Analyse the Reasons why the Policies of Lyndon B. Johnson Created such Division within America during the Era from 1963-1968.
- AM-251 – Anna Kuhlinger
The 1960s were an era of enormous change: From the civil rights
movement, personified by Martin Luther King, to the growing prosperity as a
result of economic legislation, and America’s increased involvement in the civil
war in Vietnam, many central aspects of American life would change. These
changes affected different members of American society in various ways over
the following years, leading to undeniable divisions in the long term. The
question remains, however, whether these divisions are to be attributed to
Lyndon B. Johnson since he politically shaped most of the 60s via his presidency
from 1963-68. This essay will therefore focus on the extent of the impact that
President Lyndon B. Johnson’s policies had on the divisions in American society.
For the analysis, the three areas of interest are his civil rights legislation and the
effect it had on racial tensions in the 1960s, the impact of the various bills that
made up what Johnson termed the ‘Great Society’, and his decision to fully
escalate the American involvement in the Vietnam War. For each of the three
elements, the repercussions of his policies and their impact on American society
will be analysed, coming to the conclusion that the controversies of his
presidency served as foreshadowing of the contentions later to come, namely
the fear of big government, the ongoing racial struggles, and the pervasive
criticism of militaristic American foreign policy.
Although the civil rights movement had been there long before, many of
its desired goals were seemingly reached during Johnson’s presidency, for
example the passing of the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act
6
Made with FlippingBook HTML5