The Great Society

Lyndon Baines Johnson succeeded to the presidency with a fierce ambition: to transform America into the Great Society. In May 1964 in a speech at the University of Michigan, Johnson spoke of the Great Society as, “ a place which honors creation for its own sake and for what it adds to the understanding of the race”. The two main goals of the Great Society were to end poverty and racial injustice and Johnson achieved these by passing 206 new measures by 1969, by the time he left office.

The LBJ administration focused on improving education, healthcare, housing, immigration, the environment, and consumer protection by passing many bills between 1965 and 1966. Johnson considered education “the key which can unlock the door to the Great Society”, and he had many bills passed that implemented more money into education. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 supplied more than $1 billion to help public schools purchase textbooks and new materials. Medicare and Medicaid greatly extended healthcare to the less privileged and American seniors. Congress also passed several bills that shifted the nation’s focus to urban areas from rural areas. For example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development was established to form federal housing programs that provided better housing for the poor. Immigration laws were also drastically changed. The Immigration Act of 1965 allowed many non-Europeans that had previously been barred from entering, immigrate to the United States. Johnson also began the environmental movement with the words, “There is no excuse…for chemical companies and oil refineries using our major rivers as pipelines for toxic wastes”. Lastly, many laws were passed to protect consumers. For example, the Highway Safety Act of 1966 was passed that required states to set up highway safety programs.

The Great Society was born with the passing of hundreds of bills that greatly improved the nation’s inequality.