Act of 1960 provided federal support for state medical programs.
Abolition of immigration quotas: President Lyndon Johnson’s program of liberalism, which included social legislation in 1965, led to the liberalization of immigration laws. These laws abolished the restrictions and the quota based system previously used by the U.S. to determine the amount of immigration from a certain area.
Department of Housing and Urban Development: Created in 1966 to give aid to needy families located in poor inner city areas, the Department of Housing and Urban Development passed bills allocating funds to housing development projects under the leadership of Robert Weaver.
New Left: The New Left encompassed the liberalism of college students during the 1960s. They held idealistic views of civil rights movements, supported the election of John F. Kennedy, and heralded the campaign against nuclear testing that created the nuclear test ban treaty of 1963. It was also the root of protest over Vietnam.
Kennedy, Robert: Kennedy was the attorney general of the U.S. in 1968 and senator from New York. He stressed that voting was the key to racial equality and pushed for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Kennedy gained the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968, but was assassinated in California during a campaign.
Election of the 1968: Lyndon Johnson did not run for reelection in 1968 due to his dissatisfaction with the Vietnam War and public discontent. Richard Nixon captured the presidency for the Republican party after he defeated George C. Wallace, the American Independent and Hubert H. Humphrey, the Democratic candidate.
Czechoslovakia invaded: In Aug. of 1968, with the installation of reformers Alexander Dubcek as party leader and Ludvik Svoboda as president, the USSR and its Warsaw Pact allies invaded Czechoslovakia, forcing the repeal of most of the reforms. The Soviet Union replaced Dubcek with the staunchly pro-Soviet Communist regime.
Chicago, Democratic Party Convention riot: In August 1968, the Chicago convention was disrupted by violence due to the party split over the nomination of the majority leader. Tensions rose as young SDS protestors against the Vietnam war arrived to voice their discontent. The riot destroyed Democratic unity and resulted in a loss of support.
Nixon, Richard’s Southern strategy: In 1965, Nixon began his attack on radicalism in America, focusing on the failure of southern white efforts to destroy racial equality. Nixon went on television to condemn the court that enforced bus desegregation. He also appointed W. Burger to counter liberalism in the Warren Court.
Wallace, Governor: George Wallace was an American politician and three-time governor of Alabama. He first came to national attention as an outspoken segregationist. Wallace ran for the presidency in 1968 and 1972 and was shot and killed during a 1972 election campaign stop in Maryland.
Moon Race, Armstrong, Neil: Frightened out of complacency by the Soviet launching of Sputnik, a satellite, Kennedy promised the American people to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. Pouring vast amounts of money into the space program, Kennedy was determined not to allow Russia to win. On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon’s surface. Americans put fears of Soviet technological superiority to rest for the United States had been the first to launch a human out into space.
Sunbelt verses Rustbelt: The leading work industries, the Rustbelt and Sunbelt, reeled under the triple blow of slumping exports, aggressive foreign competition, and technological obsolescence. About 11.5 million American workers lost jobs as a result of plant closings or lack of work.
Friedan, Betty, The Feminine Mystique: The Feminine Mystique elucidated to readers that they were not alone in their unhappiness. Friedan’s personal demand for "something more than my husband, my children, and my home" rang true to a growing number of middle class American women who found joys in motherhood.
National Organization for Women (NOW): The National Organization for Women was formed in 1966. Defining themselves as a civil-rights group for women, NOW lobbied for equal opportunity; they filed lawsuits against gender discrimination and rallied public opinion "to bring American women to full participation."
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA): By 1972 Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution. This amendment stated that "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on the basis of sex."
National Women’s Political Caucus: The National Women’s Political Caucus (1971) endorsed candidates that promoted a feminist agenda in Washington and many other State capitals. By 1972, many states had liberalized their abortion laws and banned sex discrimination in job hiring.
Nader, Ralph, Unsafe at Any Speed: Ralph Nader, a graduate of Harvard Law School, exposed the danger of automobiles that were "unsafe at any speed"; he brought forth the movement of environmental concerns which would later launch major campaigns for federal regulations.
