Strategies of Johnson's Great Society Programs - Essay Example

?Ch. 25 What were the purposes and strategies of Johnson’s Great Society programs? The Great Society program started in 1965 is one of the great achievements of the then president Lyndon B. Johnson in his efforts for general welfare. The program refers to Johnson’s initiatives from 1965-1967. The major purposes of the program were to eradicate poverty by equipping the poor with skills and rebuilding their spirit and motivation, to provide equality and freedom from wan, and to provide health services to the poor and elderly. Johnsons, having come from a modest family background, believed that equality and freedom were not a part of the American society and in order to integrate them with American society radical changes had to be brought in. After Johnson’s success in the 1964 election he decided to fulfill the above three basic purposes through some well thought out strategies like development of new Medicaid and Medicare programs to provide health care facilities to all, funds were provided for education and urban development. Creation of new cabinet offices as the Departments of Transportation, and new agencies like Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were created to help people and at the same time they expanded the powers of the federal government to achieve the objectives. Poverty was reduced though programs like Head Start, job training, legal services, and scholarships for poor college students which were under the Office of Economic Opportunity (p. 972). Equality was achieved through the Voting rights Act of 1965 and immigration reforms through the Hart Celler Act of 1965. 2. What were the sources and significance of the rights revolution of the late 1960s? Despite the efforts for equality and freedom by Johnson during his tenure, there were still some major groups that felt dissatisfied, who had never spoken up for themselves and who were finally realizing in this new wave of liberalization that their freedom was also lost and for getting that freedom back they had to do something. Blacks had always been prejudiced and finally they were getting their due back though slowly. However, other groups like feminists, homosexuals, Mexican-Americans, Indian-Americans never got a chance to talk about their freedom and it was in the late 60s that with developments like Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, formation of the Mattachine Society, latino activism, upsurge of Indian militancy laid the foundation for the rights revolution. One of the major significance of the rights revolution was that indirectly the judiciary system established itself as the system capable of upholding what’s right for the society gaining their trust. With landmark rulings in cases like New York Times v. Sullivan and Loving v. Verginia, the court sought to achieve civil rights and racial equality. “The Court simultaneously pushed forward the process of imposing upon the states the obligation to respect the liberties outlined in the Bill of Rights. It required states to abide by protections against illegal search and seizure, the right of a defendant to a speedy trial, the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment” (p.996). Besides policing the states, the court also upheld the right to privacy. “The rights revolution completed the transformation of American freedom from a set of entitlements enjoyed mainly by white men into an open-ended claim to equality, recognition, and self-determination (p. 997). 3. In what ways was 1968 a climactic year for the Sixties? The Sixties brought major changes to American society and the changes weren’t just good, progressive changes in the attitude of the people but the decade also saw rise of drug culture all in the name of freedom. The decade was about freedom: freedom from poverty, freedom from racialism, freedom from inequality and freedom from all sorts of restrictions. And all the developments and changes throughout the decade came to a climax in 1968. The long subdued rebellion in Vietnam finally came into full power in January 1968, which strengthened the angst of people in America against the war and which also led to the downfall of the Johnson government. It was an end to the presidency of Johnson, which was in itself a highlight of the Sixties. Martin Luther King Jr. who had been the face of black revolution during the Sixties was killed by a white assassin in April giving him the cult status and leading to the “greatest outbreak of urban violence in the nation’s history” (p. 998). Finally in August the return of Nixon government suggested that there was a part of population that “change had gone too far-and called for renewed commitment to law and order” (p. 1000). The year was not an end to all the movements but it was the most dramatic year which concluded the Sixties with an end to old presidency and with the rise of a new class that was less racist, believed more in equality but at the same time wanted peace and a just place for themselves. Ch. 26 1. How did Vietnam and the Watergate scandal affect popular trust in government? Since the Sixties Vietnam had been a major political issue that was mishandled again and again. Nixon government did no better. It was this constant failure that led people to believe that the government was not concerned about its people but only about their own image. Nixon’s solution to Vietnam issue was Vietnamization but it only led to the situations getting worse with even the neutral Cambodia getting dragged into the war and the rise of the most dreaded regime of Khmer Rouge in the area. Antiwar feelings spread not just among the general public but even the army was fed up with the decisions of the government, there were antiwar sentiments among the Vietnam veterans and the army became more undisciplined. The final blow was when the utter failure of the government to bring peace to the area and its withdrawal without achieving what it had set out for. “Vietnam undermined Americans’ confidence in their own institutions and challenged long-standing beliefs about the country and its purpose” (p. 1014). Further blow to the credibility of the government came with the Watergate scandal. The Watergate Scandal showed that the president was willing to go to any level to determine the elements against his government and to eliminate them; this just showed how willing he was to misrepresent the government to the people and hence was misleading them. “Nixon’s presidency remains a classic example of the abuse of political power.” (p. 1015). 