Lyndon B. Johnson had only served one term, but he surprisingly accomplished a lot during his only term. Johnson had the ability to pass the acts that Kennedy created during his time in office. Some of these accomplishments include: Medicare and Medicaid, Education acts, and the Civil Rights acts. In order to continue his war on poverty, he established Medicare and Medicaid to aid poor families and the elderly. To further help families in need, as well as children, Johnson passed education acts to fix and create more public schools in poor areas. Lastly, civil rights acts were passed to give better opportunities for blacks within the United States. While these acts were based on Kennedy's ideas, Johnson found the way to put them into place. …show more content…
The Medicare and Medicaid federal programs were put in place as a way to help the less fortunate. Individuals with severe disabilities or over the age of 65 qualify for Medicare. This program helps them with health coverage, so the disabled and elderly who have Medicare do not have to worry about their medical bills and not going to the hospital when they are sick. Medicaid is a similar program, however, it only applies to low income families who cannot provide for their children. Similar to Medicare, this program covers any health related problems and takes away the worry and troubles that come with hospital bills.
Continuing his war on poverty, Johnson passed numerous education bills and acts. The Higher Education Act of 1965 has had great impact on the American education system. In addition to helping low income students, this program created scholarships, which created more opportunities for students living in poverty. The Bilingual Education act of 1968 created a pathway for equal education for students who could speak little to no English. While it didn't do much, the amendments added to this act later on helped give children equal opportunities in
Lyndon B Johnson became president in 1963 after the assassination of President John F Kennedy on November 22nd 1963. He formulated many policies including ‘The Great Society’. This was introduced in an aim to end poverty, improve education and rejuvenate cities for all Americans. Johnson also introduced Civil Rights. This act refers to the personal rights a citizen holds which are protected by the US government and prohibits; the discrimination of race, religion, age or gender. This was introduced to create equal opportunities for all. This essay will outline the key factors regarding whether or not Lyndon B Johnson
How should the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson best be remembered? President Lyndon Baines Johnson should be remembered for his achievements more than his doings in Vietnam. Many presidents in the past promised greater and better things to happen domestically but in the end either they failed at addressing the issues of the nation or did not do very much. Most of the presidents had their attention abroad in countries where war was going on. According to the textbook, the authors mentions that the United States spent $32200 on every communists killed in Vietnam while the government’s poverty programs only gave $53 per person. Like most worldwide wars, American mainly focused on the robles of the other countries. They used peacemaking as
Lyndon B. Johnson was similar to Andrew Johnson who both became president after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and President Lyndon B. Johnson was officially named president on November 22, 1963 after the famous John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Though President Lyndon had big shoes to fill after the beloved JFK was no longer in office he definitely had his own agendas. However, Johnson did not want to try to compete with JFK legacy but he did want to honor the civil rights bill that President Kennedy was working on before he passed away. President Johnson grew up in poverty and understood how to live without our basic necessities. Therefore one of his biggest accomplishments was getting Congress to approve the education and poverty of our
Johnson entered the political world. LBJ first became in involved in politics in 1937. During this year he ran in a special election and won a seat representing the 10th District in Texas in the House of Representatives (…). His successfully ran campaign can be linked to him running on the support of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. LBJ spent six years in the House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 1948 (Library of Congress). During this election, LBJ was facing Coke Stevenson, who was the former Governor of Texas, for the Democratic nomination. This election was seen controversial by many not only because of who was running, but also because of how the votes were counted. After the run-off election LBJ won by a modest 87 votes, and coined the nickname “Landslide Lyndon.” In the general election, he defeated Republican Jack Daniel to take over the Senate seat vacated by W. Lee O’Daniel (…). As stated, by his Library of Congress “In 1953, he became the youngest Minority Leader in Senate history, and the following year, [he became] Majority Leader” (Library of Congress). Johnson found great success in Congress, through passing legislation and creating working relationships with both Democrats and
Upon Johnson taking office in 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Johnson forced the passage of civil rights and economic legislation that Kennedy had sustained. Johnson was not always supportive of this bill BUT he foreseen the opportunity to present himself as a leader to the mourning nation. He used skills that he had acquired as Senate Majority Leader and ensured the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the Tax Act of 1964 and the
Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in 1908 in central Texas. At the age of twenty he taught at a fifth, sixth, and seventh grade segregated Mexican-American school in Cotulla, Texas. His career began in teaching but in 1931 Johnson began a political one. Johnson held a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for eleven years. He was elected in 1937 representing his home state Texas. Johnson was also a lieutenant commander in World War II. He was in the South Pacific when President Roosevelt called him back. In 1948, Johnson was elected to two six-year terms in the Senate. He aimed for presidency in 1960 but lost to the John F. Kennedy. Kennedy chose him as his vice president. J.F.K. was assassinated three years later. L.B.J became president and continued Kennedy’s fight for civil rights. On July 2,1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed by L.B.J. The bill expanded voting rights, strengthened equal employment rights, and also allowed all Americans to use public facilities (Politics or Principle 405). Some people say he did it because of his personal beliefs for civil rights. Others say it was a strategic move in order to win the upcoming presidential election. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for political reasons because his past beliefs were different, he cared about public opinion, and he wasn’t sincere.
