Great Society
The Great Society (English for Great Society ) was a large-scale social policy reform program of the US government under the incumbent from 1963 to 1969 President Lyndon B. Johnson . The program was proclaimed in early 1964, a few months after Johnson assumed the presidency following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy , and continued through his White House tenure in January 1969. The main objectives of the reform program were to combat poverty, strengthen the rights of African Americans and other minorities, and implement comprehensive reforms in the areas of education and health. Environmental and consumer protection as well as the expansion of the infrastructure were further aspects.
The Great Society programs are strongly progressivist and can be seen as a continuation of the New Deal of the 1930s under President Roosevelt . The Great Society programs were fueled in the 1960s by a number of factors including President Johnson's style of political leadership and the great success of his Democratic Party in the 1964 elections. During his tenure, around 96 percent of the Johnson administration's bills passed Congress, more than any other president. To this day, many of the legislative measures and resulting programs have had a significant impact on a number of areas of life in the United States .
prehistory
After the global economic crisis at the end of the 1920s, the Americans elected the Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt as their new president, who initiated numerous social reforms in the 1930s under the heading of the New Deal . These included the introduction of a social security ( Social Security Act ) , as well as poverty reduction programs. With the beginning of the Second World War and the entry of the United States into the war in 1941 , foreign policy matters came into focus. Due to the noticeable recovery of the economy in the war years and the post-war boom, the signs of the economy were already pointing to expansion. After Roosevelt's death shortly before the end of the war in 1945, his successor in the office of President Harry S. Truman endeavored to continue socio-political reforms under the slogan Fair Deal (based on the New Deal). Truman also addressed the widespread problem of racial discrimination for the first time . Per exekutivem adopt its arrangement made to end the racial segregation in the US armed forces for attention. Numerous African Americans have already benefited significantly from the New Deal programs. Truman's efforts to expand social security, among other things, were initially slowed down by the mid -term elections in 1946, as his Democrats lost their majority to the Republican Party in both chambers of the US Congress . Truman was able to defend the office of president in 1948 against the Republican Thomas E. Dewey and again win the majority of seats in Congress, but his positions, which were regarded as liberal in the USA, were difficult to implement at the time, since conservative Democrats and many Republicans formed a "conservative coalition “Against the reform ambitions of Truman, who remained in office until 1953, formed.
After the moderate republican Eisenhower administration , the Democrat John F. Kennedy took over the presidency in 1961 and planned extensive social reforms under the title New Frontier . In particular, the poverty figures, which rose again after he took office, should be reduced and the civil rights of colored people should be strengthened. While the Kennedy administration was able to set important accents in foreign policy during the Cold War , far-reaching domestic reforms initially failed to materialize. In the summer of 1963, Kennedy spoke out in favor of national desegregation. However, a parliamentary majority did not seem assured for this. Kennedy was unable to implement most of his domestic political ambitions by the fall of 1963. In November 1963 he was murdered in Dallas , Texas .
Under the Constitution, his previous Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took over the office of President. Johnson, who, unlike his predecessors, had many years of experience in the legislative process , announced that the social reforms would be resolutely implemented. In his New Years address in January 1964, he announced the program of the Great Society, which he concretised in public speeches in the spring of 1964. In addition to the elimination of discrimination against African Americans, the focus was on poverty reduction (war on poverty) and educational programs.
overview
Civil rights
President Lyndon B. Johnson was a staunch opponent of racial discrimination and supported after taking office, the civil rights movement (Civil Rights Movement) of African Americans, led by the well-known civil rights leader Martin Luther King . Although colored people had been formally free and had civil rights since the end of the Civil War in 1865, racial segregation , discrimination and prejudice against dark-skinned Americans also prevailed in the early 1960s . A racial desegregation bill proposed by President Kennedy seemed barely enforceable in Congress at the time of Kennedy's death. Johnson supported its swift passage and put considerable pressure on members of Congress, many of whom he knew personally. After the House of Representatives approved a draft, there was a filibuster (permanent speeches) in the Senate by senators who opposed the law. Approval was then again called into question. President Johnson, on the other hand, took the position that the draft had to be vigorously pursued, so that on his initiative the plenary put the filibuster to a vote. After much deliberation, the bill passed the Chamber of Congress and went into effect after Johnson had signed it in a ceremony on July 2, 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered the most important US federal law for the equality of citizens of color and has had a lasting impact on many areas of life. Afro-Americans could now go to the same restaurants, swimming pools or shops, and dark-skinned children could now go to the same schools as whites.
