Johnson aimed to decrease the threat from Communism as he wanted to continue Kennedy’s policies. Johnson also aimed to follow Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which helped him to develop the ‘Great Society’.
Another reason why the Great Society was not so successful was because the idea of change and reform was not so desirable anymore, and by 1966 people were tiring of it as the idea of liberalism had dominated politics since 1965. Most people began to see the faults and weaknesses in the policies that were put forth by Johnson. Several complained that he had set high expectations that could not be met, for example the ‘war on poverty’. Johnson wanted to put an end to poverty; in 1965 43% of black families lived in poverty and very few African Americans completed high-school. Poverty was extremely high mostly among the African American people, female single-parent families, the old, sick and poorly educated. Although Johnson had high expectations for diminishing poverty, other groups had other things to protect and it was highly unlikely for these groups or Congress to pay for mass welfare programmes. However, at that time the economy was strong thus allowing Johnson’s plans to be affordable.
The Economic Opportunity Act was one of the most important measures set up against poverty in 1964. It helped set up various schemes such as VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), Head Start; for children to go to pre-school classes, Community Action Programmes (CAP); for setting up clinics, law firms etc. Initially, Head Start displayed some elements of success with 8 million children benefitting from the programme, however, it’s success was soon diminished as it got entangled in political and ethnic conflicts along with CAP. Johnson had promised too much that could not be done. He ignored the fact that tackling poverty was not an issue that could be swiftly approached and changed, it would require a major change in the political system which he wasn’t ready to do.
Johnson knew the importance of education in helping remove people from poverty as he was a trained teacher. He passed an Elementary and Secondary Education Act that was begun by Kennedy by giving $1 billion for poor students who went to public schools. He had little or no say as to what the money was being used for so although it looked like it was going to the poor, the local school boards usually decided what to use the money on so it was mainly spent on middle-class children. The Higher Education Act was relatively more successful as it provided $650 million for scholarships, low-interest loans and college resources, overall it benefitted 11 million students.
Johnson was keen on improving life in both the cities and in the countryside, to improve these as well as the transport reform, they were supported by the Omnibus Housing Act which gave $8 billion to fund three million units of low and middle-income housing as well as rent aid. Subsidies were presented for housing, recreation, slum clearance, etc by the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act. With the strong belief he had that people were affected by their surroundings he presumed that improving living conditions would ultimately give the USA a better image. Transport was supported in this belief through the Department of Transport, cities such as Washington and San Francisco used the Act to develop clean and cheap public transport networks.
He wanted to create an environment for people ‘where man can renew his contact with nature’. The 1960s was the decade when people began to acknowledge the dangers of pollution and the threats to the land and animals of economic development. During his presidency he passed several environmentally related Acts such as the National Wilderness Preservation Act in 1964; they created 45 national parks and protected nine million acres of forest, the Clean Water Restoration Act in 1966; $3.5 billion was used to clean up rivers and prevent pollution, Endangered Species Protection Act in 1966; protected over 833 species of plants, animals and birds and the Air Quality Act in 1967. It can be concluded that most successful aspect of the Great Society was the environmental policies. Johnson was even named the ‘greatest conservation president’ by the president of the National Geographic Society. His wife, Claudia Johnson was also active in sponsoring some Acts such as the Highways Beautification Act, in order to create beauty and green spaces in the ghettos as well. However, many people were against it but she believed that anyone had the right to live in a beautiful environment regardless of their social status/class.
The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and was aimed to eliminate the racial injustice towards African Americans. When Johnson came into presidency, he had several advantages such as the fact that the US citizens were favorable to the idea of a civil rights legislation as a memorial to Kennedy. Johnson, of course, exploited this mood to his advantage. Ongoing acts of southern violence greatly affected several peoples opinions and it reinforced the already strong need for a civil rights act. The Civil Right Act highlighted some key elements such as: the banning of segregation in public areas and facilities, the desegregation of schools was sped up as well; discrimination in the work place was prohibited as well. Basically, it disallowed any racism towards African Americans.
When the Vietnam War began to take more of his time, Johnson found it harder to provide the adequate leadership needed to continue his legislative successes. After the
Tet Offensive most of Johnson’s presidency was focused on the Vietnam War. Also, the longer the war dragged on, the more the citizens became frustrated as casualty numbers continued to rise swiftly and there were no signs of an American victory. Furthermore, due to the costs from the Vietnam War, as he used money to support the millions of troops he sent in, Johnson was forced to reduce his expenditure in his ‘war on poverty’. Thus, meaning that improvements in the socio-economic position of black Americans were limited. In 1968 after being through the Vietnam War, he announced that: “I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President”, and so he stepped down from his presidency.
There are several reasons why Johnson’s presidency could have been a success, but proved to be somewhat of a failure. This can be seen mainly through his take on the Great Society, and although he successfully passed several Acts, he ultimately failed in leading the Vietnam war. Historian Robert Dallek is a revisionist who believed that he was successful and what caused him to appear unsuccessful was the circumstances in which he became president.
