Johnson and the Great Society (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes
Johnson and the Great Society
Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency
Lyndon Baines Johnson served as president from 1963 to 1968. His domestic achievements have often been underestimated and overshadowed by criticism surrounding Kennedy's legacy and American involvement in Vietnam. Johnson was born in Texas in 1908 and worked as a teacher, where he witnessed first-hand the extent of poverty in the region. This experience shaped his commitment to social reform throughout his political career.
After election to Congress as a Democrat in 1937, Johnson became a strong advocate of Roosevelt's New Deal programmes. He was elected to the Senate in 1948 and within five years had risen to become the appointed leader of the Democrats in the Senate. Kennedy selected him as vice-presidential candidate in 1960, recognising Johnson's skilful handling of Congress. Following Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Johnson assumed the presidency. He chose not to seek re-election in 1968, and died of a heart attack five years later.
Johnson's background as a Southerner and former teacher gave him unique insight into both poverty and the political challenges of civil rights reform. His experience witnessing poverty first-hand in Texas schools would later drive his ambitious Programme for Poverty and social welfare initiatives.
Johnson was an experienced politician who understood how to negotiate with Congress and broker deals effectively. His political ability to pass legislation through Congress exceeded that of almost any other president. As a Southerner himself, Johnson knew how to manage Southern Democrats and overcome their opposition, particularly on civil rights. Some historians have suggested that his imposing physical presence helped him to dominate political negotiations.
The Great Society programme
The Great Society, launched in 1964, represented Johnson's ambitious programme of economic and social reforms alongside civil rights legislation. This comprehensive initiative aimed to address poverty, inequality, healthcare, education and urban problems through expanded federal government intervention.
The Great Society represented a comprehensive approach to social reform with three main pillars: civil rights, economic reform, and social reform. This multi-faceted approach distinguished it from previous, more narrowly focused programmes.
Civil rights
Johnson's civil rights record surpassed Kennedy's achievements. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in publicly accessible locations, in federally assisted programmes and in employment. The following year, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 appointed federal agents to ensure that voting procedures were conducted properly and fairly. In 1967, the Supreme Court declared all laws prohibiting mixed-race marriages to be unconstitutional and removed them.
Johnson himself believed that his civil rights actions permanently transformed the South. They dismantled long-standing de jure (legally mandated) and de facto (practiced in reality) traditions of racial segregation and opened the path to equal treatment of African Americans across every region of the country. Johnson regarded this as his most important achievement.
Understanding Segregation Types:
- De jure segregation: Discrimination enforced by law, such as Jim Crow laws in Southern states
- De facto segregation: Discrimination existing in practice, such as residential segregation through housing patterns and economic factors
Both forms had to be addressed to achieve meaningful civil rights progress.
Economic reform
The Great Society addressed economic reform through several measures. Johnson reduced taxes to increase consumer purchasing power and stimulate spending, which in turn was designed to encourage businesses to expand and create additional jobs.
The Appalachian Recovery Programme provided federal funding for the development of the Appalachians, a mountainous region in the Eastern states characterised by widespread poverty. Additionally, the Office of Economic Opportunity established schemes to assist poor people in inner cities. It funded new education and community projects and provided loans for local schemes. These initiatives formed the foundation of Johnson's Programme for Poverty.
Manufacturers and retailers faced new obligations to label goods fairly and clearly. Consumers gained the right to return faulty goods and exchange them. The Johnson administration allocated $1.5 billion to the Head Start Programme, enabling teachers to provide additional education for very young, poor children.
The economic reforms under the Great Society took a multi-pronged approach: stimulating growth through tax cuts, targeting specific regions of severe poverty like Appalachia, and empowering local communities through the Office of Economic Opportunity. This combination of top-down federal intervention and grassroots community development represented a new model for anti-poverty programmes.
Social reform
Social reform constituted another substantial area of the Great Society.
The Medical Care Act established Medicare (for elderly Americans) and Medicaid (for poor Americans). This legislation attempted to ensure that all Americans had equal access to healthcare.
