On January 4, 1965, in his State of the Union address, President Lyndon Baines Johnson presented Congress with a long list of laws necessary to carry out his plan for a great corporation. In the wake of the tragic death of John F. Kennedy, the Americans elected Johnson, its vice-president, to the presidency by the largest popular vote in the history of the country. Johnson used this mandate to promote improvements that he said would improve the quality of life for Americans.
Following Johnson’s lead, Congress enacted sweeping legislation in the areas of civil rights, healthcare, education and the environment. The 1965 State of the Union Speech announced the creation of Medicare / Medicaid, Head Start, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the conference of the White House on Natural Beauty. Johnson also signed the National Foundation of the Arts and Humanities Act, from which emerged the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through the Economic Opportunity Act, Johnson waged a war on poverty by implementing improvements in early childhood education and fair employment policies. He was also a strong advocate for conservation, proposing the creation of a green heritage by preserving natural areas, open spaces and riverbanks and building more urban parks. In addition, Johnson has stepped up research and legislation regarding air and water pollution control measures.
Under Kennedy, then Vice President Johnson led the government’s quest to develop American excellence in science. As president, the ongoing technological race with the Soviet Union prompted Johnson to continue the vigorous national space exploration program started by Kennedy. During Johnson’s presidency, the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) achieved the extraordinary and unprecedented accomplishment of a man’s orbit around the moon.
While many of Johnson’s agendas remain in place today, his legacy of a large corporation has been largely overshadowed by his decision to involve more US troops in the controversial Vietnam War.
READ MORE: LBJ’s Big Company
