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Essay about Johnson VS Madison

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Johnson became the 36th President of the United States a few short hours after the assassination of JFK. Known as one of the greatest political persuaders of the times, he sought the “Greater Good” of the people. James Madison was the fourth president of the United States. Although he was president, he is better known as the “father of the Constitution”. He led our fledging nation through the difficult War of 1812. Lyndon Johnson’s presidency was embroiled in foreign nations as was Madison’s. An advocator of the space program, Johnson and the leaders of Russia worked things out between their two nations. During Johnson’s presidency, Vietnam became his defining moment. Unfortunately, many people believe this to be his greatest failure. …show more content…

This memorial brought about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the first of many Civil Right Acts. In 1965, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act which did away with literacy voting tests. These literacy tests prevented the African American citizen from voting. He went on to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Equal Housing Act. Interestingly enough, Johnson appointed the first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall. He even surrounded himself with colored advisors so as to not appear as a hypocrite. All the Civil Rights Acts prompted Johnson to start his “Great Society” ideas.
Slavery still existed during Madison’s presidency so there was no great reform there. However, in 1811, Madison vetoed two bills of Congress that tried to grant land to religious congregations. His reasons for the veto were the bills violated the non-establishment clause of the first Amendment that Madison helped write. Later that same year, Congress passed a Religious Freedom Act that Madison signed into bill. He wrote many statements concerning the fact that church and state should be separate and continued to live by those statements throughout his Presidency. Interestingly enough, Madison supported the Native American populations living on American soil. In fact, he ordered the protection of their lands from foreign invasions. In order for him to pass his “Great Society”, Johnson had to seek Congressional resolution. He was very persuasive in his arguments. After all, he was a former

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