Chapter 29 - The Great Society and the Apogee of American Liberalism, (1961-1969)

Question 1

What did LBJ want to create in America?

Answer 1

A Great Society.

Question 2

How ambitious was the Great Society?

Answer 2

The most of all major reform eras,

Question 3

Who followed the Presidency of Dwight Eisenhower?

Answer 3

John F. Kennedy

Question 4

When the issue of social welfare appeared in the Kennedy administration, what questions were asked?

Answer 4

Not if the government would do something, but how.

Question 5

Why did Americans want bigger government in the 1960s?

Answer 5

People still trusted government to do what is right.

Question 6

What did Kennedy call his domestic program?

Answer 6

The New Frontier.

Question 7

How successful was JFK’s New Frontier Program?

Answer 7

Largely unsuccessful. He was inept at working with Congress.

Question 8

Who followed Kennedy after his assassination in 1963?

Answer 8

Lyndon B. Johnson

Question 9

Compare JFK to LBJ.

Answer 9

Kennedy Johnson

1) Young, Handsome 1) Old and Homely
2) Eastern Favorite 2) Texan
3) Suave 3) Boorish

Question 10

What was LBJ a master at?

Answer 10

Pushing Legislation through Congress.

Question 11

Why was LBJ good at getting bills passed?

Answer 11

His Congressional Experience.

Question 12

By what margin did LBJ win re-election over Barry Goldwater?

Answer 12

61%. The Latest percent of the popular vote won by any president in U.S. History.

Question 13

What four factors led to LBJ’s policy triumphs?

Answer 13

1) Knowledge of Congress
2) The Widespread Desire to Honor JFK by Passing These Proposals
3) Democrats held 2/3 majorities in the House and Senate
4) The Liberal/Reformist temperament of the decade.

Question 14

What were the assumptions behind the Great Society movement?

Answer 14

1) Optimism that they could solve most social problems

2) Idealistic about the ability of Government and Humans to Make Things Better.

Question 15

What are two important things to keep in mind about the timing of the Great Society?

Answer 15

1) Implemented During a Time of Great Prosperity so Finances Weren’t a Problem
2) Implemented During the Escalation of the Vietnam War.

Question 16

What may be the most important domestic achievement in the Johnson Administration?

Answer 16

Signing Civil Rights Movement ideals into law.

Question 17

What are some examples of Civil Rights legislation enacted by LBJ?

Answer 17

1) The Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Forbade Job Discrimination and Segregation of Public Accommodations
2) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Guaranteed black suffrage.
3) The Civil Rights Act of 1968 - Banned Housing Discrimination
4) The 24th Amendment - Banned a Poll Tax
5) Executive Order 11246 - No Discrimination allowed in the fulfillment of government work which includes work done by subcontracted private businesses.

Question 18

By the end of 1970, how much did the Federal Government spend on Social welfare?

Answer 18

40% of total expenditures.

Question 19

What Great Society Programs were a part of the War on Poverty?

Answer 19

1) Head Start
2) VISTA
3) the Job Corps
4) Upward bound
5) Federal Support for Job Training
6) A Significant Minimum Wage Increase
7) Work-Study Programs for College Students
8) Community Action Programs.

Question 20

What Great Society Programs were a part of Social Welfare?

Answer 20

1) Medicare
2) Extension of Medicaid
3) Expansion of Social Security
4) Increased Funding for all levels of education
5) Federal Higher Education Act Loans
6) Increased Federal Assistance for Farmers
7) Federal Truth in Packaging Laws
8) Native American Indian Bill of Rights

Question 21

What Great Society Programs dealt with Urban Life and Housing?

Answer 21

1) HUD and DOT created,
2) Omnibus Housing Act
3) National Housing Act
4) Model Cities Act
5) Federal Suport for High Speed Ground Transportation Initiatives
6) Urban Mass Transit Programs

Question 22

What Great Society Reforms Dealt With the Civil Rights Movement?

Answer 22

1) Civil Rights Act of 1964 & 1968
2) Voting Rights Act of 1965
3) 24th Amendment
4) Executive Order 11246

Question 23

What Great Society Reforms Dealt With Health?

Answer 23

1) Federal Financial Support for Heart Disease, Cancer, Stroke and Mental health research
2) Federal Money for Narcotics Rehabilitation Efforts
3) Programs/Funding to Promote Child Nutrition
4) Establish Automobile Safety Standards
5) Safety Standards for Auto Tires
6) Cigarette Warning Labels
7) Flammable Fabrics Act
8) Toxic Pesticide Controls
9) Traffic and Highway Safety Programs

Question 24

What Great Society Reforms Dealt With Law and Order?

Answer 24

1) Law Enforcement Assistance Act

2) National Crime Commission Created

Question 25

What Great Society Reforms Dealt With the Arts?

