1966 Lyndon B. Johnson - The Great Society and Vietnam

Starting with his 'War on Poverty', the champion of Civil Rights, Lyndon B. Johnson set out to create what he believed to be a greater America.   President Johnson wanted to take America down the roads of growth, justice and liberation towards what he termed 'The Great Society'.  LBJ had very ambitions goals and worked with congress to enact hundreds of major bills and a dozen or more landmark measures. He protected over 9 million acres of forestland, provided major funding for elementary and secondary education, banned literacy tests and voter discrimination, provided medicare to the elderly, created the National Endowment for the Arts, ended discriminatory quotas on immigration, provided funds to construct low-income housing, tightened pollution controls, raised standards in consumer safety.  It was a prosperous time for America, and Lyndon B. Johnson was determined to build a "Great society", one that eliminated the troubles of the poor and neglected.   Johnson was  an accomplished legislators, he wheeled and dealed to pass his agenda.  

But, in May of 1965 the first U.S. Army combat troops arrived in Vietnam.  Then three months later, President Johnson announced that U.S. will be sending an additional 125,000 men to Vietnam.  By end of 1965, U.S. troop levels reached 184,300 in Vietnam and there was no clear victory in sight.   Yet, President Johnson would refuse to surrender, "we will not permit those who fire upon us in Vietnam to win a victory over the desires and the intentions of all the American people. This Nation is mighty enough, its society is healthy enough, its people are strong enough, to pursue our goals in the rest of the world while still building a Great Society here at home."  President Johnson told America, that this nation was strong enough and healthy enough to pursue our goals of peace through out the world, while still building a Great Society here at home.

"This Nation is mighty enough, its society is healthy enough, its people are strong enough, to pursue our goals in the rest of the world while still building a Great Society here at home.  And that is what I have come here to ask of you tonight.

I recommend that you provide the resources to carry forward, with full vigor, the great health and education programs that you enacted into law last year. I recommend that we prosecute with vigor and determination our war on poverty."

 President Johnson, was recommending to congress and to America that we continue to carry forward, with full vigor the Great Society programs that he passed in the first two years of his presidency.   America was strong, it's economy was flourishing.  Johnson predicted a surplus of federal revenue in 1966, but agreed that sacrifices may still be needed in the future.  But, who should make these sacrifices?   President Johnson made it very clear, the  wealthy should sacrifice, not the poor.   

"There are men who cry out: We must sacrifice. Well, let us rather ask them: Who will they sacrifice? Are they going to sacrifice the children who seek the learning, or the sick who need medical care, or the families who dwell in squalor now brightened by the hope of home? Will they sacrifice opportunity for the distressed, the beauty of our land, the hope of our poor?

Time may require further sacrifices. And if it does, then we will make them.  But we will not heed those who wring it from the hopes of the unfortunate here in a land of plenty.

I believe that we can continue the Great Society while we fight in Vietnam. But if there are some who do not believe this, then, in the name of justice, let them call for the contribution of those who live in the fullness of our blessing, rather than try to strip it from the hands of those that are most in need.

And let no one think that the unfortunate and the oppressed of this land sit stifled and alone in their hope tonight. Hundreds of their servants and their protectors sit before me tonight here in this great Chamber."  

In the end, the United States spent $140 billion on the war in Vietnam plus an additional $350 to $900 billion on veterans' benefits and interests.   Furthermore, in order to meet the required war efforts, consumer goods factories were diverted to military needs causing a plunge in the shopping rate, thus hurting the economy.  The great economy of the 1960's fell and took with it Johnson's Great Society.  Many Americans became disillusioned, believing that America was not the greatest country in the world.   Would it ever be again?  Well, if your trust is in the federal government to eradicate poverty and guarantee a comfortable living, then perhaps the answer is no.   But if you believe that the greatness of America is based upon the freedoms and unalienable rights granted to us by our creator, then the answer is this:  America is, was and will continue to be the greatest country in the world.

References

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). Lyndon B. Johnson: Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union.. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=28015 [Accessed 3 May 2018].

Historyplace.com. (2018). The History Place - Vietnam War 1965-1968. [online] Available at: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1965.html [Accessed 3 May 2018].

Rohn, A. (2018). How Much Did The Vietnam War Cost? - The Vietnam War. [online] The Vietnam War. Available at: http://thevietnamwar.info/how-much-vietnam-war-cost/#sthash.nF76A3BL.dpuf [Accessed 3 May 2018].

Ushistory.org. (2018). Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" [ushistory.org]. [online] Available at: http://www.ushistory.org/us/56e.asp [Accessed 3 May 2018].
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