The Great President

Lyndon Baines Johnson is forever remembered as the president with limitless motivation and desire to bring change to the United States. He was a fourth generation Texan who desired social change and wanted to help people. When he came into office he set up "The Great Society", a vision for America that would attempt to bring about social change and equality. He single-handedly had 206 measures passed by congress, proving that he was able to implement policy change. "The Great Society" fought poverty and worked to improve education, healthcare, housing, immigration, the environment, and consumer protection. To do this he created separate programs over three years.

Johnson's first reforms were aimed at curbing poverty problems. He reduced taxes in order to improve economic growth. With the Economic Opportunity Act, he created Job Corps, VISTA, Project Head Start, and other programs to fight poverty. With these the poor were given aid. While they did not cure poverty in America, many people recieved help who needed it.

Education was given focus through the years of 1965 and 1966. Johnson sent many bills to Congress. He reasoned that with education, a better America could be created. With the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, one billion dollars in aid money was given to schools. This money brought in new materials and textbooks for students. 

Healthcare was improved in the Johnson administration. Social Security was changed by Congress to Medicare and Medicaid. They both dealt with insurance money. Americans over the age of 65 recieved hospital insurance from Medicare. Those who were welfare recipients also recieved extended healthcare insurance through Medicaid. These two policies protected many Americans.

Many houses were built in order to shift political power from rural to urban areas in America. In order to do this many housing units were built in urban areas. The department of Housing and Urban Development helped to manage the new constructions.

Before the Immigration Act of 1965, many non-European immigrants were not allowed into the country. With this Act in place, immigrants came to the U.S. from all around the world. The previous quotas based on nationality were deemed unfair. This was a sign that racial tolerance was becoming more popular with the average American.

Johnson noted that many pesticides and chemicals were hurting America's water. The Water Quality Act of 1965. Many Americans became aware of the terrible treatment of the environment during the sixties. The environmental movement would eventually come into existence and shine throughout the 60s and 70s.

With many Americans buying goods in Americas strong economy, companies started to take advantage of consumers. This trend that started in the fifties would lose its novelty and many Americans desired protection from poor customer service. Truth-in-packaging laws were created in order to stop companies from selling Americans "false" goods.

With so many different aspects of "The Great Society" influencing America, we often take many of these ideas for granted. Johnson helped shape America into a more liberally minded country. Many of the young Americans moved into an era of counterculture, an eccentric lifestyle where change was usually considered a step in the right direction. However, conservative Americans did not like the social, political, and economic changes that were affecting America. While many changes were made in "The Great Society" the conservative America would retaliate by putting a Republican into office. This hampered some of the work done by Johnson, but his social changes would remain in America for the long-run.

Bryce Filler, Period E