The Great Society

After Lyndon Johnson's landslide victory of 1964, Johnson wanted to constitute a new, largest proposal for governmental action since the New Deal. Unlike the New Deal, Johnson's vision of the new Deal a the program to make the economy and nation flourish and not based on getting out of a depression. He was a president who was open to many possibilities. Which Is why I want to talk about how and what was the Great Society and how it came to be.

Through the years of 1965- 1967, Johnson tried roughly to establish this program where it "provided health service to the poor, elderly in the new Medicaid and Medicare programs and poured federal funds into education and urban development". The Great Society, President Johnson’s domestic program was made to eliminate/fight poverty, provide assistance, welfare, aid, and national health service. It was seen as the idea that the government will finally do something for poor people. The Great Society also rests on abundance and liberty for all. To end racial injustice, in which many were totally committed during that time. It was a Democracy for all, freedom to all. It promoted Voting rights, environmental protection law. Funded education, Head Start, National public radio, public broadcasting, consumer protection law, and civil right act, food stamps, The National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities which used public money to fund artists and galleries, The Immigration Act ended discriminatory quotas based on ethnic origin, An Omnibus Housing Act provided funds to construct low-income housing, Standards raising for safety in consumer products.

This massive program did lower poverty and increased enormously civil human rights/ equality for all people. Like in his speech explaining the Great society it also stretched out to help the environment, Johnson did go as far as to passing a bill, Clean Air Act, an act to control air pollution, stop the contamination of the air. Because as he said, “We are ruining our homes and polluting our air,” With this, Johnson stated to Preserve the beauty and keep our earth healthy and not to destroy our environment necessities. Johnson also made Job Corps Operations so people could train and get work at schools bringing good out of people and created public broadcasting and fair housing.

But sadly even though his progress was going off good. He was hurt by the Asian affairs, The Vietnam war, wherein this conflict all the money set off for the Great Society was ended in being spent for the fight in the war. According to Martin Luther King Jr. what happened to Johnson’s Great Society was that the Great Society has been shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam and ignored. Johnson was weakened by the Antiwar movements shown throughout the nation. Due to the falling of the program, it made the black communities, white communities and poor communities desperate because they were not getting support from the government because they were focused on the war and expanding their conflict and not helping their own country.

Sources:
LBJs Speech
Class Documents