LBJ’s Great Society and Vietnam, 1964-1968 APUSH: Kovacs The 1960s Intro: One of Lyndon Johnson’s primary legislative goals after his election 1964 was to use the Democratic majorities in Congress to push through a massive reform platform known as the Great Society. Johnson’s Great Society grew from his New Deal beliefs in the use of federal power to solve social problems and economic inequality. Unfortunately, Johnson’s Presidency and his legacy would be defined not by the Great Society, but by the growing conflict in Vietnam. The Documents: Document 1: LBJ’s “Great Society” Speech at The University of Michigan (1964) The challenge of the next half century is whether we have the wisdom to use [our] wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of our American civilization….We have the opportunity to move not only toward the rich society and the powerful society, but upward to the Great Society. The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice…the Great Society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents…The solution to these [issues] does not rest on a massive program in Washington, nor can it rely solely on the strained resources of local authority. They require us to create new concepts of cooperation, a creative federalism, between the national capitol and the leaders of local communities. Document 2: LBJ’s State of the Union Address (12 January 1966) Our Nation tonight is engaged in a brutal and bitter conflict in Vietnam. Later on I want to discuss that struggle in some detail with you. It just must be the center of our concerns. But 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. 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…We will continue to meet the needs of our people by continuing to develop the Great Society.