Section 3: Chronology

1.
2. A. War on Poverty 2d
B. Great Society 3d
C. Kennedy Assassinated/LBJ takes office 1d
Narrative: When JFK was assassinated, LBJ channeled the nation’s grief towards passing
a series of bills and programs that Kennedy had never succeeded in enacting, including
the War on Poverty. After putting in place the program comprised of a number of acts
and bills to conquer poverty, LBJ set out to make American society worthy of America,
to improve the society with bills and programs that he dubbed, collectively, the Great
Society Program.
3. A. SNCC Founded 3d
B. Greensboro Sit In 2a
C. Freedom Riders 1d
Narrative: The Freedom Riders were the first instance of young people really taking the
lead in civil rights protests. This was seen again at the Greensboro Sit In, where a group
of college students, after buying supplies at one counter in a store, sat at another, asked
for doughnuts and coffee, and refused to leave when told the business didn’t serve
African Americans. Student/young people leadership really came together when SNCC,
an organization of students, was founded to fight civil rights injustices.
Section 6: Essay:
Mr. President Lyndon B. Johnson,

I enclose here, as per your request, a futuristic assessment of your domestic

program.

Historians in 2014 have focused on four major aspects of your domestic program:

The War on Poverty, The Great Society, Civil Rights, and Environmentalism. Though

none were absolute successes, each saw invaluable gains and laid the groundwork for

more work to follow.

The War on Poverty is perhaps the most iconic aspect of LBJ’s domestic program.

Its goal—to end poverty in the US—was lofty, and though huge strides were made and

many lives bettered, poverty did exist when LBJ left office in 1969. A number of

programs are still in practice and helping people today. Among them are Head Start and

Upward Bound, which (for the record) deal with education, the former beginning a Pre-K

program and the latter helping gifted yet underprivileged students attend college.

Unfortunately, many young history students are quick to memorize a famous jab at your

program: “We fought a war on poverty and poverty won.” Nonetheless, the war on

poverty was the best attempt anyone ever made to eradicate poverty in the US and the

programs in this program (though under a later president) came as close as anyone had

ever come to eradicating poverty.

Your Great Society program, while not the first major attempt to reform society,

stands out from previous and later attempts because of the huge scale of reform, which
spawned many programs that have survived half a century. Prominent among them are

Medicare and Medicaid, the former (for the record) providing health care to

impoverished persons and the latter (for the record) providing health care to those

persons who have reached 65 years of age. Other successful programs and legislature

included (but not limited to) education reform, a Model Cities Act, transportation reform,

and art programs. The programs revamped society and by transforming it transformed the

world we live in. Cities became more aesthetically pleasing, the arts were encouraged,

transportation was improved and made more efficient, and education was vastly

improved. Yet many would still ask “why are you planting trees when I have no dinner?”

The Great Society Program outwardly improved society, but deep social and economic

issues such as continued poverty and discrimination would obstruct efforts to form a

perfect society.

Many historians would argue that civil rights was the true lasting legacy of your

presidency. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (for the record) prohibited pubic segregation in

accommodations, businesses, and hiring and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (for the

record) allowed federal investigators to register anyone they deemed qualified to vote and

intervene in an area where 20 or more residents had submitted written complaints of

disenfranchisement or there was a history of disenfranchisement or voter participation

was worryingly low. The elimination of de jure (by law) segregation was a crucial step

forward in the Civil Rights movement, and you, Mr. President, 50 years after the fact, are

remembered as the president who made them happen. However, many historians in the

21st century have seized upon the fact that you did pressure MLK out of the Seneca

March and worked behind the scenes in other ways to limit the protests against
segregation and discrimination. Despite this, you are, by and large, Mr. President,

remembered as the President who—along with President Kennedy, many of whose ideas

you implemented—allowed for the turning point in the civil rights struggle for equality.

The last major point in your domestic program that many historians in the 21st

century focus on is your environmental program. And the assessments are almost

uniformly positive. Your environmental program was the first time any major effort had

been made to save our true home—Earth—which we have been polluting for centuries.

Though much of the program is attributed to your wife, Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson and

to your Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall, you are the president credited with

beginning the movement to take care of the earth, which is still going strong 50 years

later. Your presidency was the first time saving endangered species was a priority. Your

presidency was the first time beauty, even along highways, was emphasized. You began

the long march, and I am pleased to say that when you left office, others took up the

torch, some more enthusiastically than others, but none so far have let it drop. Here’s

hoping none will.

And so, Mr. President, while opposition and critics may focus on flaws, and even

supporters and fans cannot be uniformly positive, your presidency has generally garnered

positive reactions from historians, even 50 years after the fact.

Outline:
I. Frilly LBJ intro stuff (time permitting)
II. War on Poverty
a. Waged a really good fight, but poverty was never eliminated
b. Quickest to catch the eye of young history students was a later president
who would mock you
c. Nonetheless, it
III. Great Society
a.
IV. Civil Rights
a. Good work towards de jure segregation, but people will always ask the
question, what more could have been done?
b. Unmistakable, precious steps forward.
c. Civil Rights and voting rights acts were invaluable
V. Environmentalism
a. First time it was a priority, began a movement that has lasted for 50 years.
b. Unprecidented, but may well have saved the environment. 50 years later,
there is still so much work to be done, but you got the ball rolling.