When civil rights activists like Martin Luther King, who were in constant contact with the White House until 1966, called for the passage of a law to strengthen the right to vote for people of color, President Johnson initially stated in late 1964 that it was not possible to pass another law under the 1964 Civil Rights Act Year later to say goodbye. This still has to wait. As a result, in the spring of 1965, especially in cities in the south, there were numerous mostly peaceful demonstrations by colored people. Johnson had, however, complied with the request that federal troops protect these black protest marches. After several demonstrations, Johnson finally changed his mind and declared in his special session of Congress in March 1965 that an electoral law had to be passed. The Voting Rights Act was passed in the summer of 1965. The law, signed by Johnson on August 6, 1965, repealed racially discriminatory election tests and led to a surge in the number of registered voters of African American origin. There was a sharp increase in the number of colored voters particularly in the southern states, where racial problems were most pronounced. What is less well known is that the Voting Rights Act applied not only to African Americans, but to all other minorities as well. The law also provides for election observers to be sent to regions where discrimination is considered particularly likely.
The relationship between the president and leading figures in the civil rights movement like Martin Luther King did not remain positive over the long term. In terms of foreign policy, the Vietnam War came more and more to the fore, against which a growing number of citizens turned. After initial hesitation, King increasingly criticized the president, who was pursuing the goal of preventing a communist takeover of power in the Southeast Asian country, for his policies. Johnson always firmly rejected this and distanced himself further and further from the civil rights activist. Although he did not change his fundamental stance that African Americans should be given equal rights and opportunities, he increasingly viewed King's statements on foreign policy issues as a burden, so that King became a de facto undesirable person in the White House. After King's assassination in April 1968, the president recognized him as an important person and called on people of color to condemn violent excesses based on King's example. Nevertheless, bitter riots broke out in many major US cities in the following weeks. Shortly after King's death, Johnson succeeded in re-enacting a major civil rights law under the Great Society. The 1968 Civil Rights Act was designed to make it easier for African Americans to find housing, expanding the 1964 law. In addition to legislative initiatives, Johnson also used his executive powers as head of state and government by becoming the first US president to hold high positions in the cabinet and the Supreme Court with African Americans.
Elections 1964
When presidential elections again came up in 1964 , the Great Society was Johnson's central domestic election campaign theme. Johnson called for the welfare state to be expanded in many areas and the living conditions of blacks to be improved. Republicans had in 1960 yet the more moderate Richard Nixon declared the presidential candidate who was defeated Kennedy narrowly succeeded in 1964 the arch-conservative Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona , to secure the top candidate. Goldwater stood for a massive dismantling of social and welfare programs, and he was known for his rejection of the president's racial policy. He called for this to be left to the states and also acted aggressively on foreign policy. However, the election November 3, 1964 ended in a fiasco for Goldwater and his party: Johnson had him with the largest share of votes in the general population ( popular vote ) in the history of the United States in the amount of 61.1 percent hit (Goldwater reached 38, 5 percent). Only a few conservative southern states had elected Goldwater, so that he had achieved 52 votes in the electoral body , while Johnson had 486 there. Because of this sentiment against the Republican program, the Democratic Party was able to expand its already clear majorities in Congress. From then on, 68 Democrats sat against 32 Republicans in the Senate, Johnson's Democrats won 295 seats in the House of Representatives, and the Republicans won 140 seats (→ see: Election to the United States Senate in 1964 and election to the United States House of Representatives in 1964 ).
Johnson saw the clear vote of the voters as a clear mandate to further expand the Great Society programs. His party's solid majorities in Congress made this expansion possible thanks to the large number of Liberal MPs who entered the Capitol . The "conservative coalition" of Southern Democrats and Republicans who blocked laws under Truman and Kennedy could no longer maintain their policies because of the loss of power. The president now had broad support from a particularly large number of parliamentarians with a liberal ideology.
Poverty Reduction and Education
A central aspect of the Great Society was the fight against poverty (“war on poverty”) . Johnson proclaimed in his State of the Union Address in January 1964: "This administration is declaring the unconditional war on poverty in America here and now." Despite the booming economy and growing affluence in the United States, around 23 percent of US citizens lived in poverty in 1963-64. For African Americans, that figure was as high as 58 percent. Johnson was still able to get comprehensive legislation through Congress in 1964 aimed at reducing the poverty rate. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 created programs to reduce poverty at the local level. Legislative ordinances of 1964 and 1965 in particular created numerous programs to enable children from poor families to attend preschool to improve their chances later in life. Other initiatives served to promote education (especially during and after school) among citizens who were considered poor. In the education sector, this included the creation of part-time classes with the aim of improving the quality of learning and the provision of financial resources for teaching materials. According to Johnson and the Congress, the state initiatives should not only be designed to take advantage of programs, but also to enable the people affected to “break out” of poverty themselves through higher quality education. This also included various vocational preparation programs, which were mainly dedicated to young people. Other important initiatives were slum rehabilitation projects and social housing.
