Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society

John A. Andrew III died shortly after completing the writing of Power to Destroy. He was professor of history at Franklin & Marshall College and the author of The Other Side of the Sixties, among other books.

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• Part 1 Introduction 3Chapter 2 Defining characteristics of the Great Society. The tax cut. The Johnson task forces. The 1964 election.Part 3 FROM CIVIL RIGHTS TO RACE 23Chapter 4 The 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Moynihan Report. Affirmative action and urban riots. Civil rights moves north. The Civil Rights Act of 1968.Part 5 THE WAR ON POVERTY 56Chapter 6 Social scientists and poverty. Johnson's alternative paths to combat poverty. The debate over legislation. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Problems that undermined the war. Head Start. The continuing debate over assessments of the war.Part 7 HEALTH AND EDUCATION 95Chapter 8 Debates over medical care for the aged. Legislation and problems. A rising tide of criticism. Federal aid to education. Failures in the Kennedy administration. Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The interaction of education and race.Part 9 MODEL CITIES 131Chapter 10 Urban renewal in the 1950s. The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965. The New Haven experience. Urban riots and Model Cities. The problems of urban revival and the 1967 Detroit riot. The Kerner Commission and the urban crisis in 1968. The Housing ActPart 11 QUALITY OF LIFE 163Chapter 12 Consumer issues and Ralph Nader. Consumer protection legislation. The business reaction. Beautification and the environment lead to environmental protection efforts. The promotion of national cutlural life. Combating crime. The fading dream of a postscarcPart 13 ASSESSING THE GREAT SOCIETY 183Chapter 14 The Great Society as a liberal interlude. Changes since the 1960s. The influence of Great Society programs. Challenges to critics.Part 15 A Note on Sources 200Part 16 Index 208