Preview

Lyndon Baines Johnson

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
927 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson moved quickly to establish himself in the office of the Presidency. Despite his conservative voting record in the Senate, Johnson soon reacquainted himself with his liberal roots. LBJ sponsored the largest reform agenda since Roosevelt's New Deal.
The aftershock of Kennedy's assassination provided a climate for Johnson to complete the unfinished work of JFK's New Frontier. He had eleven months before the election of 1964 to prove to American voters that he deserved a chance to be President in his own right.
Two very important pieces of legislation were passed. First, the Civil Rights Bill that JFK promised to sign was passed into law. The Civil Rights Act banned discrimination based on race and gender in employment and ending segregation in all public facilities.
Johnson also signed the omnibus Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The law created the Office of Economic Opportunity aimed at attacking the roots of American poverty. A Job Corps was established to provide valuable vocational training.
Head Start, a preschool program designed to help disadvantaged students arrive at kindergarten ready to learn was put into place. The Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) was set up as a domestic Peace Corps. Schools in impoverished American regions would now receive volunteer teaching attention. Federal funds were sent to struggling communities to attack unemployment and illiteracy.
As he campaigned in 1964, Johnson declared a "war on poverty." He challenged Americans to build a "Great Society" that eliminated the troubles of the poor. Johnson won a decisive victory over his archconservative Republican opponent Barry Goldwater of Arizona.
American liberalism was at high tide under President Johnson.
• The Wilderness Protection Act saved 9.1 million acres of forestland from industrial development.
• The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided major funding for American public schools.
• The Voting Rights Act banned literacy tests

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    On November 23 1963 shots rang out in Texas and the president was assassinated. Although John F. Kennedy died that day his aspirations of ending poverty in the United States was carried on by his successor Lyndon B. Johnson. Prior to his death Kennedy had taken the first steps in the fight against poverty. Prompted by the latest numbers on poverty Lyndon Johnson declared “War on Poverty during his 1964 State of the Union Address, and throughout his time in the White House implemented many policies and signed many laws directed toward the War on Poverty which had positive effects on the poverty rates in America.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On November 22, 1963, just three weeks after Diem’s assassination in Saigon, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into office, kept Kennedy’s key Vietnam advisors in place, and pledged, “Let us continue.” The United States would soon be well past the point of no return in Vietnam. For President Johnson, it was very difficult to repudiate his predecessors’ legacy in Vietnam, especially the fact he was not elected but became President by default due to the death of President Kennedy. Johnson and his administration felt compelled to escalate the U.S. involvement as more and more Americans were becoming increasingly vulnerable to the Vietcong attacks.…

    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Domestic Policies

    • 197 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Which concern was not directly addressed in the landmark civil rights legislation of the Johnson administration?…

    • 197 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many people were talking about civil rights. Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Stonewall, Texas, on August 27, 1908. At the age of twenty he taught at a segregated Mexican- American school in Cotulla, Texas. In 1931 Johnson moved to Washington, D.C.where he worked as a congressional aide. In 1937 he won the Texas seat in the house of representative. In 1948 Johnson was elected as a senator for Texas. Six years later in 1954 he became a majority leader in the senate. During his senate years Johnson did not support federal civil rights laws. He believed that it was the job of the states to deal with the civil rights issue. However in 1957 Johnson did support a federal law on voting rights but it was watered down. In 1960 Johnson became the vice president under John F. Kennedy. Three years later Kennedy was killed and Johnson became the president of the united states. When Kennedy died a meaningful civil rights bills was struggling to get through congress. After Johnson got behind the bill it was a sure thing. On July 2, 1964 he signed the civil rights act. The bill expanded voting rights, strengthened equal employment opportunity, and guaranteed all Americans the Right to use public facilities. Why did Johnson sign the civil rights act for personal gain or out of principal.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lyndon Johnson

    • 2207 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Who was Lyndon B. Johnson? Well, Johnson said the following while describing him, “I am a free man, an American, a United States Senator, and a Democrat, in that order. I am also a liberal, a conservative, a Texan, a taxpayer, a rancher, a businessman, a consumer, a parent, a voter, and not as young as I used to be nor as old as I expect to be—and I am all of these things in no fixed order.” Lyndon Baines Johnson was the thirty-sixth president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He took office on November 22, 1963, after John F. Kennedy was martyred in Dallas. Johnson's administration was marked by landmark reform laws and welfare programs, yet political support for him collapsed because of his escalation of the Vietnam War.…

