28-3: The
Great Society
(Name given to
Johnson’s domestic
program)
1. Tax-cut bill of 1964
• Economic growth
• An increase in consumer spending,
business investments, and tax revenue
• A reduction in Federal budget deficits
In February 1964, LBJ shepherded another Kennedy plan through Congress:
a $10 billion tax cut. This policy was largely a success. Over the next several
quarters, consumer spending rose $45 billion, the GNP soared, and the federal
government actually increased its revenue. As a result, most top policy
makers accepted the tenets of Keynesian economics.
2. Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Prohibited discrimination based on race,
religion, national origin, and gender.
• Granted the federal government new
powers of enforcement
3. Economic Opportunity Act of
1964
• Funded youth programs, antipoverty
measures, small business loans, and job
training.
• Created the Job Corp, the VISTA
volunteer program, Project Head
Start and the Community
Action Program
4. Elementary and Secondary
Education Act
• Provided federal aid to help public and
parochial schools purchase textbooks, and
library material.
• Provided federal
aid for special
education classes
5. Medicare
• Provided hospital and
low-cost medical
insurance to most
Americans age 65
years or older
6. Medicaid
• Extended health insurance to welfare
recipients
7. Immigration Act of 1965
• Replaced the National Origins system with
a new immigration quota system that
allowed more non-European immigrants to
settle in the U.S.
A Harris poll in March of 1965 asked 1,110
respondents the following question:
President Johnson has proposed that the
immigration laws of this country be
changed to allow more people into the
U.S. as immigrants. From what you know
or have heard, do you favor or oppose
letting more people come to the U.S. as
immigrants?
B. Court Cases and Results:
1. Brown v. Board of Education
• Ruled that school segregation is
unconstitutional
Thurgood Marshall
argued the Brown
Case
B. Court Cases and Results:
2. Baker v. Carr
• Established the
principle of “one
person, -one
vote”
• Asserted that
federal courts
had the right to
tell states to
reapportion their
voting districts
for more equal
representation
B. Court Cases and Results:
3. Mapp v. Ohio
• The “Exclusionary
Rule”: Evidence
seized illegally can
not be used in state
courts
B. Court Cases and Results:
4. Gideon v. Wainright
• Required criminal
courts to provide legal
council to those who
can not afford it
B. Court Cases and Results:
5. Escobedo v. Illinois
• Ruled that an
accused person
has the right to
have a lawyer
present during
questioning by
police
B. Court Cases and Results:
6. Miranda v. Arizona
• Ruled that all
suspects must be
“read their rights”
before questioning =
established Miranda
Rights