The social programs to fight poverty quickly led to increasing government spending. In 1964, a billion US dollars were made available; in 1965 this amount had doubled. The number of citizens living in poverty fell from 23 to under 13 percent within five years. For African Americans, that number fell from 58 percent to 27 percent.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 , signed by Johnson on April 11, 1965, ended the long-standing taboo of the federal government on providing additional funding for education (which is largely a matter of state ). The law provided around one billion US dollars to expand educational institutions. This included, in particular, the expansion of learning opportunities in schools and the procurement of new teaching materials. A law passed in 1968 also provided finance for various English language courses, most of which were intended for immigrants. However, this program expired in 2002.
Health policy
On July 30, 1965, Johnson signed the Social Security Act of 1965 in Independence, Missouri, in the presence of former President Harry S. Truman. The newly introduced tax- and contribution-financed health protection included Medicare , a public and state health insurance policy predominantly for retirees aged 65 and over, and Medicaid , a health care system for the most needy, financed only by federal, state and local taxes , and thus closed a central gap in the New Deal. President Truman had planned a similar bill during his tenure, which Congress rejected.
environment
Another aspect of the Great Society programs was an improvement in environmental protection. Despite the fact that environmental policy was a marginal issue in the 1960s, a number of central laws were enacted as part of the program: For example, on the initiative of Johnson and his Home Secretary Stewart Lee Udall, Congress passed the Water Quality Act , a law that the Should ensure the quality of the waters in the United States . The Clean Air Act of 1963 made air purity a decisive aspect of industrial and energy policy for the first time. As part of the Great Society, the foundation stone for species protection at the federal level was laid and four national parks, six national monuments, eight national sea and lakeshores, nine national recreation areas and 20 national historic sites as well as 56 national wildlife refuges of the United States Fish and Wildlife were established Dedicated to service. On October 2, 1968, Johnson signed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act , which, in addition to protecting rivers, also provided for the resettlement of game near rivers.
Consumer protection
The subject of consumer protection was also taken up as part of the Great Society social reform, for example state quality standards for many products such as meat were introduced by the Wolesome Meat Act of 1967. Further quality standards have been issued for electronics and clothing.
Arms Control
In the wake of the fatal assassinations of civil rights activist Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy in April and June 1968, the Johnson administration sought to tighten gun law . After long deliberations in Congress, the Gun Control Act was passed in October 1968 . This included a ban on fully automatic firearms and the illegalization of private mailing of weapons. The President signed it on October 22, 1968, but spoke of the need for further action. Since two major rampages in the USA in 2012 and the efforts of the President Obama's administration to take further measures at the federal level, gun law and the measures of the Great Society in the 1960s have again been discussed in the US public.
Congress elections 1966
Were once housed in the 88th and 89th Congress (1963-1965 and 1965 to 1967) numerous by the end of 1966 programs of the Great Society on the way, had Johnson in the mid-term elections (so-called 1966 midterm elections ) suffered a setback for his government program. While the Democrats lost just three seats in the Senate in the November 1966 elections (they now had 64 out of 100 seats instead of 67), there were 47 seats in the House of Representatives that the Republican Party was able to win. While the president's party was still clearly in the majority, the result reflected the growing dissatisfaction of the population with foreign policy developments such as the Vietnam War, which caused growing polarization in US society. The 1966 election did not mark the end of the Great Society, but a slowdown was felt in 1967 after the newly elected Congress met in January. Due to the rising costs of the military engagement in Vietnam, the increase in expenditure also had to be curbed.
Final stage in the Johnson administration
The year 1968, on the other hand, led, despite the tense foreign policy situation and under the impression of a polarized society in the USA, to another “wave” of important legislation within the framework of the program. President Johnson had withdrawn from office on March 31, 1968, leaving office on January 20, 1969. His successor was the Republican Richard Nixon , who was able to prevail in a narrow election against Johnson's Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey .
Effects and aftermath
Towards the end of Johnson's tenure and in the years that followed, the effects of the Great Society programs were noticeable in many areas of life, and at the same time represented the greatest expansion and acceptance of the American welfare state. Under Johnson's Republican successors Richard Nixon (1969–1974) and Gerald Ford (1974–1977), some programs of the Great Society were expanded and new ones added. With its War on Cancer program, Nixon initiated funding to fight cancer. Nixon's initiative to fight crime, War on Crime , was also based on the idea of the Great Society. The “fight against poverty”, however, was scaled back somewhat under Nixon and Ford by restructuring its administration. Above all, however, Richard Nixon continued the initiatives of environmental protection policy and was able to achieve significant success there. Many of the Great Society programs continued to exist in the following years, but the financial resources were drastically cut under the government of President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and in the course of his economic policy under the catchphrase Reaganomics . The poverty statistics rose again due to the sometimes massive cuts in the social budget (and the increase in military spending), which was favored by the economic downturn in the previous 1970s. At the same time, the Reagan budget deficit hit record levels despite the social cuts.
