- Published: December 27, 2021
- Updated: December 27, 2021
- University / College: Université de Montréal
- Language: English
- Downloads: 40
Johnson was a very good political leader in convincing the American public to vote for him. The gulf of Tonkin incident occurred during the election season. This incident was the attack upon two American war ships by the North Vietnamese. This was significant because congress gave Johnson a “ blank check” to return action (Tonkin Gulf Resolution). This gave Johnson political support for the next election. To ensure his victory in the election he used attack ads against his opponent Goldwater. One of which was a little girl playing outside then a nuclear blast going off and the message said: elect Goldwater and Ka-Boom! This is significant because it brought the fear out in all Americans about communists with nukes. Johnson won by a landslide 486 to 52.
Johnson also had many achievements in civil rights. Johnson called for an end to bigotry and injustice. He helped pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which banned literacy tests and sent registrars to the polls to make sure the voting went without any issues. This is significant because still to that date their were literacy tests (especially in the south) and this finally gave all blacks the right to vote. Also Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act which banned the discrimination in public facilities and sought to end segregation. This is significant because it finally gave blacks the rights that whites had and it also gave Johnson a good majority of black support.
Johnson also made big achievements for poverty in Americans. Johnson firmly believed in New Deal programs that Roosevelt made to bring the United States out of the depression. This vision that Johnson had to get Americans out of the poverty line was the Great Society. The Great Society would help improve four big areas one was education. Money was given to students not schools and Project Head Start was made to educate kids before school. Another was medical care, Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor were passed in 1965. Another was Immigration reform, Johnson passed the Immigration and Nationality Act which got rid of the old quota system. It doubled the number allowed in and limited the number for Western Hemisphere immigrants. Lastly was voting rights, Johnson wanted to be more blacks to vote (as discussed before). The Great Society was significant because it did get many Americans out of the poverty line just as the New Deal did with people caught in the depression. Also Johnson created two new cabinet offices: the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. These were significant because they created thousands and thousands of jobs all around the country helping people get out of the poverty line.
In conclusion, Johnson’s major domestic achievements were being a strong political leader and gaining support from the American people. Also he made many achievements in civil rights by giving blacks the right to vote and to end segregation all together in the United States. Johnson lastly made achievements in bringing Americans out of the poverty line by creating New Deal like programs like the DOT and HUD, also his Great Society program. Unfortunately most of these achievements were overshadowed; they were overshadowed by the Vietnam War and the fear of communism.