Remember: Medicare vs Medicaid
- Medicare = Mature/elderly Americans (those aged 65 and over)
- Medicaid = Money-poor Americans (low-income families and individuals)
Both programmes represented a dramatic expansion of the federal government's role in healthcare provision.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided the first substantial federal support for state education. Federal money was allocated to ensure that educational standards across all states were equal.
The Model Cities Act continued Kennedy's policy of urban renewal. The Act targeted the centres of large cities where living conditions were at their worst and crime rates were highest. It provided federal funds for slum clearance and the provision of improved services.
The minimum wage was increased from $1.25 to $1.40 per hour.
Opposition to the Great Society
Like Kennedy before him, Johnson encountered substantial opposition to his Great Society measures. This opposition was complicated by attitudes towards American involvement in Vietnam. Republicans accused Johnson of wasting money on welfare programmes and undermining the principle of rugged individualism. He faced accusations of overspending on welfare programmes, with rapid increases in health spending proving particularly controversial.
Key Opposition Groups and Their Concerns:
The strongest opposition came from Southern Congressmen, even Democrats within his own party, who opposed his commitment to civil rights. They believed that equal rights for African Americans would cost them the votes of whites in the South. Some opposed the further extension of federal government power and greater central government spending. Many remained committed to the values of rugged individualism.
The escalation of American involvement in Vietnam presented the most substantial problem for Johnson. This was not only costly, meaning spending was diverted from the Great Society programmes, but it also generated increasing criticism of Johnson himself. His considerable election victory of 1964 seemed distant, and many Americans welcomed his decision not to run for re-election as president in 1968.
The outbreak of violence in American cities in the late 1960s has often been interpreted as evidence that the Great Society had failed. The programme had aroused expectations that it was then unable to deliver.
Assessment of the Great Society
Despite the criticisms directed at the Great Society, millions benefited from its education and healthcare programmes. Johnson had achieved much for the poorer sections of American society. The number of Americans with incomes below the poverty line (the income level at which a family is unable to meet its basic needs) fell by over 50 per cent. Above all, like Roosevelt in the 1930s, Johnson had greatly extended the role of federal government in intervening to create change, particularly in the reduction of poverty.
Historiographical Perspective:
Historian Robert Dallek, writing in 2002, argued that Johnson's record was more impressive than often acknowledged. Johnson successfully took up numerous progressive causes, including the defence of voting rights, open housing, immigration reform, environmental protections, consumer safety bills, cabinet departments of transportation and housing and urban development, cultural reforms like the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, and the Freedom of Information Act.
Although a number of Johnson's initiatives fell short of what he hoped they might accomplish, his domestic reforms added up to a record of liberal alterations that rivalled Roosevelt's New Deal.
Moreover, Johnson's civil rights actions permanently transformed the South. They destroyed traditions of racial segregation that had existed for generations and opened the way to equal treatment of African Americans in every region of the country.
Key dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1963 | Johnson became president following Kennedy's assassination |
| 1964 | Johnson launched the Great Society programme |
| 1964 | Civil Rights Act passed |
| 1965 | Voting Rights Act passed |
| 1968 | Johnson decided not to seek re-election as president |
Key Points to Remember:
- Johnson's Great Society represented a comprehensive programme of civil rights, economic and social reforms aimed at reducing poverty and inequality through expanded federal government intervention
- Civil rights achievements included the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the 1967 Supreme Court ruling against laws banning mixed-race marriage
- Economic reforms focused on tax cuts to stimulate growth, the Appalachian Recovery Programme, the Office of Economic Opportunity, and consumer protection measures
- Social reforms established Medicare and Medicaid for universal healthcare access, federal education funding through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, urban renewal programmes, and minimum wage increases
- Opposition came from Southern Democrats who feared losing white votes, Republicans who criticised welfare spending, and the diversion of resources and attention to the Vietnam War, though the programme successfully reduced poverty by over 50 per cent
- Johnson himself considered his civil rights achievements to be his most important legacy, believing they permanently transformed the South