Transcript speech helped to lead to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

LBJ’s
Great
Society
SEs: 2B, 8A, 8B, 9F, 17D, 24B
Kennedy Assassinated
In late November 1963 the assassination of
John F. Kennedy changed the political situation.
LBJ becomes President
Hours after JFK’s assassination, vice-president
Lyndon Johnson of Texas was sworn in as the
36th President of the United States.
LBJ’s Great Society
President
Johnson’s plan
for domestic
programs to
help Americans
in need was
known as the
Great Society
LBJ’s Great Society
Johnson’s goal was turn the U.S. into a “Great
Society” by opening opportunities and
improving the quality of life for all Americans.
LBJ’s Great Society
LBJ’s Great Society programs targeted four
areas: 1) civil rights, 2) poverty, 3) health
care, and 4) aiding inner cities.
LBJ’s Great Society
LBJ’s Great Society programs included
Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, and HUD.
Medicare Act of 1965
With the Medicare Act of 1965, Social
Security was expanded to provide health
care for people over the age of 65.
Medicare Act of 1965
- Medicaid was created as a source of health care for low-income
families and individuals.
- Medicaid was the first step in the movement toward nationwide
health care, and a forerunner to what many today call Obamacare.
- Today Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and
health-related services for people in the U.S.
The War on Poverty
In his book The Other America, Michael
Harrington showed that many Americans lived
in poverty in the United States.
The War on Poverty
The book influenced President Johnson, who
made the elimination of poverty a major goal
and declared a “war on poverty.”
Equal Opportunity Act
In 1965, Johnson signed the Equal Opportunity
Act that created a new government agency
designed to help the poor in numerous ways.
Job Corps
As part of the Economic Opportunity Act, the
Job Corps was created to give underprivileged
young people an opportunity to gain job skills.
Federal Housing Authority
Under LBJ, the Federal Housing Authority was
expanded to improve housing standards and
conditions for homeowners.
Dept. of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD)
Department of the federal government founded
as part of LBJ’s "Great Society“ to help the
nation’s inner cities by providing funding and
assistance to help clean up inner city slums.
Head Start
Head Start was the program started by LBJ that
gave low-income families an opportunity to start
their children in school one year early.
Johnson and Civil Rights
As president, Johnson pushed through two
landmark pieces of legislation for civil rights.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The March on
Washington and King’s
“I Have a Dream”
speech helped to lead
to passage of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.
The March on Washington
To gain support in Congress for the bill, Martin
Luther King, Jr., organized a massive march on
Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1963.
The March on Washington
On August 28, 1963, approximately 250,000
demonstrators gathered peacefully at the
nation’s capital in support of the bill.
MLK: “I have a dream”
It was during the March on Washington in
1963 that Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his
famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
Dr. King presented his dream of equality for
all Americans.
Opposition to the Act
Southern members of Congress, led by
Sen. Strom Thurmond, a staunch
segregationist from South Carolina,
attempted to block passage of the bill.
Opposition to the Act
Southern members of Congress filibustered for
54 days in an attempt to block passage of the bill.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Despite the strong opposition from
Southern senators, President Johnson got
Congress to pass the bill.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
In 1964, he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964
into law, ending segregation in public places.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The law was perhaps the greatest piece of
legislation for minority civil rights in U.S. history.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Events leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964
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Desegregation of the military in 1948
Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957
March on Washington in August of 1963
MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech
LBJ’s uses presidential power to get bill passed through Congress
• Effects of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
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It outlawed discrimination on basis of race in public places
It gave the federal government the power to oversee voting
Cut off federal funding to schools that refused to integrate
Created the EEOC to enforce civil rights laws
Election of 1964
In the Election of 1964, Johnson won in a
landslide over Republican candidate Barry
Goldwater, a staunch conservative.
As a result of the passage of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, segregation was
outlawed in:
A. public facilities
B. the armed forces
C. religious institutions
D. private universities
Excerpt from Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects
revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a
method is love.
-- Martin Luther King, Jr., December 10, 1964
According to the excerpt above, what was the
philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr., during the
Civil Rights movement?
A. Limited violence
B. Complete submission
C. Nonviolent resistance
D. Militant action