Lauren+M.+-+LBJ+-+SP10


 * Lyndon Baines Johnson a.k.a. LBJ**
 * Birth: August 27, 1908**
 * Death: January 22, 1973**
 * Party: Democrat**
 * Term: (1963 – 1968)**
 * Vice President: Hubert Horatio Humphrey**

Lyndon B. Johnson deserves a B for his term as President. Johnson did many positive things as President. He established the Great Society and through that initiated a War on Poverty, a fight for Civil Rights, created Medicare and Medicaid, fought for environmental protection, and passed legislation regarding consumerism. Unfortunately he also did some negative things regarding the Vietnam War, which caused him to be a very unpopular President. Not to mention, Johnson attempted to fund the Great Society and the Vietnam War without raising taxes, which hurt our economy. However in this situation the positive outweighs the negative therefore Johnson deserves a B.

“I do not want to be the President who built empires, or sought grandeur, or extended dominion. I want to be the President who educated young children to the wonders of their world. . . who helped to feed the hungry and to prepare them to be taxpayers instead of tax-eaters. . . who helped the poor to find their own way and who protected the right of every citizen to vote in every election. . . who helped to end hatred among his fellow men and who promoted love among the people of all races and all regions and all parties. . . who helped to end war among his brothers of this earth.” (LBJ 1965) This quote from Johnson definitely sums up his goals as President. Johnson wanted to turn our society into a Great Society by ending poverty, and establishing civil rights. He also wanted to rid the world of communism. Johnson was successful, to an extent. Obviously he was unable to totally eliminate poverty during his War on Poverty, but he did make many useful strides. Johnson passed the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 which created the Office of Economic Opportunity. The Office of Economic Opportunity created The Job Corps, the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), The Work-Study Program, The Work Experience Program, and The Community Action Program. These programs made great strides in eliminating poverty by creating jobs, having volunteers work in ghettos, helping poor students get through college, providing day-care, and providing tutoring for disadvantaged students. Johnson also made great strides to fight for civil rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Voting Rights Act of 1965, The Civil Rights Act of 1968, and the 24th amendment were all passed during his presidency. Johnson created Medicare and Medicaid. He also was also concerned about environmental protection. The Water Quality Act of 1965, The Clean Water Restoration Act of 1966, The Clean Air Act of 1965, and The Air Quality Act of 1967 were all passed during his presidency. Several acts dealing with consumerism were also passed during Johnson’s presidency. As one can see Johnson made many great strides towards making American society better as a whole. Unfortunately we still have not reached the perfect Great Society that he was aiming for. Johnson was, however, not only concerned about our countries but countries all around the world. He wanted to rid the world of communism. He aimed to do this by winning the Vietnam War. Unfortunately American lost that world. The Soviets still had a communist control over many countries around the world. This doesn’t change until the Soviet’s fall in the Afghanistan War. Not to mention the fact that Johnson was trying to fund the Vietnam War and the Great Society at the same time without raising taxes, and wound up hurting our economy.

Overall Johnson had a good relationship with Congress. Johnson was a Democrat and there was a Democratic majority in Congress during his time as President. Together they passed a lot of legislation for the Great Society. They initiated War on Poverty, fought for Civil Rights, created Medicare and Medicaid, passed legislation for environmental protection, and consumerism. Johnson would not have been able to do this if he did not have a good relationship with Congress. They also fought the Vietnam War together, politically that is. And although the public did not agree with everything they were doing, Johnson and the Congress worked well together. They worked well together because they agreed on most things and passed a lot of legislation.

The most positive thing that Johnson did during his presidency was his fight for civil rights. Johnson passed many pieces of legislation that helped African Americans to gain civil rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in public places. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests. The literacy tests had prevented many African-Americans from voting in the elections. This piece of legislation was Johnson’s proudest achievement. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 banned discrimination when selling houses and made the punishment for violating civil rights laws worse. The 24th amendment was also passed which outlawed the poll tax that had prevented so many African-Americans from voting.

The most negative thing that Johnson did was his refusal to raise taxes. He hurt our economy by trying to fund the Great Society at home and the Vietnam War overseas without raising taxes. Basically he was trying to take on too much all at once. It was not possible to fund both the Great Society and the bombing in North Vietnam. It was illogical of him to think that we would be able to come up with the billions of dollars necessary to do this, without raising taxes.

The biggest impact that Johnson had on future generations was his Great Society. Through the Great Society Johnson initiated a War on Poverty. During his war on poverty Johnson passed The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 which created the Office of Economic Opportunity. The Office of Economic Opportunity then created a bunch of antipoverty programs. Johnson’s War on Poverty, although not 100% successful, was definitely a giant step forward. The Great Society also made many steps forward in the African-American fight for civil rights. As mentioned before he passed many pieces of legislation. The Great Society also established Medicare and Medicaid, fought for environmental protection, and protection for consumers. All of these things had significant impacts, and most of them are still in effect today.

Due to Johnson’s Great Society the country was better off after he left office. Johnson fought a War on Poverty, he fought for civil rights, he fought for environmental protection, he established Medicare and Medicaid, and he fought to protect consumers. He established a lot of great legislation. This legislation created jobs, helped poor students get through college, raised volunteers to help out in the community, set up day cares for working mothers, helped to eliminate racial discrimination, helped to make sure our water and air were clean, and make sure our food was safe. All of these things have very positive consequences and left the country better off after Johnson left office than before he came into office. Regrettably, the Vietnam War hurt the country. Many citizens were opposed to the war and it hurt our economy. Nevertheless Johnson deserves a B for his time as President. __**Bibliography:**__ Degregorio, William A.. The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Seventh Edition (Complete Book of Us Presidents). 7 ed. Fort Lee: Barricade Books, 2009. Print.