It can be observed that numerous core contents of the Great Society are current topics in the US public even in the 21st century. Some observers see Barack Obama's presidency in the tradition of the Great Society and the New Deal. With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obama succeeded in passing state and general health insurance, which, like the initiatives of the Great Society, aims to provide poorer people with broad access to health care. In an interview, Obama praised the reforms of the Great Society under Lyndon B. Johnson and described them as one of the most important domestic political achievements alongside the New Deal under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the preservation of national unity in the Civil War under President Abraham Lincoln .
The historical judgment of many of the Great Society's programs today depends largely on the political convictions of the critics. Conservatives criticize the high government spending associated with the Great Society and believe that government programs should be scaled back and more private pension provision be made. They reject state responsibility for many of the great society areas. Left-wing US Americans argue against it that the Great Society programs helped numerous underprivileged people out of poverty to modest prosperity and improved the education system. Among most historians and Johnson biographers, however, the historical classification of the Great Society is largely positive, since the programs "brought about sustainable improvements in social affairs". Historians almost consistently rate the racial politics of the Great Society under Johnson, which led to the abolition of racial segregation and the strengthening of the electoral and civil rights of African Americans and other minorities.
literature
- John A. Andrew Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society : IR Dee, 1998 ISBN 1-56663-184-X
- Eli Ginzberg and Robert M. Solow (eds.) The Great Society: Lessons for the Future ISBN 0-465-02705-9 (1974), 11 chapters on each program, by experts
- Jeffrey W. Helsing Johnson's War / Johnson's Great Society: the guns and butter trap Praeger Greenwood 2000 ISBN 0-275-96449-3
- Robert Dallek: Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President . Oxford University Press 2004, ISBN 0-19-515921-7
- Irving Bernstein: Guns or butter: The presidency of Lyndon Johnson . Oxford University Press, New York, NY [u. a.] 1996, ISBN 0-19-506312-0
- Lyndon B. Johnson: The Vantage point. Perspectives of the Presidency 1963-1969. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York et al. 1971, ISBN 0-03-084492-4 [in German translation:] My years in the White House . Präger, Munich 1971, ISBN 3-7796-8020-3
- Henry J. Aaron: Politics and the Professors: The Great Society in Perspective . Brookings Institution, 1978, ISBN 978-0815700258 ( excerpt )
- The Washington Post (Ed.): The Great Society: 50 Years Later (published in partnership with Diversion Books), ebook (September 2014)
Web links
- President Johnson's Great Society Proposes (English)
- Audio recording and transcript of Lyndon B. Johnson's speech on May 22, 1964 at AmericanPresident.org (English)
- Short to Great Society (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The impact of the Great Society (PDF; 41 kB)
- ^ Robert Dallek: Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President . Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-515921-7 , pp. 228f.
- ^ Robert Dallek: Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President . Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-515921-7 , pp. 230ff.
- ^ Robert Dallek: Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President. Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-515921-7 , pp. 230 ff.
- ^ Robert Dallek: Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President . Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-515921-7 , pp. 234ff.
- ↑ a b c d American President: Lyndon B. Johnson - Domestic Affairs
- ^ Robert Dallek: Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President . Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-515921-7 , pp. 236ff
- ^ Robert Dallek: Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President . Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-515921-7 , pp. 180ff.
- ↑ State of the Union Address from 1964 ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at American President
- ^ Robert Dallek: Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President . Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-515921-7 , pp. 245f.
- ^ Irving Bernstein: Guns or butter: The presidency of Lyndon Johnson . Oxford University Press, New York, 1996, ISBN 0-19-506312-0 , p. 610.
- ↑ The Bilingual Education Act ( Memento of the original of August 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Ivan Mc. Morgan, Beyond the Liberal Consensus: Political History of the United States Since 1965 , C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd, 1994, ISBN 978-1850652045 , pp. 18-20
- ↑ Washington Post : Gun Control Lessons from Lyndon Johnson, December 16, 2012
- ^ Robert Dallek: Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President . Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-515921-7 , pp. 247ff.
- ↑ Christof Mauch: The American Presidents CH Beck Munich ISBN 9783406587429 , p. 401ff.
- ↑ 60 Minutes' Edits Out Obama's Claim That He's the Fourth Best President Interview with Barack Obama
- ↑ American President: Lyndon B. Johnson - Impct and Legacy ( Memento of the original from January 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Robert Dallek: Presidency: How Do Historians Evaluate the Administration of Lyndon Johnson? . Hnn.us. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
- ↑ Christof Mauch: The American Presidents CH Beck Munich ISBN 9783406587429 , p. 369f.
