THE JOHNSON PRESIDENCY, 1963-1968
DOMESTIC POLICIES
PRE-PRESIDENTIAL CAREER: humble origins, TEACHER - taught seg schools, 28 Mex American students –
encouraged education = escape, truth in “I wanted power to give things to people…esp poor and blacks”
RACIST OR IDEALIST?: had to appeal to white seg, opp to T’s CR prog but = valid in contemporary Southern
context: ‘force people to do what they are not ready to do of their own free will’ = ‘wave of riots’ across S
1949: seg Tex cem refused MX-US war hero; J arranged burial in Arlington Nat. Cem = front page NYT: cynical
publicity stunt? Took courage when most Texan voters = white
Pre-empted W opp by appealing to self-interest – not have to worry Comm if everyone had housing and job
PERSONLTY
JOHNSON TREATMENT: invade personal space, persuaded to vote as he wished – ensured that IKE’s 57 CRB
AND POLICIES
obtained suff Dem votes - ‘Senator of Florida = ‘a great overpowering thunderstorm that consumed you’
CHANGING POSITION ON CR? one of three S senators not to sign Southern manifesto
1956 – killed CR bill in Congress, but orchestrated passage of 2 CRAs in 1957 and 1960– WHY? Changed
position because believed South had to accept deseg to advance economically (unattractive to investors),
important to uphold Constitution – cannot overrule Brown, MBB showed that change = inevitable “If we don’t
act, we’re gonna have blood in our streets”
EEOC: chaired under JFK, lacked power and money but did best – CORE’s James Farmer considered motivation
genuine – rated him higher than JFK for CR – little progress- could not push contractors too far without
damaging administration – Fed AA jobs up by 22% 1963 but activists = dissatisfied
22 NOV 63: Kennedy assassinated, Johnson POTUS = traumatised nation, WH insiders + BK saw J as usurper
-“I became the custodian of the Kennedy dream”
-Jackie Kennedy burnished legend, mythical legacy: Kennedy’s Camelot
IMPACT OF -gen feeling in nation for leg tribute = capitalised on desire to memorialise JFK for CR bill + anti-pov - used bills
THE KENNEDY with emotive ref. “the ideals which JFK represented must and will be translated into effective actions”
LEGACY -JFK greatly increased US involvement in Vietnam – must continue policies – KENNEDY LEGACY = FATAL
-Won 1964 election with 61% of vote, Dems = majority in both houses of Congress – JFK sympathy, BG = too
conservative = ‘in your heart yk he’s right’ vs ‘In your guts yk he’s nuts’ - submitted 87 bills, 84 = passed
May 1964: J offered new version of AD – fed gov engineer GS defined by racial equality, end of pov, edu
reform, modern housing, end of urban decay, peace (6)– exceptional quantity of reforming
‘WAR ON POVERTY’ :
-JAN 1964: declared ‘unconditional war on poverty’ + persuaded C to pass EOA (econ. Opp.) – EOA est OEO to
coordinate WOP – MOST IMP: set up Head Start, Job Corps (skills for city youth)
-FEB 1965 informed Congress of progress: 44 states = anti-pov progs/ 25,000 families receive work training
-Fed. Spending on poor rose from $13 billion in 1963 to $20 billion in 1966
HEALTH:
elderly = large % of poor, healthcare = too expensive
Social Security Act 1965: Medicare (fed. Funded health insurance for 65+ and disabled regardless of income) +
Medicaid (fed. Gov aid to states, medical treatment to poor) – “healthcare revolution” = so popular that no
president dare oppose it – 1/5 of population benefited by 1976
ISSUES: gaps in coverage, proved more expensive than admin. anticipated – allowed hospitals to set fees -
THE ‘GREAT 1966: HoR estiM MC = $12 billion by 1990 but = $98 billion + prob of reasonably priced HC remained
SOCIETY’ -healthcare had been available through charities – paid for what docs had been doing for free
EDUCATION:
“nothing matters more to the future of our country” – problems = 54 million USA never finished HS
-Funding for education = rare BUT J emphasised USA spent “ 7x on youth gone bad” than one that stays in
school – got agreement that fed. Expenditure on ed. = doubled to $8 billion to solve!