One major thing that Johnson gets credit for is addressing the civil rights. He passed a couple of significant acts that allowed civil rights to African Americans. This is seen as one of his positives during his term. However, an argument can be made that this could have been accomplished during the Kennedy administration. Of course, there is much evidence that Kennedy was in fact hesitant when it came to civil rights issues, but the Cold War played a part with Kennedy’s action. Timing did not help Kennedy while he was in office. During his tenure, Kennedy had to deal
President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society programs and policies were a success because it provided healthcare for the underprivileged, increased education and decreased racial injustice. The Great Society moved the nation towards decreased poverty and increased citizen well being, and although there have been policies that did not achieve positive long lasting influences, the overall impact of the Great Society was a triumph.
When Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded the presidency after John F. Kennedy's assassination he spoke of his vision of a Great Society in America. This Great Society included "an end to poverty and racial injustice," and also was intended to turn America into a place where kids can enhance their mind, broaden their talents, and people could restore their connection with the environment. In order to reach his goal, LBJ enacted numerous proposals involving taxes, civil rights, poverty, and much more. For the most part Johnson did an excellent job on delivering his promises, but international affairs threatened the Great Society and although LBJ won the presidency in a landslide victory in 1964, by 1966 he and the Supreme Court began to face
Lyndon B. Johnson inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to create something similar to the New Deal that attempted to help the less advantaged people of the United States and also increase government commitment. After the death of President John F. Kennedy, President Johnson rushed to pass these programs, changing his conservative ideas to liberal wanted to finish JFK work and also prove that he deserved to be President. Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act, which was one of the bills that JFK left in progress of completion. This bill banned all racial discrimination in facilities opened to the public like schools, theaters, and hospitals. Johnson also passed the Voting Rights Act officially naming it unconstitutional to have literacy tests done to African Americans or any other group of voters. These bills were a way
Johnson aspired to be as much as a success as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Historians argue that he not only reached his goal, but also surpassed it. He began to fight for his “A Great Society” project. Johnson wanted no activity against his ultimate goal. He began by installing John F. Kennedy’s program. However, he accomplished things that Kennedy did not even plan in the running for his presidency (Ushistory.org). After installing the programs intended by Kennedy, Johnson continued to create programs for a better America. He began the war on poverty, and signed the bill called the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The program was set to attack the causes of poverty in America. Vocational preparation was added to provide a more qualified and better-paid workforce. Job Corps was the name given to the program to create a better, more problem-free workforce. To bring more educated workers to communities, many education programs were started. Head Start was created to advance education before kindergarten. There were programs to begin a superior version of learning and teaching for children with learning disabilities. The lack of instruction was a leading cause to poverty, thus Johnson chose to attempt to disassemble the problem (Ushistory.org). Attacking surface problems of poverty was his plan to show the country possible improvement of their current economic and social situations. Voting Rights Act decreed there to be no literacy or any other form of test to prevent
Prior to his political career, Johnson was himself had seen poverty in a Hispanic community in a small town in Texas, where he was a teacher. His experiences as a teacher would be recalled again when he became President. His largest priority in his series of plans was to make education more accessible in areas of the country where it was not of a competent quality. He believed that through education, people’s lives can change for the better, as it was his way out of poverty in rural Texas (Dellek, 193). The Elementary and Secondary Education Act was one of the most expensive bills he had passed. The legislation focused on funding local elementary, secondary and high schools to improve quality and offer better resources for academic purposes. These purposes included better opportunities for handicapped and non-English speaking children, hot lunches for children during school as well as the priority he had to desegregate schools (Dellek, 196). Not only did he focus on education for young children, but to young adults as well- a bill was passed to help war veterans attend college, as well as the Higher Education Act of 1965, legislating better funding to programs in colleges and universities, providing resources as well as scholarships and loans to end the issue with crime and unemployment. Johnson also oversaw the National Defense Education Act, a policy to aid and promote the study of the science, and math, with added subjects to elementary and high school curriculum (Dellek,
There are many things, like people or events, throughout history that have contributed in the making of history. Out of all the people we studied in this course, I think that President Lyndon B. Johnson made one of the biggest impacts. Honestly, Johnson is not the first guy who pops into my head when I think of presidents, but I think he made at least a small difference in America during his time in office. The biggest thing he did in my mind is really try to resolve some civil rights problems. I know he could not fix everything, and he was far from fixing a lot of it, but he tried his best. He implemented the Civil Rights Act of 1964 trying to outlaw discrimination in work and public. He also put the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into action,
Johnson imposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was a major social change. This act was first introduced by Kennedy in response to the Birmingham marches, and Johnson was able to get it passed. This act prohibited discrimination based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity or nationality in almost all aspects of the life of American citizens. The Civil Rights Act was a major part of the Civil Rights Movement because it promoted equal treatment of all individuals of different races and genders. Another policy that was made during President Johnson’s term was the Social Security Amendments in 1965.
Medicare and Medicaid are programs that have been developed to assist Americans in attainment of quality health care. Both programs were established in 1965 and are federally supported to provide health care coverage to vulnerable populations such as the elderly, the disabled, and people with low incomes. Both Medicare and Medicaid are federally mandated and determine coverage under each program; both are run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency ("What is Medicare? What is Medicaid?” 2008).