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Lyndon B. Johnson (Aug 27th 1908- Jan 22nd 1973) Political Party- Democrat Terms- November 22nd 1963- January 20 1969 Vice President- Hubert H. Humphrey

With the nation in shock after the assassination of the beloved John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson took the office of President. Johnson was a very ambitious president who had big plans for the nation. LBJ’s presidency was as action packed as they come, he passed unprecedented civil rights legislature, created Medicare, Medicaid, increased environmental, and consumer protection, and attacked poverty. LBJ’s presidency was not all roses though; his major blemish was the Vietnam War in which he never lived up to his promises. Overall Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency deserves a B.

Lyndon B Johnson’s main goal in his presidency was to pass the legislation JKF was urging for at the time of his death. JKF at the time was advocating more civil rights. LBJ used the assassination of JKF to push the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through congress. The Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination in employment and public facilities such as restaurants and hotels. Johnson took another great leap forward with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This act outlawed the use of literacy test and authorized the government to promote registration of voters. In addition, the 24th amendment banished the poll tax. This new measures caused a dramatic increase in minority voting. Even towards the end of his presidency, Johnson still kept his main goal of bettering civil rights in mind with his Civil Rights Act of 1968. This act made discrimination in housing sales and rentals illegal and increased the punishments for civil rights offenders. Overall LBJ was successful with his goal of honoring JFK by passing the civil rights legislation; he made discrimination illegal and made it much easier for minorities to vote with his Voting Rights Act and the 24th amendment.

President Johnson and Congress had a very good relationship. Johnson relationship was only helped by the fact that he had a democratic majority thought out his term as the commander in chief. Congress was very cooperative when LBJ asked for liberal legislation, such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Economic Opportunities Act of 1964, and creation of Medicare and Medicaid. In August of 1964 the true depth of the relationship between congress and LBJ was shown, after an attack on the U.S. Destroyer Maddox Johnson requested broad open-ended authority from congress to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the Untied States and to prevent further aggression”. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution with only two votes against it and effectively handed LBJ a blank check to fund the Vietnam War.

The action of Lyndon B Johnson that had the most positive outcome was the Great Society. War on Poverty, Civil rights, Medicare, Medicaid, environmental and consumerism protection were all part of the Great Society. The Economic Opportunity Act helped the poor, it created VISTA which enlisted volunteers to work and teach in ghettos, started the Work-Study Program which provided jobs so students of low income housing could work through college and many other initiatives to help the poor. Civil Rights, which were already discussed, helped empower blacks and all minorities to stand up. Medicare provides inexpensive healthcare insurance to citizen over 65 while Medicaid provides hospital and medical benefits to the poor regardless of age. In environmental protection, the Water Quality Act set water standards for water quality that had to be approved by the Interior Department. The Clean Air Act set emissions standards for autos and the Air Quality Act created a board that sets and enforces air quality standards. Lastly, Consumer protection increased under the Great Society, for example the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, which required all contents and net quantity be listed on food packages, or the Wholesale Meat Act, which extended meat inspection standards to all processing, plants.

The worst action during LBJ’s administration was the attempt to fight the Vietnam War. The war had many negatives. The first major one was that it caused inflation; LBJ funded the war but did not want to increase taxes, so he just printed more money. He could do this because of the authority given to him by congress with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. This influx of new money in to the America economy caused massive inflation. The Vietnam War also hurt the world perception of America; to outsiders it seemed like a super power beating down on a third world country. The conflict also caused much dismay stateside, many anti-war protests and demonstrations were held across the nation, 125,000 protesters gather for a rally in New York. The last and most tragic part of the Vietnam War was the lost of thousands of America lives; 58,193 to be exact.

The Vietnam War and the consequences that resulted from it affected many future administrations. First of all, there was an immediate impact on the next administration, Nixon’s. The massive inflation caused by the war was a major headache for Nixon. The Vietnam War sphere of influence did not end there, Congress eventually repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution and eventually the debacle concerning the lack on control on the presidential power to deploy troops led to the War Powers Act. This act, which was caused by the Vietnam War, affected and will affect every president to come after Johnson. It requires specific congressional consent before the president may deploy troops to a conflict. The War Powers Act greatly reduced the military power of the executive branch and gave the power back to congress, where it belongs. Any president that in the future that wants to deploy troops around the globe must first now get permission from congress because of the Vietnam War.

Overall, Lyndon B Johnson had much success with domestic reforms, such as civil rights or environmental protection, but he tried to also juggle a foreign war with that and it seemed like a but too much to handle. Domestically the country was better off because the programs such as Medicare and Medicaid helped the poor and elderly, but his foreign hurt America and because of that, he earns a B.

Works Cited1945, Between. "The Vietnam War." //Digital History//. 20 May 2010. Web. 21 May 2010. .DeGregorio, William A. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade, 2005. Print.Hull, Theodore J. "Statistical Information about Casualties of the Vietnam War." //National Archives and Records Administration//. Dec. 2002. Web. 20 May 2010. ."Lyndon B. Johnson." //The White House//. Web. 21 May 2010. [].