Answer 25

1) The National Endowment for the Arts
2) The National Endowment for the Humanities
3) Created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (Later Created NPR)

Question 26

What Great Society Reforms Dealt With the Environment?

Answer 26

1) Anti-Air Pollution Laws
2) Anti-Water Pollution Laws
3) Wilderness Preservation Act
4) highway Beautification Act.

Question 27

Compare the number of domestic social programs at the start and end of Kennedy/LBJ’s Presidency.

Answer 27

10x as many at the end. (45-435)

Question 28

Compare Federal Social Spending (Minus Social Security) from 1960-1968.

Answer 28

Doubled

Question 29

What kind of movement was the Great Society?

Answer 29

A Top-Down Movement with government identifying and solving problems.

Question 30

What was the most controversial element of the Great Society Reforms?

Answer 30

The War on Poverty.

Question 31

What was the centerpiece of the War on Poverty?

Answer 31

The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 which created the Office of Economic Opportunity to oversee local community based anti-poverty programs.

Question 32

How did the Johnson Administration attempt to have an element of fiscal conservatism in the War on Poverty?

Answer 32

By imposing requirements to make sure just the poor could get assistance.

Question 33

What are the Five reasons why American got the Great Society Reforms?

Answer 33

1) American Political Liberalism as an Ideology.
2) American Political Liberalism Seemed to be Successful
3) Twenty Years of Unbroken Economic Prosperity made Them Receptive to Reform Efforts
4) Twenty Five years of Backlogged Reform Legislation.
5) LBJ was the most skilled legislative president in U.S. History.

Question 34

Define American Political Liberalism.

Answer 34

1) Determination to Promote The American Dream
2) Optimism that Government can and should solve society’s most vexing problems
3) Confidence in Politicians and Political Solutions
4) Willingness to Pay Higher Taxes to Fund Social Welfare Programs
5) Economic Policy that is Somewhat Redistributive is Nature

Question 35

What were some of the successes of the Great Society?

Answer 35

1) Poverty Rate Went From 22.2% to 12.6%.
2) Number of People never Examined By a Physician went from 20% to 8%.
3) Number of People With Substandard Housing Went From 20% to 11%
4) Assault on Racial Discrimination.

Question 36

Why did the Great Society Fail Overall?

Answer 36

1) Worked From the Flawed Assumption That Intractable Social and Economic Problems Could Be Solved With A Government Program
2) LBJ Underestimated the Cost of Vietnam and Caused Major Financial Problems (High Inflation/Unemployment)
3) The Great Society Triggered Racial Backlash by Whites That Turned Them Against Liberalism.
4) The Great Society raised expectations to unrealistically high levels. (Promised too much and failed to deliver.)

Question 37

What is an example of White Backlash in polling numbers?

Answer 37

60% of lower middle class laborers cast their ballots for the Democratic Party in 1968 but in 1972 only 35% remained loyal to the Democrats.

Question 38

What are the two redefining periods in American Public law?

Answer 38

1) The Marshall Court

2) The Warren Court

Question 39

Describe the Warren Court.

Answer 39

American Liberalism merged with judicial activism.

Question 40

What is the root of the Vietnam conflict?

Answer 40

The French refusing to relinquish control over their former colony.

Question 41

What happened when the French lost the resulting war after WWII?

Answer 41

The country of Vietnam was split into North and South to allow the French to leave.

Question 42

Why did the U.S. back France?

Answer 42

because it needed France in Western Europe and containing communism there.

Question 43

How much did the U.S. back France in Vietnam?

Answer 43

By 1954, the U.S. was paying 80% of the war costs.

Question 44

Was Ho Chi Minh a communist?

Answer 44

There is some evidence but it is not 100% conclusive.

Question 45

Describe South Vietnam under U.S. support.

Answer 45

1) Economically Terrible
2) Politically Corrupt and Inept
3) Highly unstable.

Question 46

Who sent the first troops into Vietnam?

Answer 46

Kennedy.

Question 47

What occurs during the early Vietnam War period in regards to combat?

Answer 47

Minor in nature. Viet Cong forces routinely beat the inept ARVN.

Question 48

What gave LBJ the power to wage war in Vietnam?

Answer 48

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

Question 49

How did the U.S. begin to send forces into Vietnam?

Answer 49

Gradually in order to avoid a repeat of Korea.

Question 50

Why was 1968 the turning point in the Vietnam War?

Answer 50

1) More people opposed the war than supported it for the first time.
2) The NVA/Viet Song launched a series of highly successful attacks in the Ten Offensive.
3) Domestic Chaos With the Assassination of MLK, Robert Kennedy, and the Police Violence at the DNC in Chicago.