-Head Start Programme helped poor pre-schoolers (1 million benefited)
-Upward Bound prog linked higher edu institutions to the poor with college potential (50,000 benefited)
1965: Elem. + Second. Edu. Act, Higher Edu. Act – money towards poorest states and children
-1970 – 25% of college students received some form of HEA
-“if his educational reforms did not lead to a Great Society, they have at least made for a better society”
ISSUES: not enough money spent to get enough teachers for Head Start Programme
, THE JOHNSON PRESIDENCY, 1963-1968
URBAN PROBLEMS:
Inner cities = characterised by poor schools/housing – Cs responded with varying efficacy
-1966 – Demonstration of Cities Act, meant to make 6 ‘model cities’ of affordable housing, transport, and
slum clearance – Congress made it 150 cities, underfunded, not enough money
-despite leg. 1965-66, ghettos continue in dire state – housing = major issue of discontent, 4/5 of Detroit
ghetto rioters had jobs $120+ weekly suggesting housing + alienation = issue not poverty
-1968 Fair Housing Act – banned discrimination in sale/rental of housing
ISSUES: white taxpayers did not want to fund urban rehab + white opp made FHA v. difficult to enforce
ENVIRONMENT: 1964 National Wilderness Preservation Act created 45 national parks
SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
FOR: -Fed. Spending on poor rose from $13 billion in 1963 to $20 billion in 1966
-% in poverty fell from 17% in 1965 to 11% by early 1970s
-3.9% unemployment rate in 1967 = 13-year low
-minimum wage rose by 35 cents
-drew attention to poverty + efforts to combat it went far beyond any other president
AGAINST: cons = level of fed. exp. = unsustainable, cost more to put ghetto youth in Job Corps than Harvard)
- “when measured against expectations set forth by LBJ, the W on P remained a disappointment”
-many groups = left out –could not seize many of the opps that were being emphasised to them e.g. disabled
-1/3 of non-whites still lived below poverty line + infant mortality = 2X white
-politically unrealistic promises, weaknesses in planning and implementation
WHY DID IT RUN OUT OF STEAM? Became a casualty of the Vietnam war – tax/ inflation = GS unpopular
-Sargant Shriver: “Vietnam took it all away, every Goddammed dollar. That’s what killed the war on poverty. It
wasn’t public opinion” – more spent on VW than all GS put together
-Top aid Joseph Califano = “extravagant rhetoric” unsupported by proper funding = unrealistic expectations +
disillusionment with programmes – damaged liberalism
-unforeseen circumstances – programmes to help urban poor = hijacked by radicals
-Early 1960s, 96% of USA believe SoL will continue to improve – VW = adverse effects, inflationary pressures
1965: booming economy = overheating? AUG – LBJ tried to persuade industry to prevent inflation by following
wage and price guidelines – DEC approves interest rate rise designed to cool economy
1966: LBJ = “a people who live in abundance unmatched on this globe”, pointed out in last 5 years: corporate
ECONOMIC earnings up by 66+%, unemp at 13YR low – assured could afford GS + VW But inf = highest for 10yrs, doubt
DEVELOPMNT 1967: pressure for tax hike – prospective budget def= +10 million = tax increase in JAN 67 budget message
( or not) -OCT: 60% = high CoL = biggest problem, only 5% = Vietnam
-LBJ admitted problems to C: unwise to reject further tax rises ‘while the storm clouds of inflation gather’
1968: problems = HUGE – fed. budget deficit = $25.3 billion, trade deficit = $4BN=3X in 1966
MAINTAINING AMERICAN WORLD POWER
JFK death provided perfect opportunity to withdraw yet LBJ did not…WHY?
