This document provides biographical information about Lyndon B. Johnson and his presidency. It details his political career leading up to becoming president after John F. Kennedy's assassination. As president, LBJ pushed forward Kennedy's agenda and launched his own "Great Society" program, which aimed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice through new civil rights laws, education reforms, Medicare, Medicaid and other social welfare programs. The document also discusses LBJ's reelection in 1964 and some of the lasting impacts and criticisms of the Great Society.

1. Lyndon B. Johnson
“Great Society”

2. LBJ’s Path to the White House
 Began political career in 1937
in the House
 “New Deal Democrat”
 Ran for Senate in 1938, won by
87 votes
 Nicknamed “landslide Lyndon”
 showed ambition and talent as
Senator,
 Famous for his “ability to work
within the political system and
accomplish his goals”

3. LBJ’s Road to the White House
 Ran for Democratic party
nomination in 1960, lost to
JFK
 Accepted Kennedy’s offer to
run as V.P.
 Never liked being VP
 felt the job was powerless
 Missed being in Congress
where he got things done
 Then suddenly, LBJ found
himself President

4. Entering Office
 Took office 90 minutes
after JFK was killed
 aboard Air Force One
 First address post-
assassination
 “All I have I would have given
gladly not to be standing here
today.”
 LBJ wanted to take up
where JFK left off
 Presidency theme: “Let us
Continue”

5. Building the Great Society
 LBJ aware that America needed
strong action after loss of JFK
 No one wanted the “up” feeling and
hope JFK brought to end
 LBJ swore to keep JFK’s ideals
 pushed for Civil Rights
 Successful at passing Jokes failed
legislation
 Tax cuts
 Civil rights

6. Building the Great Society
 LBJ’s civil rights laws
 Public education
 Medical care for seniors
 Eliminate poverty
 Spring ’64 LBJ began to use phrase “great
society” to describe his goals for society

7. Election of 1964
 LBJ won election
against Barry
Goldwater (R)
 Presidential successes
helped
 Goldwater was a
conservative
Republican
 but perceived as radical
 Against civil rights
legislation
 Pro bomb use if military
saw fit

8. Building the Great Society
 LBJ played on fear of nuclear war
 won him votes over Barry Goldwater
 Ex. Girl with flower commercial
 LBJ won election – rec’d 61% of popular vote;
486 electoral votes
 Tax cuts
 LBJ thought a budget deficit would improve
economy
 Not everyone agreed

10. Building the Great Society
 To get Republicans vote
LBJ agreed to cut gov’t
spending
 Deficit shrank
 unemployment fell
 inflation maintained its
level
 War on Poverty
 Anti-poverty program
 Declared war on poverty in
State of the Union speech
 Passed EOA (Economic
Opportunity Act)

11. Building the Great Society
 Summer, 1964
 Fought causes of poverty
 Illiteracy
 Unemployment
 inadequate public services
 $950 million set aside to fund 10 different programs
 Work training programs
 Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA)
 Bottom line: EOA gave the poor a voice
 Helped define housing, health and education policies

12. Building the Great Society
 Aid to Education
 LBJ vowed to improve education
 Successful programs
 Elementary and Secondary Education Act
 provided aid to states based on the number of students from
low income homes
 Money ($1.3 billion) would be distributed to public and
private schools

13. Building the Great Society
 Medicare & Medicaid
 Important to LBJ
 Medicare
 provided hospital and low-cost medical insurance for
most senior citizens
 Medicaid
 provided low-cost health insurance for poor who
couldn’t afford insurance
 most important pieces of social welfare legislation
since the Social Security Act in 1935.
 Demonstrated the commitment to help those
who needed it.

14. Building the Great Society
 Immigration Reform
 “great society” also revised immigration
policies
 Previous laws set quotas for each foreign
nation
 Low quotas for Southern & Eastern
European countries
 Banned Asian immigration altogether
 Immigration Act, 1965- eliminated quotas
for individual countries
 170.000 people from E. hemisphere &
120,000 from W. hemisphere
 Family of US citizens were exempt,
also political refugees
 1960s 350,000 immigrants entered US
per year, in 70s rose to 400,000
Uh…sorry
guys but
we’re closed .

15. Effects of the Great Society
 Although initially successful,
did not last
 Criticisms:
 New programs raised
expectations, created
disillusionment (not all can be
met)
 Too much spent on poor
 Federal gov’t had too much
power
 Money set aside for program
budgets used to fund Vietnam
war

16.  Former CA governor
 Appointed Chief Justice by
Eisenhower in ‘53
 Served until retirement, 1969
 Under Warren, Supreme
Court:
 overturned many old laws
and rulings
 established new legal
precedents.
 Brown V. Board of
Education (1954)
 Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)
 Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

17. Chief Justice Earl Warren
 Other important decisions:
 1965-declared a law banning
birth control
unconstitutional
 removed prayer in public
schools
 Changed obscenity laws
(cannot restrict material that
might have “some
redeeming social value”)
 Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
 Gideon v. Wainright (1963)

18. Chief Justice Earl Warren
 Congressional
reapportionment
 Apportionment: how to figure
the distribution of a legislative
body’s seats among electoral
districts
 State districts were not
reapportioning as they should to
allow for the population shifts
 Baker v. Carr (1962)
 Impact: prevented political party
in power from redrawing district
lines to give them an advantage