What was the problem Johnson Key legislation/Acts
was trying to tackle? passed under Johnson
Civil rights The civil rights bill was stuck at
Congress when Kennedy died –
he needed to encourage
Congress to pass it.
There was a divide in Congress
that Kennedy could not
overcome – he faced a strong
coalition of Southern
Democrats and Republicans
who were opposed to any
changes being made.
Black Americans were still
subjected to segregation in the
South and their voting rights
were not protected with many
voters in the South not being
able to vote: Only 6% of blacks
were registered to vote in
Mississippi.
Only 18% of black Americans
were registered to vote in
Alabama.
Evidence of success Evidence of failure
Civil Rights Act, 1964: Civil Rights is one of the most Johnson was dismayed by the
this is regarded as a significant and long lasting Watts Riots of 1965.
‘milestone’ in American changes made by LBJ in
history. It outlawed the domestic policy. The rise of the Black Power
discrimination on the movement also undermined
basis of race, religion or Voting registration in some of the success of this
sex in public places, Mississippi increased to 60%. act.
including restaurants,
theatres, motels, sports 54% of black Americans were
stadiums, cinemas, and registered to vote in Alabama
concert halls. after the act was passed.
Most significant piece of There was a marginal rise n
legislation passed since Florida of 3%, to 54% of
the Civil War – brings black Americans being overall
an end to legal registered to vote.
segregation.
Attorney General of the
USA was given the
power to take legal
action in federal courts
against any violation of
the Act.
Now the federal
government had the
power to without federal
funding to any state not
adhering to the

Education Until LBJ became president,
education was down to the
federal state.
Because LBJ trained as a
teacher earlier in his career, it
was an area that he was
passionate about.
Johnson’s personal experiences
surely informed his
legislation.
24th Amendment
outlawed the use of poll
taxes at elections.
1965 Voting Act was
also passed: outlawed
literacy tests for voter
registration and
appointed federal
examiners to ensure that
voter registration was
handled correctly.
Open housing Law,
1968 supported
integrated housing and
that imprisoning black
people in slums was
immoral.
LBJ encouraged 6.7 million poor children did Although LBJ saw the ESEA
Congress to double benefit from this programme. as an ‘anti poverty’
federal expenditure on (ESEA) programme, officials
education to $8 billion. implementing it ensured that
During the late 1960s and it never was. In 1985 the
Elementary and 1970s, according to Elizabeth National Institute of
Secondary Education Casico and Sarah Reber in Education estimated that ½ of
Act was passed in 1965. their chapter in Legacies of the expenditure had gone to
This act aimed to use the War on Poverty, federal children living above the
federal funding to aid spending through Title I poverty line.
deprived children. The diminished the differences
understanding of education. "As act allocated $1 billion a between poorer and wealthier In 2012, The New York
the son of a tenant farmer, I year to schools with districts. The legislation also Times reported that since the
know that education is the only high concentrations of provided the federal 1960s the gap in standardized
valid passport from poverty," he low-income children. government with leverage so test scores between kids from
said upon signing the education it could ensure the lower- and higher-income
bill. When he was a 20-year-old The aim of LJB was to desegregation of southern families had risen by 40
student at Southwest Texas help ‘five million schools. percent.
State University, he took a job educationally deprived
in Cotulla teaching the children children overcome their
of Mexican American greatest barrier to
farmworkers, kids who couldn’t progress: poverty’.
afford to bring lunch to school. 
1968: The ESEA was
When he came to power, some amended, resulting in
of the problems included: the ‘Bilingual Education
Act’: more aid was
- 54 million offered to non-English
Americans had never speakers.
finished high school
- 8 million had under The Headstart Headstart benefitted 8 million
five years of Programme offered pre- children.
schooling school classes to low
- 100,000 high school income families.
graduates with
proven ability could Higher Education Act 11 million students benefitted
not enter college (HEA) was also passed from the HEA – It provided
- Schools were often in 1965. The objective $650 million in funding.
overcrowded and was to strengthen the
there was a shortage educational resources of By 1970, 25% of college
of good teachers. colleges and universities students received some
to provide financial financial aid. As a result, the
assistance for students in number of students rose from

Housing and Johnson wanted to tackle the
urban problem of segregated housing
problems as “imprisoning the Negro in
the slums’ was immoral and
exacerbated racial tensions.
This would be a difficult
problem to tackle – black
movement into white areas
made property prices fall.
higher education. 34% in 1970 to 52% in 1990.
It also provided loans Dallek: “If his education
for students to pay reforms did not lead to a
college fees, allowing Great Society, they have at
many children from low least made for a better society.
income families to have It is an achievement for which
a university education Johnson deserves the
that they could not country’s continuing regard”
afford otherwise.
Open Housing Law – Demonstration Cities Act was Unfortunately this was not
1968: passed in 1966 and $1.2 enough – LBJ estimated that
Over the next two years, billion was given towards it. the total cost of this
members of the House programme would be $2.4
of Representatives and billion, but the New York
Senate considered the Times estimated that NYC
bill several times, but, would need $6 billion alone.
on each occasion, it
failed to gain the Senator Robert Kennedy
necessary support for criticised the Demonstration
passage. Cities Act – ‘drop in the
bucket’.
Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), New York Times stated that
1965: Co-ordinated the Demonstration Cities Act
various programmes to was spread too thinly to be
combat housing effective as members of
shortages and decay in Congress demanded funding
the urban areas where for their own states – was not
over 2/3 of Americans enough money to go around.
lived.
‘Demonstration Cities’:
Chicago, Detroit,
Houston and Los
Angeles became
designated
‘demonstration cities’ –
here the local
community and all Johnson was successful – he Conditions did not vastly
levels of government encouraged builders to improve – white taxpayers
would work on the alck construct reasonably priced still did not want to give their
of cheap housing, good housing by providing federal taxes to improving the
transportation, loans. situation. As a result LJB
availability of needed to amend his approach
recreational facilities, which would focus on ending
and on slum clearance. discrimination in housing as
opposed to having to build
Omnibus Housing Act new houses. This would cost
(1965): financed rent the taxpayer nothing.
supplements and $8
billion worth of low-and
moderate-income
housing in the ghettos.

