Topic 2 - Great Society Flashcards
How did LBJ tackle poverty?
Economic opportunities act 1964 which established economic opportunities office to maintain the act
What was head start?
Provided poor pre school children chance to catch up with other children before starting school
1 million enrolled during LBJs reign
What was upward bound?
Allowed poor, skilled secondary school kids chance for further education
50k participated each year during LBJs reign
How successful was LBJ in tackling poverty? (Longer answer)
Some said he spent to little some said he spent to much and as a result he failed to truly eradicate poverty as 1/3 of non white families still lived below poverty line
Drew attention to poverty (1st president to do so), by 1965 44 states had antipoverty programmes and 35k students were on work study programmes. However unrealistic promises and bad organisation of schemes meant they were in effective for many
Four main acts that LBJ passed in terms of civil rights and what did they do?
Civil rights act (1964) - ended de jure segregation
Voting rights act (1965) - allowed black’s to vote freely
Fair housing act (1968) - stopped discrimination in sale of rental housing
Open housing law (1968) - intergrated housing areas
How successful was LBJ in terms of civil rights?
Very - transformed black lives, socially, politically and economically
What were he two education acts and what did they do?
Elementary and secondary education act (1965) - provided students and schools money to Improve education
Higher education act (1965) - aimed to help poorer students. 11 million enrolled and benefited from $650 million it provided, 25% of collage students received HEA Aid by 1970
Successfulness of education?
Very - most of money may have gone to children above poverty line but million benefitted
Increased; teachers, diplomas, building and education accessibility by increasing federal expenditure on education to $8 billion
What department was established in 1965?
Department of housing and urban development
What were model cities and what did they lead to?
Cities such as LA and Chicago were gov would work on lack of cheap housing, good facilities, good transportation and slum clearance.
1966 demonstration cities act
How successful was LBJ in terms of housing
Not very - lack of funding and underestimation of the ghetto problem meant he could not help as much as he would of liked. As well as this white tax payers would not fund the redevelopment of ghettos
Underfunded at $1.2 billion
What was Medicare?
Provided over 65’s and disabled free health insurance. By 1966 19 million had enrolled
What was Mediaid?
Provided assistance to those who could not afford essential aid
How successful was LBJ in terms of healthcare?
Medium - lifted millions of elderly out of poverty and gained incredible popularity however there were gaps in coverage and it was very expensive
1/5 of population benefited but problem of reasonably priced healthcare still remained
What area was most important for LBJ?
Poverty
