Controversy over the war had become acute by the end of March , when he limited the bombing of North Viet Nam in order to initiate negotiations. At the same time, he startled the world by withdrawing as a candidate for re-election so that he might devote his full efforts, unimpeded by politics, to the quest for peace.
When he left office, peace talks were under way; he did not live to see them successful, but died suddenly of a heart attack at his Texas ranch on January 22, The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse. Copyright by the White House Historical Association. Learn more about Lyndon B. Previous President Next President.
Lyndon B. Did you know? Secession of the Southern States. The New Deal. Henry Clay: The Great Compromiser. Shays' Rebellion. Postwar Rise of the Suburbs. The Impact of Television on News Media. Road to Revolution: The Homestead Acts. The Scopes Trial. The Atomic Bomb and the Nuclear Age. The Freedmen's Bureau. Jacksonian Democracy? Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
The Black Power Movement. The bill also funded community action programs and extended loans to small businessmen and farmers. Johnson's landslide re-election victory over Republican opponent Barry Goldwater in added to the momentum of Great Society reforms. Over the next four years, Johnson enacted a flurry of legislation. One of the most ambitious efforts was the establishment of Medicare to provide health care for America's senior citizens.
In , 44 percent of seniors had no health care coverage, and with the medical bills that come with older age, this propelled many seniors into poverty. In fact, more than one in three Americans over 65 were living below the poverty line -- more than double the rate of those under Medicare was an important and big change in American health care -- it was called the "biggest management job since the invasion of Normandy" -- and it was up to John Gardner to make it work.
In addition, Johnson tasked state and local governments with creating work training programs for up to , men and women. A national work study program was also established to offer , Americans the chance to go to college who could otherwise not afford it.
It will provide a lever with which we can begin to open the door to our prosperity for those who have been kept outside. By the time Johnson took office, mainly two groups of Americans were uninsured: the elderly and the poor.
Despite Kennedy championing health care for the needy during his Presidential campaign and beyond, and public support for the cause, many Republicans and some southern Democrats in Congress shot down early Medicare and Medicaid legislation.
Medicare covered hospital and physician costs for the elderly who qualified; Medicaid covered healthcare costs for people getting cash assistance from the government. To empower parents and make sure every child had a shot of success in life no matter their social or economic circumstances, Johnson, politician and activist Sargent Shriver , and a team of child development experts launched Project Head Start.
The Head Start program started as an eight-week summer camp run by the Office of Economic Opportunity for , children ages three to five. Education reform was also a key part of the Great Society. In , the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed.
It guaranteed federal funding for education in school districts whose student majority was low-income. It also:. The mass exodus to suburbia after World War II left many major cities in poor condition. Affordable, dependable housing was hard to find, especially for the poor.
The Housing and Urban Development Act of provided federal funds to cities for urban renewal and development. For cities to receive the funds, they had to establish minimum housing standards. The law also provided easier access to home mortgages and a controversial rent-subsidy program for vulnerable Americans who qualified for public housing. The law also established the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts to study the humanities and fund and support cultural organizations such as museums, libraries, public television, public radio and public archives.
To help battle worsening water pollution, Johnson signed the Water Quality Act in to help set national water quality standards. On the consumer protection front, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Child Safety Act were created to develop consumer product safety rules to make sure products were safe for both children and adults.
The Immigration and Naturalization Act was passed in October
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