Protest and Reaction 1963-71 - the political bit (and some social bc im lazy)

Question 1

LBJ’s Great Society - Poverty and unemployment

Answer 1

• ‘War on poverty’
• Economic Opportunity Act 1964, created VISTA (similar to Peace Corps) to help needy in USA
• Community Action Programmes, helped empower the poor and Black Americans. Taken over by militants in northern cities, who criticised for not doing enough
• Jobs Corps for inner-city youths, helped place 10,000 in jobs
• ‘War on Poverty’ cost $10 billion
• Development in Appalachian regions, continued from LBJ
• IMPACT = families in poverty dropped from 40 million in 1959 to 28 million in 1968

Question 2

LBJ’s Great Society - Housing and cities

Answer 2

• 1965 Housing and Urban Development Act
• Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Act 1966, 80% grants offered to local government to deal w/ crime prevention, healthcare, jobs. Cuts made in 1968, which limited impact to an extent
• Housing Act 1968, ambitious reform - 26 million homes in ten years proposed. $1.7 million provided in three years, few planning restrictions led to cheap, poorly built houses. Funding reduced under Nixon

Question 3

LBJ’s Great Society - Education

Answer 3

• Elementary and Secondary Education Act 1965, $1 billion a year allocated to schools with high conc. of low-income children. Aid to specific schools instead of blanket funding
• Headstart Programme, 8 million children from low-income families access to pre-school classes
• Higher Education Act, loans for students to go to college

Question 4

LBJ’s Great Society - Medicare + Medicaid

Answer 4

• Successes where JFK and Truman had failed
• Fed. funding for Medicare introduced in ‘65, for those 65 and above without health insurance (around half didn’t have insurance)
• Medicaid for the poor, financed by federal government but also the states. Varied between states as a result

Question 5

LBJ’s Great Society - Civil Rights

Answer 5

• Fulfilled JFK’s promise of a Civil Rights Act - passed in 1964 = outlawed discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion. Ended legal segregation + withheld funding from any state who didn’t comply
• 1964 Amendment to constitution - 24th amendment outlawed poll tax which prevented black americans and the poor from voting
• 1965 Voting Rights Act - outlawed literacy tests, appointed federal examiners to ensure voter registration correctly handled. Mississippi - Black voting numbers went from 6% to 60%
• Didn’t solve all issues - rise of suburbia led to continued issues with decline of inner city, rise of drug-trafficking, crime and poverty

Question 6

Reactions to the rise of counterculture, 68-72

Answer 6

• Nixon’s address in 1969 - called for ‘peace with honour’ in handing fighting over to the South Vietnamese + called on the ‘Silent Majority’
• 77% supported Nixon’s policies
• Rise of ‘Silent Majority’ over issues like Yippies disrupting party conventions, university anti-war demonstrations, etc
• Christian communities particularly offended by rise of drug use, sexual liberation, ‘attack’ on family values. Supported Republicans as a result

Question 7

Role of media <3333 influencing attitudes

Answer 7

• By 1968, vast majority of Americans owned a television
• Vietnam = first televised war, news would frequently show images of the war. Influential CBS newsman, Walter Cronkite, said the only rational option was to withdraw from the war after the Tet Offensive = swayed public opinion
• LBJ = Lost Walter Cronkite, you’ve lost the support of the American nation
• All In The Family = Father who hated counter-culture, liberal son who was the butt of his anger. Popular with white Americans who agreed w/ father

Question 8

Nixon’s attack on the Great Society

Answer 8

• Attacked ‘excessive expenditure’ of Great Society, advocated for ‘New Federalism’ where more power returned to states
• Attempted alternative, the ‘Family Assistance Plan’ - offered $1,500-2000 a year for a family of four, but would be withheld if the parent refused work offered. Conservatives felt it wasn’t enough, Liberals felt it was too far. Upset everyone, basically, and failed at Senate
• Many ‘too progressive’ policies for a cons. politician - Educational Standards Act required affirmative action for women, and increased social security benefits
• Much impact from democrat-controlled congress, e.g. Environment Protection Agency and blocking of Southern white judges into the Supreme Court
• CIA ‘Operation Chaos’, supported by FBI, aimed to destroy Black Panthers, led to decline in radical groups
• Initial recession, deficit due to Vietnam
• Idiot had to resign