policy - The Black Vault

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had slowed or stopped Kennedy's liberal iegislative initiatives, Johnson
set out to fulfill the promises Kennedy had made in his campaign but had
been unable to realize because of congressional opposition. The Kennedy
legacy in domestic policy had two central aspects:
(1) A program of social reform bills that was designed to bring
federal aid to disadvantaged Americans.
(2) An economic program that was designed to stimulate the economy
and provide the prosperity which was necessary to sponsor the
expensive social works program that under Johnson came to be
known as "The Great Society."
After the 1964 elections and the overwhelming defeat of
B. y Goldwater and the Republican Party, Johnson had established his
personal national political constituency and had won
a majority in both
houses of Congress, which allowed him to press on with further civil rights
and social reform legislation. However, as discussed in Chapter 4
.Johnson's failure to take action to finance the war through increased taxes
led to mounting inflation. These changing economic conditions and the
white reaction to the ghetto riots of 1965-1968 began t) erode the political
base Johnson needed to advance his domestic reform program.
base included the old Roosevelt alliance of liberal intellectuals, labor
leaders, blacks, and Southern Democrats. As tension developed between the
black and white elements of this coalition and as the liberal intellectuals
began to shift away from Johnson because of his Vietnam war policies, the
president, who had established a commanding political position in the 1964
election found his political base under attack from both the right and the
left.
That
Some observers maintain that the erosion of the Democratic
grand coalition" was rooted less in the war itself than in the so-called
"social issue". That issue was centere6 around the attention that was
lavished on the poor at a time when the v, rking middle class was under
financial pressure from the inflation stemming from Johnson's inadequate
and inappropriate fiscal response to the financial requirements of the
Vietnam war. 15/ In the late 1960s and 1970s the Republican Party
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