Johnson Flashcards
Successes and failures of LBJ
Successes
• Involvement with civil rights movement
• Voting rights act (65)
• War on Poverty
Failures
• Underestimated Vietnam (Increased Involvement) (Gulf of Tonkin)
• Decisions throughout the war (escalating the war, overreaction, rolling thunder)
• Great Society (impacted by Vietnam)
• Peace talks / Change in Policy
Success- Involvement with The Civil Rights Movement
Johnson ensured the passage of The Civil Rights Act 1964.
He felt he had to propose a stronger Civil Rights Act than President Kennedy.
Civil rights act 64, ended the legal basis for discrimination on grounds of race, religion, sex or national origin.
The act also gave powers to the federal government to investigate cases and proposed to cut federal spending from programmes that discriminated.
He worked hard to ensure that a combination of liberal Democrats and moderate Republicans supported the Act.
This was a success for Johnson as he managed to get the bill passed during a controversial time in the civil rights movement and it was a huge win for minority groups— especially black americans who had been protesting for equal rights
Success - Voting Rights Act 1965
In 1965, half the population of Selma County Alabama were black but only one percent were eligible to vote.
Efforts from black leaders, to register black voters were stopped by police and state troopers in Selma.
3000 attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery to protest and were attacked then by State Troopers
Johnson sent National guardsmen to Selma to protect the marchers, including MLK
As a result of this LBJ introduced The Voting Rights Act 1965– Which gave powers to the federal government to supervise state elections mainly in southern states because of their history of discrimination against black people
LBJ also used affirmative action to ensure that the companies working on federal contracts reserved a certain quota of jobs for minority groups
This was a success for johnson in relation to the civil rights movement and progression in the US. Johnson believed in equal rights and managed to pass this bill despite the controversy at the time.
Success - War on Poverty
“Johnson was imbued with real concern for the poor and the deprived” - Woods
LBJ used presidential power to begin a war on poverty.
He set up the Office for Equal Opportunity to coordinate the war on poverty.
He set up many schemes and programmes with the intent to:
Improve employment prospects
Give money to provide cheap housing and rent aid
Educate poor students in public schools
He set up the first federally funded healthcare system — Medicare and Medicaid - a proposal which previous presidents had failed to get passed.
Johnson also involved the federal government in creating national parks and many other conservation measures, limiting car pollution and supporting arts and culture too.
Johnson proved to be successful in his war on poverty. He was able to set up federally funded healthcare systems and schemes to help the poor throughout the US— which previous presidents failed to achieve
Failure- Underestimated Vietnam (Increased involvement)(GOT)
Failure- Decisions throughout the war (Rolling Thunder)
Failure- Decision to stay (govt)
Failure- Great Society Impacted
Failure- Peace talks and Chnage in policy
Conclusion
Created great division in US a society, between the people involved in the anti war movement and defenders
Strengths and Weaknesses of LBJ
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