Overall success: Johnson was

unable to solve this issue – it
was simply too great.

Fair Housing Act 4/5 of Detroit ghetto rioters

(1968): This prohibited arrested in 1967 had jobs
discrimination in the paying over $120 weekly,

Healthcare In 1965, only about ½ of those
aged 65 or over had private
insurance.
Only a few could afford
insurance covering their
surgical or out of hospital
doctors costs.
Four successive Congresses had
refused to help the large
proportion of over 65’s who had
no private health insurance.
Environment Following the book silent
sale or rental of
housing..
Medicare (1965): In it’s first year, over 19
Provided medical care million Social Security
for those who were 65 recipients registered for the
years old and above to programme.
members of society who
did not have health Within a single year,
insurance. Medicaid increased the
amount spent by the federal
and state governments on
Medicaid was set up to healthcare for poorer citizens
aid the poor who had no from 1.3 billion to over 2
medical insurance. This billion.
was also passed in 1965
and formed part of the It became one of Johnsons
Social Security Act. biggest successes as no
president dared to oppose it
lest he alienate the powerful
‘grey vote’.
Wilderness Act (1964): Water Quality and clean air
suggesting that it was housing
alienation as opposed to
poverty that was causing
discontent.
Gaps in coverage: eye glasses
were not covered.
Medicare and Medicaid were
far more expensive than LBJ
anticipated. The legislation
allowed hospitals and doctors
to set the fees.
Medicare costs rocketed from
$3.5 billion in 1966 to $144
billion by 1993.
In 1965 approximately 5% of
GNP was spent on healthcare.
This increased to over 15%
by 1990.
Although over 1/5 of the
population benefitted from
Medicare and Medicade by
1976, the problem of
accessing reasonably priced
care for all Americans
remained.
His combatting of air and
spring, Johnson worked to
increase response to protect
landscape
· Protect natural
reserves
Act against water and air
pollution
Aimed to protect 9.1 monitoring gives government water pollution faced debate
million acres of federal authority to react against and controversy in the federal
land. pollution (but triggers debate government about the scale of
of government intervention- interventionism to be carried
Highway Beautification but ultimately his regulations out
Act (1965): Decreased remain, hinting that it had
billboard advertising and greater advantages)
eliminated junkyards.

Expanded National · Wilderness act helps

Parks Service: 50 new
areas would be
administered.
Three New National
Parks were set up during
his presidency:
Guadeloupe Mountains
National Park in Texas,
North Cascades National
Park in Washington and
Redwood National Park
in California.
to protect 9.1 million
acres of federal land
· HBA decreases
billboard advertising
and eliminated
junkyards which
reduces visual
pollution
· Johnson also adds 50
new areas for national
parks and expanded
pre-existing ones

Water Quality and Clean

Air Acts (1965)

Clean Water Restoration

Act (1966) - government
now had jurisdiction to
act forcefully against air
and water pollution.
Poverty Ending poverty was the most Economic Opportunity VISTA success: 8,000 CAP failures: Northern cities
significant element of his Great Act (1964) – this created volunteers were assisting had CAP’s which were taken
Society. a new federal agency, groups such as needy over by militants who
the Office of Economic children, Native Americans criticised LBJ for not doing
In January 1964 he declared an Opportunity (OEO) and migratory workers. enough.
unconstitutional war on poverty. which had the task of
co-ordinating a variety
Despite the United States being of initiatives to eradicate
the wealthiest country in the poverty within the USA.
world, the top 20% still owned An example of this was
77% of the wealth, while the VISTA (Volunteers in
bottom 20% owned 0.5% of the Service to America) –
wealth. this gave middle class
Americans the
In 1962, 20-25% of Americans opportunity to help the
barely had enough money to needy directly.
buy food and pay for
accommodation. Community Action
Programme also made
up the EOA. The aim of
the CAP was to allow
the poor to play a part in
federal programmes.
Southern black
Americans could also
play a part in
determining policies that
affected them.

Jobs Corps programme:

Designed to improve the IBM was an example of a Much of the training was
skills of unemployed company that got involved in done in camps where there
 inner-city youths. the Jobs Corps. were discipline problems.

10,000 youths were placed in

The Appalachian Regional jobs.
Development Act (1965): $1.1
billion was allocated to Members of 25,000 families
programmes in the region to on welfare were receiving
raise the standard of living. training.

Food Stamp Act (1964)

Overall analysis: The number
of families in poverty dropped
from 40 million in 1959 to 28
million in 1968.
35,000 college students were
on work-study programmes,
under which poorer students
could earn federal funding
through part time work.
Over 4 million were receiving
Aid to Families with
Dependent Children benefits.
Overall analysis: The war on
poverty cost $10 billion
dollars.
1/3 of families still lived
below the poverty line.
Infant mortality rates and
unemployment were still
twice as high as those of
whites.

Loans were given: Rural loan

expenditure was up to $17
million by 1968.

Legislation
Legacy
Cost
Number of people helped