Six – Johnson’s Great Society
The accidental President, Lyndon B. Johnson became electorally validated with a landslide victory in 1964 (Hamby 1992, 249). Successfully carrying the wishes of John F. Kennedy, Johnson’s victory instilled a predisposition to carry FDR’s New Deal Liberalism to a greater level. Johnson’s mission of liberal “hyperaccomplishment” was a product of a combination of craving success, deep insecurities and first hand witness to underprivileged growing up (Hamby 1992, 233). If FDR’s New Deal Liberalism was answer to an America in crisis, than Johnson’s was a huge transformation of America. Johnson’s new Great Society was branding liberalism to solve every problem by attempting to redistribute income to eliminate poverty and equalize opportunities throughout America
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It could not have been a worst time for such a weak diplomatic leader. Johnson’s temperament allowed the momentum of Kennedy’s plan with Kennedy’s holdover advisors and his personal hard nosed determination to fight Communism would only lead to the escalation of Vietnam (Hamby 1992, 267). And therefore the obscuring of this massive influx of new social programs that introduced a greater role for the government. Overshadowing the very controversial Vietnam War, the legacy of the Great Society is not just how a massive number of social legislative action changed the role of the government’s responsibility concerning poverty, medical care and educations. The Great Society was truly a legislative dream beyond any liberal’s imagination. Yet, the staying power of all these programs and the continued debate on their effectiveness remains with us today. In the end the Great Society might not have had great results, but certainly had a great impact on the role of government and the image of