Josh+M.+-+LJ+-+FA12

Lyndon Baines Johnson August 27, 1908 Stonewall Texas – January 22, 1973 San Antonio Texas Political Party: Democrat Terms in Office: 1st November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1965 2nd January 20, 1965 – January 20, 1969 Vice President: 1st None 2nd Herbert Humphrey One of the biggest things that developed the American Identity during Johnson’s presidency was the civil rights movement that was happening. Although there were calls for civil rights in previous years none were at the scale of this time period for the African American. It had leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X that were leading for equal rights for the African Americans. There those like Martin Luther King Jr. who acted on peaceful protest against discrimination, and those like the black panthers who used violence to fight against discrimination and take what was theirs. Over the issues of civil rights many riots broke out. Johnson had the civil rights act and voting rights act passed, which made it illegal to discriminate in sales or enforce literacy tests at the election poles. This led to the complete equality of all in America and not just saying equality for all. Johnson built the America identity by enforcing consumerism in America, which is now a major definition of America. He helped the development of consumerism by making safeties in many businesses. He made the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, which required the contents of a product to be on the packaging; the National Traffic safety act, which led to the mandatory safety regulations of all cars; the Highway Safety Act, which made regulations for highways as well as making the states adopt similar laws; and the Wholesome Meat act, which made federal meat inspection standards apply to not just the meat industry but to all processing plants. Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) was the 36th president, which was during a highly crucial time in American history that he was able to pull through and hold the nation together. He had domestic issues happening over the civil rights movement, which he dealt with the civil rights act and voters’ rights act. He also had his War on Poverty which was happening domestically at the time along with other smaller issues. Internationally LBJ had to deal with the bulk of the Vietnam War, which LBJ increased the American interaction in the war, which could be viewed as a negative on LBJ’s part, because it was not well supported. Due to his actions as president in the domestic and international government LBJ is deserving of a B because he pulled the nation through a rocky time, but escalated the situation in Vietnam. One of LBJ’s goals was to have equal rights for everyone in the civil rights movement, which he succeeded in starting. He did this by passing the Civil Rights and Voters Rights Acts, which gave equality in business and votes to all people. It started the end of discrimination against races. He also wanted to not retreat back to the old ways of isolationism because it would no longer work in the new era. He said that if lives and money had to be lost in other nations then that is the price of the new society that the world was. In his goal he was successful because he increased interaction in Vietnam. This could be seen as a loss though due to the large number of lives lost in the war. Based on the majorities in congress it would show that LBJ had a good relationship with congress because both the house and senate had a democratic majority in all three sessions during his presidency. During the 89th session, which was the middle two years of his 6 years as president, there was a democratic supermajority, which allowed many bills to be passed through congress. His relationship with congress was also shown to be quite good through the high number of bills passed and the few that LBJ vetoed. Examples of this are the passing of the Medicare and Medicaid act of 1965, which gave medical assistance in paying for the elderly and the poor. The 24th and 25th amendments to the constitution were also passed, which outlawed poll taxes and provided for the appointment of a vice president, with congressional approval in the case one is needed to be replaced, respectively. His most positive action was his focus on the domestic issues that were arising during his presidency, especially civil rights and his war on poverty. In the war on poverty the Economic Opportunity Act was passed. This act established the Office of Economic Opportunity, which provided vocational training to disadvantaged youths, made Volunteers in Service to America, which worked and taught in the ghettos in America. The act also allowed students to work their way through college, provided child care to poor heads of households, and provided instructional assistance to poor students. In the civil rights movement LBJ responded by passing the civil rights act, the voters rights act, and the 24th amendment, which all made all people equal. The voters’ rights act and the 24th amendment were both meant to stop discrimination at voting poles in order to stop the blocking of African American voters and allowing all people to vote. The civil rights act made it illegal to discriminate in any business, whether it was by hiring or selling to different races. The most negative action by LBJ was the growth of American influence in the Vietnam War. This was not a huge negative, but it was worst the LBJ did. This was negative because of the number of troops that were sent in to Vietnam and killed only to have the troops later pull out before the issue was resolved and allowed a communist victory in Vietnam. The entrance into the war was necessary in order to defend the American forces that were attacked. The war would have been a success if Johnson had not ended bombing and negotiations when the presidential election came, which was thought to be because he wanted to help the election of Humphrey to office. LBJ’s decision to escalate the issue in Vietnam had a huge future impact to Americans. Entering the war showed the world that America was not a nation that would take aggressions lying down. At the end of LBJ’s presidency he began to pull back in the war and negotiations did not pass forward, which led to the victory of communism in Vietnam. This added to the growth of communism in the world, which increased the fear of communism in America. This led to more tension between the U.S. and other communist countries. It also brought the media more into paying attention to foreign affairs because of questionable actions that happened during the war. Over all LBJ was not an okay president who helped many Americans, but also hurt some Americans, especially veterans of the Vietnam War. He helped the poor and discriminated through his war on poverty and the civil rights movement; however he sent thousands of Americans to war without finishing the job and ended up losing the war. Due to all of these things the country was only slightly better off in comparison to the beginning of his presidency because the advances that were made were nearly equaled by the setbacks of the war on the American people. That is why LBJ is deserving of a B as a president. Bibliography Degregorio, William A. "Lyndon B. Johnson." //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. 4th ed. Avenel: Wings, 2005. 563-78. Print. "88th United States Congress." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Dec. 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. "89th United States Congress." //Wikipedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. "Lyndon B. Johnson: The President's Inaugural Address." //Lyndon B. Johnson: The President's Inaugural Address//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. "Lyndon B. Johnson." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Dec. 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. "Miller Center." //American President: Lyndon Baines Johnson//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. "90th United States Congress." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Dec. 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2012.
 * Thematic Content**
 * Thesis**
 * Goals**
 * Relationship with Congress**
 * Positive**
 * Negative**
 * Future Impact**
 * Conclusion**