LBJ: “Let us continue”■ Quickly pushed thru Congress 2 key

“Kennedy” bills:–$10B tax reduction – led to

consumer spending & job growth

–Civil Rights Act (1964) – declared segregation in public facilities illegal

Lyndon Johnson in Action■ 1964: LBJ waged “war on poverty”

–Office of Econ Opportunity–Job Corps for HS dropouts–Head Start for preschoolers–Adult ed / technical training

opportunities ■ 10,000,000 fewer in poverty by 1970

In 1964, the U.S. had 35 million poor people

The Election of 1964■ 1964: LBJ ran against:

–Cons Repub Barry Goldwater rejected LBJ’s liberal welfare programs & called for a stronger foreign policy stance

–Segregationist George Wallace■ LBJ won in a landslide & the

Democrats took control of Congress for 1st time in 25 years

The Great Society ■ “Great Society” domestic agenda:

–Medicare & Medicaid extended health insurance to elderly & poor

–$1 billion for schools–Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned

literacy tests & provided federal registrars for polls

The Triumph of Reform■ By 1965, Congress passed 89 social

agenda laws or reforms

–Great Society most comprehensive agenda of social reform since FDR

–But…Vietnam War pulled down his social agenda efforts

Johnson Escalates the Vietnam War

LBJ Escalates the Vietnam War■ LBJ continued JFK’s strong foreign

policy positions too:–CIA-sponsored coups in Brazil,

Panama, & the Dominican Republic–Continued Eisenhower & JFK

policies towards Vietnam■ LBJ found himself under attack from

Congress, the media, & universities

“I am not going to lose Vietnam. I am not going to be the president who saw

Southeast Asia go the way China went.”—LBJ

LBJ Escalates the Vietnam War■ 1964:

–Bombed N Vietnam – revenge for attack on USS Maddox in Gulf of Tonkin

■ Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave LBJ authority to:–Defend S Vietnam at any cost–Unlimited military intervention at

LBJ’s discretion

The Vietnam War

Escalation■ 1965 marked beginning of full-scale

US involvement in Vietnam–LBJ said “without US action, defeat

is inevitable”–Authorized bombing of

NV/requested 50,000 soldiers–Never explained how US would win

Advisors wanted 100,000 troops in 1965 & 100,000 more in 1966; Estimations were 500

U.S. deaths per month

Stalemate■ 1968: 500,000 US troops in Vietnam

–US bombings & “search & destroy” attacks ineffective

–Soviet & Chinese weaponry freely flowed into N Vietnam

–Reckless bombings killed thousands of innocent civilians

■ The bloody stalemate & media depiction of the war led to protests

Image of the “My Lai Massacre,” 1968