What a Great Society...

Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) succeeded John F. Kennedy to president after Kennedy was shot on November 2, 1963. Johnson had a vision of America that he called the "Great Society," and he implemented many programs to achieve his vision.

Johnson considered education to be "the key which can unlock the door to the Great Society." The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 provided more than $1 billion to help public schools to purchase new textbooks and library materials. The 1965 Higher Education Act funded scholarships and low0interest loans for students. Johnson declared a war against poverty, passing acts like the Tax Reduction Act (1954), the Medicare Act (1965), and the Economic Opportunity Act (1964), which created projects such as VISTA, Job Corps, Project Head Start and others to fight poverty. Medicare provided hospital and medical insurance at low cost, and Medicaid extended health insurance to welfare recipients. In the housing industry, Johnson established the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with Robert Weaver as Secretary (first African American cabinet member in U.S. history). LBJ also profoundly changed immigration laws by calling on Congress to pass the Immigration Act of 1965, which got rid of unfair immigration quotas from certain countries, especially ones not in Western Europe. The book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson caused a public outcry to help the environment. Johnson responded by passing the Water Quality Act of 1965, which required states to clean up rivers of pesticides like DDT. Others included the Wilderness Preservation Act (1965, set aside 9 million acres for national forests), Clean Air Amendment (1965, emission standards for vehicles), and the Air Quality Act (1967, set guidelines and extended enforcement power). Importantly, the public also convinced congress to pass Truth-in-packaging law that set standards for labels on products. Ralph Nader helped persuade Congress to establish safety standards for automobiles.