What liberal reforms were advanced during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations?

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Figure false: A Tribute to Johnson for Medicare
Figure false: George Niedermeyer, who lived in Hollywood, Florida, and received a Social Security pension, painted pieces of wood and glued them together to create this thank-you to President Lyndon Johnson for establishing Medicare. LBJ Library, photo by Henry Groskinsky.

AT THE DEMOCRATIC NationalConvention in 1960, John F. Kennedy announced “a New Frontier” that would confront “unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus.” Four years later, Lyndon B. Johnson invoked the ideal of a “Great Society, [which] rests on abundance and liberty for all [and] demands an end to poverty and racial injustice.” Acting under the liberal faith that government should use its power to solve social and economic problems, end injustice, and promote the welfare of all citizens, the Democratic administrations of the 1960s won legislation on civil rights, poverty, education, medical care, housing, consumer safeguards, and environmental protection. These measures, along with pathbreaking Supreme Court decisions, responded to demands for rights from African Americans and other groups and addressed problems arising from rapid economic growth.

CHRONOLOGY

1960

  • John F. Kennedy is elected president.

1963

  • In Abington School District v. Schempp, Supreme Court rules against requiring Bible reading and prayer in schools.
  • Supreme Court rules that congressional districts must reflect “one person, one vote” in Baker v. Carr.
  • President Kennedy is assassinated; Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president.

1964

  • Civil Rights Act is passed.

1964–1966

  • Congress passes most of Johnson’s Great Society domestic programs.

1966

  • Miranda v. Arizona ruling requires police officers to inform suspects of their rights.

1967

  • Supreme Court strikes down state laws against interracial marriage in Loving v. Virginia.