Question 1:
The main goal of the Great Society as promoted by LBJ during his time as the President of the United States was the eradication of poverty and inequality. Specifically, the Great Society supported programs that are focused on education, health care, urban issues, rural development and improvement of the transportation sector. He promoted the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as well as the bill on the provision of federal funding for Medicare (Helsing, 64). Many of the accomplishments of all LBJ’s programs required the increase of federal funding. Though there some parties who claimed that the War on Poverty programs accomplishment were minimal, the legacy of the Great Society showed that it paved the way for the betterment of the American society as a whole.
Question 2:
One of the achievement of LBJ’s Great Society came from his effort in recognizing the sentiments of the Civil Rights movement. He promoted the Civil Rights Acts that were aimed at eliminating discrimination in terms of public accommodation, voting, and housing among others (Helsing, 111). Consequently, the Vietnam War resulted in the escalation of the Civil Rights movement as the African-Americans vent their outrage at the discrimination of the blacks in the United States and in the military. One of the notable climatic event in 1968 was the assassination of the civil rights advocate, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the eventual signing into law of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 that served to recognize the equal right of the black Americans in terms of housing.
Question 3:
The Vietnam War has a considerable impact in the culture of the 1960s, as the people negatively responded to the country’s participation in the war. Young men were called to enlist in the war, and to some people thought of this as an exertion of excessive authority, especially to the black Americans who remain to be discriminated, yet were required to enlist for the warfare. Young people wanted a change towards a less authoritative government as symbolized by the hippy culture. The 1968 was a climactic year because it resulted in the rise of black power, that work against oppression while promoting the interest of the African Americans.
The year 1968 was a climactic year because it was the year when President Johnson announced that he will not seek re-election. Moreover, this was the year when the social unrest escalated due to the Vietnam, especially among college students who were against the participation of the US in the conflict. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. also resulted in the outpouring of Black American sentiments, that resulted in the enactment of the housing bill. The equal housing bill marked one of the steps towards equality among different races in the United States. While the passage of the bill did not immediately end the discrimination and inequality, it served as a certain step towards better treatment of the black Americans.
Question 5:
Those who voted for Nixon must be the people who were against the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War. They are comprised of college students, parents, African Americans and other anti-war advocates. If I were there, I would have voted for him because of his stance in restoring law and order amidst the anti-war protest. True enough, President Nixon eventually ended the involvement of the US in the Vietnam War a few years later.
Works Cited
Helsing, Jeffrey. Johnson's War/Johnson's Great Society: The Guns and Butter Trap. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000.