COLD WAR CONVICTIONS: didn’t want to appease communists by backing down + containment/domino
-national honour to continue commitment to SV + SEATO
-Reps accused Truman of ‘losing’ China –repeatedly said he did not want to be first president to lose a war
KENNEDY LEGACY: JFK colluded in assassination of Diem – “morally locked in”= obliged to cont JFK’s policies
-retained JFK’s Sec of Defence (McNamara) and Sec of State (Rusk) among others – no new ideas, supported
military solution, Kennedy men didn’t want to admit they got it wrong with JFK
FAILINGS OF SAIGON REGIME: soon after Diem’s assassination it was clear that General Minh and his
successors were even less capable
-MARCH 1964: McNamara visited Saigon + described leadership of General Khanh as ‘very disturbing’
GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION: changed course of war
2 AUGUST 1964: NV patrol boats fired ‘USS Maddox’
4 AUGUST: Maddox ‘patrolling’, reported fired by NV – returned, reports later unclear whether unprovoked
💥 GIVES LBJ EXCUSE TO ESCALATE by emphasising ATTACK not provocative US patrols
DOMESTIC POLICIES
PRE-PRESIDENTIAL CAREER: humble origins, TEACHER - taught seg schools, 28 Mex American students –
encouraged education = escape, truth in “I wanted power to give things to people…esp poor and blacks”
RACIST OR IDEALIST?: had to appeal to white seg, opp to T’s CR prog but = valid in contemporary Southern
context: ‘force people to do what they are not ready to do of their own free will’ = ‘wave of riots’ across S
1949: seg Tex cem refused MX-US war hero; J arranged burial in Arlington Nat. Cem = front page NYT: cynical
publicity stunt? Took courage when most Texan voters = white
Pre-empted W opp by appealing to self-interest – not have to worry Comm if everyone had housing and job
PERSONLTY
JOHNSON TREATMENT: invade personal space, persuaded to vote as he wished – ensured that IKE’s 57 CRB
AND POLICIES
obtained suff Dem votes - ‘Senator of Florida = ‘a great overpowering thunderstorm that consumed you’
CHANGING POSITION ON CR? one of three S senators not to sign Southern manifesto
1956 – killed CR bill in Congress, but orchestrated passage of 2 CRAs in 1957 and 1960– WHY? Changed
position because believed South had to accept deseg to advance economically (unattractive to investors),
important to uphold Constitution – cannot overrule Brown, MBB showed that change = inevitable “If we don’t
act, we’re gonna have blood in our streets”
EEOC: chaired under JFK, lacked power and money but did best – CORE’s James Farmer considered motivation
genuine – rated him higher than JFK for CR – little progress- could not push contractors too far without
damaging administration – Fed AA jobs up by 22% 1963 but activists = dissatisfied
22 NOV 63: Kennedy assassinated, Johnson POTUS = traumatised nation, WH insiders + BK saw J as usurper
-“I became the custodian of the Kennedy dream”
-Jackie Kennedy burnished legend, mythical legacy: Kennedy’s Camelot
IMPACT OF -gen feeling in nation for leg tribute = capitalised on desire to memorialise JFK for CR bill + anti-pov - used bills
THE KENNEDY with emotive ref. “the ideals which JFK represented must and will be translated into effective actions”
LEGACY -JFK greatly increased US involvement in Vietnam – must continue policies – KENNEDY LEGACY = FATAL
-Won 1964 election with 61% of vote, Dems = majority in both houses of Congress – JFK sympathy, BG = too
conservative = ‘in your heart yk he’s right’ vs ‘In your guts yk he’s nuts’ - submitted 87 bills, 84 = passed
May 1964: J offered new version of AD – fed gov engineer GS defined by racial equality, end of pov, edu
reform, modern housing, end of urban decay, peace (6)– exceptional quantity of reforming
‘WAR ON POVERTY’ :
-JAN 1964: declared ‘unconditional war on poverty’ + persuaded C to pass EOA (econ. Opp.) – EOA est OEO to
coordinate WOP – MOST IMP: set up Head Start, Job Corps (skills for city youth)
-FEB 1965 informed Congress of progress: 44 states = anti-pov progs/ 25,000 families receive work training
-Fed. Spending on poor rose from $13 billion in 1963 to $20 billion in 1966
HEALTH:
elderly = large % of poor, healthcare = too expensive
Social Security Act 1965: Medicare (fed. Funded health insurance for 65+ and disabled regardless of income) +
Medicaid (fed. Gov aid to states, medical treatment to poor) – “healthcare revolution” = so popular that no
president dare oppose it – 1/5 of population benefited by 1976
ISSUES: gaps in coverage, proved more expensive than admin. anticipated – allowed hospitals to set fees -
THE ‘GREAT 1966: HoR estiM MC = $12 billion by 1990 but = $98 billion + prob of reasonably priced HC remained
SOCIETY’ -healthcare had been available through charities – paid for what docs had been doing for free
EDUCATION:
“nothing matters more to the future of our country” – problems = 54 million USA never finished HS
-Funding for education = rare BUT J emphasised USA spent “ 7x on youth gone bad” than one that stays in
school – got agreement that fed. Expenditure on ed. = doubled to $8 billion to solve!
