Lyndon B Johnson desired results The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the most important of these mea sures passed in his first year as president Johnson as a Texan may have seemed to be an unlikely champion of civil rights given that the Southern states were the most likely to institutionalize racial dis crimination However as a young man Johnson had taught impoverished Mexican American children and this experience partly inspired his commitment to anti poverty and civil rights programs On November 3 1964 the voters of the nation elected Johnson to a full term He overwhelmingly defeated Republican Senator Barry M Goldwater of Arizona Johnson called his landslide victory a trib ute to the program that was begun by our beloved president John F Kennedy Johnson referred to his administra tion’s programs as the Great Society by which he aimed to improve life for Americans of all races and economic backgrounds Other landmark legislation enacted during his presidency included the Voting Rights Act the Immigration and Nationality Act and an amendment to the Social Security Act that established 8
Introduction Medicare and Medicaid Unfortunately the Vietnam War would eventually over shadow his domestic agenda After the bombing of a U S ship in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964 Johnson greatly expanded the U S role in Vietnam However the North Vietnamese found success with their guerrilla tactics Johnson sent more troops in hopes of turning the tide of the war but this escalation was extremely costly not only in dollars but also in American lives and public support As antiwar protests grew so did dissatisfac tion among poor African Americans who felt that the promises of the Great Society had gone unfulfilled Beginning in the mid 1960s race riots erupted in cities across the country On March 31 1968 the embattled presi dent made a shocking announcement he would not run for reelection in November Under the Twenty-second Amendment of the U S Constitution he was eligible to run for a second full term because he had served out fewer than two years of Kennedy’s term But the challenges both at home and abroad convinced Johnson that the country needed new leadership In the 9
Lyndon B Johnson same speech he announced that bombing in North Vietnam would be reduced and that he would seek to begin negotiations to end the war Johnson’s presidency begun in tragedy thus came to an unexpected conclusion Nevertheless his administration had led the way on social-welfare reform Though the war in Vietnam prevented him from reaching the full potential of his program Johnson’s legacy as a champion of civil rights and the rights of ordinary Americans lives on 10