2. What were the roots of the rise of conservatism in the 1970s? The “silent population” that led to Nixon’s rise during the late Sixties led to the rise of conservatism in the 1970s. The rise of conservatism shouldn’t be mistaken for a sudden change from the liberalism of the Sixties instead it was in the Sixties itself that there was a part of population which wanted back the ideals of American life. It was the changes, the rise of liberalism of the Sixties in which lies the roots for the rise conservatism in the Seventies. By the seventies conservatives “ran candidates for office even when they had little chance to win” in order to spread their doctrines (p. 1025). A group of neoconservatives were completely against the strategies of the Sixties which according to them “did more harm than good” with declining moral standards and no respect for the societal rules all in the name of freedom (p.1025). Their agenda was “pro-life, pro-family, pro-America” (p. 1026). There was rise of Christian conservatives who felt religion was the answer to rising immorality but they were against every liberal thought of the Sixties like “Court decisions about banning prayer in public schools, protecting pornography as free speech, and legalizing abortion” (p. 1026). The conservatives were against the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) for they believed it struck down the “family values” the worst. Deindustrialization and more power to the federal government during the Sixties were being looked down as the main cause for the economic destabilization; hence Conservatives wanted less federal intervention and a cut in taxes. They were looking to overturn the developments of Sixties which they believed had gone too far. 3. How did the Reagan presidency affect Americans both at home and abroad? Ronald Reagan’s presidency brought about some major changes to the American society. At home his presidency echoed freedom and liberty but this was not synonymous with the same sort of freedom that developed in the Sixties, instead his ideas were more conservative in that they were pro-America. “Reagan repeatedly invoked the idea that America has a divinely appointed mission as a “beacon of liberty and freedom” (p.1033). Reagan’s policies for combating poverty meant “curtailing the power of unions, dismantling regulations, and radically reducing taxes.” (p.1033). While this was in support of the conservatives it only increased the gap between poor and rich. While rich people got richer and stacked more money, poor were left even worse off. The other major influence of Reagan’s policies was on the life of black workers who lost their jobs since the factories shut down, there was less manual work, more outsourcing and increase in the “yuppie” population. Hence there was rise in unemployment and for the middle class there was stagnation of income. As a result of Reagan’s maneuver to increase American household income he created a generation that was greedier, which didn’t go down well with the conservatives who thought that the family values were even more lost. At the same time Reagan’s policies to reassert American power abroad made people doubtful of his foreign policies. With cases like Iran-Contra affair people realized that Reagan was asserting American supremacy at any cost. This in long term led to Islamic revolutionists seeing Americans as foes and hence a difficult time for them in Muslim dominated countries. It wasn’t until later that Reagan subdued his aggressiveness, and became friendlier with the Soviet. In all Reagan gave rise to the phenomenon of “greedy Americans” and a consumerist society. Ch. 27 1. How did Bush and Clinton transform America’s world role? Bush and Clinton majorly influenced how people saw America after 1990. However, both had a very different approach in establishing America as the world power. Bush was a more fiery leader who sought to establish America’s supremacy by intervening in world affairs which he thought were not handled properly by the local people. Bush chose to dispatch troops to Panama in 1989 to overthrow General Manuel Antonio Noriega who was involved in international drug trade; his mission was a success and he continued with his interventions in the wake of his success. He believed that it was time for a “new world order” (p. 1049). Clinton, on the other hand, was seen as a more amiable leader with the ability to influence people. He chose to follow the way of Carter trying to settle matters without the use of force and upholding the human rights. America thus appeared more mature at taking decisions. However, both Bush and Clinton had progressive ideas and supported globalization. Clinton during his presidency sought to increase the economy and as America emerged as an economic power, its supremacy was only strengthened during his days. 2. What forces drove the economic resurgence of the 1990s? One of the highlights of Clinton's presidency had been the economic boom of the 1990s, the major factor that led to the establishment of American supremacy. This economic resurgence was a result of the policies of the Clinton government which sought to increase economy of the country by allowing free trade and utilizing foreign brain for country's growth. As a result of increase in household income there was increase in tax revenues, which the government utilized to balance the budget deficits produced during the presidency of Reagan and Bush, in fact they were able to produce budget surpluses. This resurgence was also a result of the computer revolution which made it easier to do things and was vastly helpful in business and trading. Computers and internet increased the efficiency of trading to a great extent. Despite the increase in trading the prices didn't rise "because rising oil production worldwide kept the cost of energy low and weak unions and increased global competition made it difficult for workers to achieve significant wage increases and for corporations to raise prices" (p. 1056). 3. What cultural conflicts emerged in the 1990s? Globalization paved way for a more secular culture in America and there was marked increase in immigrants from Third World countries like India, South Korea, China, Mexico, Africa and others. There was a sudden rise in Latin population, and they became an integral part of the society. Hispanic presence was felt and acknowledged everywhere from everyday life to entertainment business. Africans were no longer segregated and became a part of the American society with more immigration from Africa, Carribeans and other parts where people of African descent lived. Besides it wasn’t just the refugees and illegal workers that were migrating from countries a substantial number of people among these migrants were highly educated people from countries like India and South Korea who sought to gain benefits from the opportunities that the country provided. America was trying to establish itself as a multicultural society. However, this increasing multiculturalism led to people especially conservatives debating over identity crisis. They believed that this has led to cultural fragmentation and undermined “a common sense of nationhood” (p. 1074). Cultural conservatism was only a part of the struggle among conservatives who fought against the government in issues that they considered had degraded American society and multiculturalism seemed like the biggest cause of this degradation. Read More