-Head Start Programme helped poor pre-schoolers (1 million benefited)
-Upward Bound prog linked higher edu institutions to the poor with college potential (50,000 benefited)
1965: Elem. + Second. Edu. Act, Higher Edu. Act – money towards poorest states and children
-1970 – 25% of college students received some form of HEA
-“if his educational reforms did not lead to a Great Society, they have at least made for a better society”
ISSUES: not enough money spent to get enough teachers for Head Start Programme
, THE JOHNSON PRESIDENCY, 1963-1968
URBAN PROBLEMS:
Inner cities = characterised by poor schools/housing – Cs responded with varying efficacy
-1966 – Demonstration of Cities Act, meant to make 6 ‘model cities’ of affordable housing, transport, and
slum clearance – Congress made it 150 cities, underfunded, not enough money
-despite leg. 1965-66, ghettos continue in dire state – housing = major issue of discontent, 4/5 of Detroit
ghetto rioters had jobs $120+ weekly suggesting housing + alienation = issue not poverty
-1968 Fair Housing Act – banned discrimination in sale/rental of housing
ISSUES: white taxpayers did not want to fund urban rehab + white opp made FHA v. difficult to enforce
ENVIRONMENT: 1964 National Wilderness Preservation Act created 45 national parks
SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
FOR: -Fed. Spending on poor rose from $13 billion in 1963 to $20 billion in 1966
-% in poverty fell from 17% in 1965 to 11% by early 1970s
-3.9% unemployment rate in 1967 = 13-year low
-minimum wage rose by 35 cents
-drew attention to poverty + efforts to combat it went far beyond any other president
AGAINST: cons = level of fed. exp. = unsustainable, cost more to put ghetto youth in Job Corps than Harvard)
- “when measured against expectations set forth by LBJ, the W on P remained a disappointment”
-many groups = left out –could not seize many of the opps that were being emphasised to them e.g. disabled
-1/3 of non-whites still lived below poverty line + infant mortality = 2X white
-politically unrealistic promises, weaknesses in planning and implementation
WHY DID IT RUN OUT OF STEAM? Became a casualty of the Vietnam war – tax/ inflation = GS unpopular
-Sargant Shriver: “Vietnam took it all away, every Goddammed dollar. That’s what killed the war on poverty. It
wasn’t public opinion” – more spent on VW than all GS put together
-Top aid Joseph Califano = “extravagant rhetoric” unsupported by proper funding = unrealistic expectations +
disillusionment with programmes – damaged liberalism
-unforeseen circumstances – programmes to help urban poor = hijacked by radicals
-Early 1960s, 96% of USA believe SoL will continue to improve – VW = adverse effects, inflationary pressures
1965: booming economy = overheating? AUG – LBJ tried to persuade industry to prevent inflation by following
wage and price guidelines – DEC approves interest rate rise designed to cool economy
1966: LBJ = “a people who live in abundance unmatched on this globe”, pointed out in last 5 years: corporate
ECONOMIC earnings up by 66+%, unemp at 13YR low – assured could afford GS + VW But inf = highest for 10yrs, doubt
DEVELOPMNT 1967: pressure for tax hike – prospective budget def= +10 million = tax increase in JAN 67 budget message
( or not) -OCT: 60% = high CoL = biggest problem, only 5% = Vietnam
-LBJ admitted problems to C: unwise to reject further tax rises ‘while the storm clouds of inflation gather’
1968: problems = HUGE – fed. budget deficit = $25.3 billion, trade deficit = $4BN=3X in 1966
MAINTAINING AMERICAN WORLD POWER
JFK death provided perfect opportunity to withdraw yet LBJ did not…WHY?
COLD WAR CONVICTIONS: didn’t want to appease communists by backing down + containment/domino
-national honour to continue commitment to SV + SEATO
-Reps accused Truman of ‘losing’ China –repeatedly said he did not want to be first president to lose a war
KENNEDY LEGACY: JFK colluded in assassination of Diem – “morally locked in”= obliged to cont JFK’s policies
-retained JFK’s Sec of Defence (McNamara) and Sec of State (Rusk) among others – no new ideas, supported
military solution, Kennedy men didn’t want to admit they got it wrong with JFK
FAILINGS OF SAIGON REGIME: soon after Diem’s assassination it was clear that General Minh and his
successors were even less capable
-MARCH 1964: McNamara visited Saigon + described leadership of General Khanh as ‘very disturbing’
GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION: changed course of war
2 AUGUST 1964: NV patrol boats fired ‘USS Maddox’
4 AUGUST: Maddox ‘patrolling’, reported fired by NV – returned, reports later unclear whether unprovoked
💥 GIVES LBJ EXCUSE TO ESCALATE by emphasising ATTACK not provocative US patrols