    • 2207 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civil Rights Dbq Analysis

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages

    L.B.J felt it was right to sign the Civil Rights bill because he thought everyone should be equal. Johnson did end up winning the election and his top priority was to get the Civil Rights bill passed. With that, the great Society programs were going to start. It was going to help children who couldn't afford to pay for school supplies. America is now equal. Colored people can now be seen in the same public places as whites. Everyone deserves a chance to have freedom, we should be able to do what we want where we…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people were talking about civil rights. Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Stonewall, Texas, on August 27, 1908. At the age of twenty he taught at a segregated Mexican- American school in Cotulla, Texas. In 1931 Johnson moved to Washington, D.C.where he worked as a congressional aide. In 1937 he won the Texas seat in the house of representative. In 1948 Johnson was elected as a senator for Texas. Six years later in 1954 he became a majority leader in the senate. During his senate years Johnson did not support federal civil rights laws. He believed that it was the job of the states to deal with the civil rights issue. However in 1957 Johnson did support a federal law on voting rights but it was watered down. In 1960 Johnson became the vice president under John F. Kennedy. Three years later Kennedy was killed and Johnson became the president of the united states. When Kennedy died a meaningful civil rights bills was struggling to get through congress. After Johnson got behind the bill it was a sure thing. On July 2, 1964 he signed the civil rights act. The bill expanded voting rights, strengthened equal employment opportunity, and guaranteed all Americans the Right to use public facilities. Why did Johnson sign the civil rights act, for personal gain or out of principal.…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Us Govt. 4 5

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Stopped major forms of discrimination, like voter registration requirements, segregation in schools, work places, and public places.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    "It was in Southeast Asia that President Johnson ran into his greatest difficulties" (World Book "Johnson, Lyndon Baines"). He finished John F. Kennedy 's term starting in 1963 and completed another term, ending his presidency in 1969. As…

    • 2093 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Equal Opportunity Act of 1964 led to the creation of the War on Poverty. President Johnson created it and it focused on bringing awareness to poverty nationally. The War on Poverty promoted opportunities to the poor through public works and training. It focused on three main programs which are head start, the Job Corps, and community action (Hazirijan, P. 229). Head start provided preschool education for the minorities. The head start program was the most popular because it provided the minority families with the resources that needed in order to prepare their children for primary school (Altschuler, P. 285).…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once again the bill met with opposition in the House by the Democrats. The bill finally passed in the House and arrived in the Senate. It was gutted by the Democrats before being passed into law. These efforts by Eisenhower played a prominent role in helping secure the civil rights movement during the 1960s and 1970s.…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    On July 2, 1964, just 5 months before the presidential elections, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in many areas of AMerican life and essentially ended segregation. Having opposed many similar bills in the past, Johnson was bombarded by scrutiny claiming that he signed the act only to appeal to voters. However, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act not because of politics, but instead because he agreed with the civil rights movement, he related to those treated unfairly by segregation, and because he found the subject of segregation to be more important than politics.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Secondly, Lyndon Johnson did a great job in office because he signed the Civil Rights Act. The Civil Right Act outlawed segregation and discrimination against African Americans in public places, the workplace, segregated schools, etc. Johnson ended all of the unequal voter registration requirements (Poll Taxes, Literacy Tests..)…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With Kennedys assassination in 1963, Vice-President Johnson became President. As a foremost supporter of Kennedy he was faced with the task of continuing on Kennedys policies alongside introducing his own. However the opposition he faced was not as much a problem for him as it was for Kennedy, because Johnson was a) a dominating figure, b) an experienced politician, and c) very persuasive in trying to get people on his side. Thus, he was able to get almost any bill he wanted passed through Congress (including such iconic bills as the…

    • 613 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    With the changes taking place during the Civil Rights and inequality era this increased the need of government help and new programs. Programs were needed to help increase living conditions, job opportunities, and better health care. President Lyndon B. Johnson saw in his mind a “Great Society” that lived without poverty, which had equal education and more job opportunities. During his presidency he focused his efforts on his vision. He wanted to improve upon the changes that had already started with the Progressivism and the New Deal. He forced on poverty, education, racial inequality and creating Medicare. Although these programs have been expanded and enlarged there is still poverty and racial inequality today. There is a consistent effort…

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays