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+LBJ was very much a proponent of civil rights in his administration:
+    - Pro-women
+    - Pro-racial equality
+    - Pro-gay/lesbian
+    - But the Great Society promised too much.
+    - The Cold War caused the War in Vietnam
+        - Most controversial, least successful war in the nation's
+          history
+
+What was Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson trying to do with the war on poverty
+and the "Great Society?"
+
+What were his achievements in the Civil Rights movement? Why did
+activists push him to support him?
+
+Why did he escalate a war in Vietnam? What were the consequences for his
+political career and the US?
+
+LBJ is a white Texan, sworn in in 1963 from JFK's VP spot.
+- Rags to riches story: worked his way out of poverty
+- Ego and insecurities were as massive as his vanity and ambition
+    - Couldn't stand being alone and insisted on 
+    - "My war on Vietnam," "my cabinet," "my ideas"
+    - Cruel idealist, brutal optimist
+    - Wanted to be the greatest president, genuine compassion for the
+      poor and civil rights (in part motivated by political desire to
+      bring the South into mainstream political life)
+    - First job was at school in Texas teaching poor Mexican children.
+    - His wife said, "Johnson loved the human race, and half of the
+      human race were women."
+    - Poll taxes, literacy taxes, inconvenient application process
+      continued.
+        - Intimidation with beatings, lynchings.
+    - LBJ wanted to force Mississippi to enfranchise black people in
+      Mississippi.
+        - (Mostly) idealistic white college students helped black people
+          register, navigate the system in Mississippi Freedom Summer.
+        - Mississippians prepared for "communist invasion" by doubling
+          police force and stockpiling weapons.
+    - KKK and white racists harassed, arrested, and insulted volunteers.
+        - Jun 1964: volunteers abducted and murdered by Klan members,
+          along with black people
+        - "End of innocence."
+        - Black Americans began to question MLK's nonviolence strategy
+          because of belief that Feds wouldn't protect them from white
+          racists
+            - Young black people, especially, were radicalizing.
+            - Congress passes Civil Rights Act, and LBJ signs it into
+              law.
+
+- Personal talks with senators to produce the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
+- Johnson put all his chips on the table, betting on the Civil Rights
+  Act.
+LBJ feared the Civil Rights Act would cost him the presidency.
+- Americans rediscovered poverty in 1962 with "The Other America" by
+  Michael Harrington (>40mn ppl were mired in a culture of poverty,
+  which caused cultural issues; much more extensive because it was
+  hidden from view in inner cities, isolated rural areas)
+    - LBJ's declares war on poverty to establish a legislative package
+      with real impact.
+    - Kennedy wanted his advisors, before assassination, to investigate
+      solutions
+War on Poverty included a bunch of stuff:
+- grants to small farmers
+- loans to businesses that hire the chronically unemployed
+- later the foodstamps program
+- student loans, early preschool
+
+Election of 1964
+- Republican Conservative counter-attack by Barry Goldwater
+    - Square-jaw straight-talking leader.
+    - One of six Republican senators voting against Civil Rights Act,
+      explaining it in fear of a police state.
+    - Wanted to vastly reduce programs like Social Security.
+    - Out of his depth as a Pres Candidate, advised wholesale bombing of
+      Vietnam.
+    - Called War on Poverty a waste of money; didn't want feds to
+      provide money for education.
+- Johnson framed himself as a responsible centrist.
+- Goldwater was vastly rejected, with only 38.4% of the popular vote and
+  52 electoral votes from AZ and the deep south.
+- Johnson misread his popularity as a mandate for massive changes.
+    - "Every day I'm in office, I'm going to lose votes."
+    - "You need to get this legislation done fast."
+    - Rich and Powerful, Great society w/o poverty
+        - Medicare and Medicaid, Higher Education Act, Immigration Act
+          of 1965
+    - Federal govt = powerful lever for improving the life of all Ams
+- Opposition of AMA had stalled equal health insurance coverage.
+    - They stood by the Republicans only supporting free healthcare for
+      those over 65.
+    - LBJ got Medicare and Medicaid.
+    - Higher Education Act = low-rate loans, grants, scholarships
+- Immigration Act or Hart-Celler Act
+    - Sweeping bipartisan change to Immigration Policy.
+    - Redress the wrong done to those from Southeast Europe and Africa
+      and Asia.
+        - Fixed the "old system" of advantaging GB, France, etc
+
+- Marchers in Selma assaulted by state and local police. "Bloody Sunday"
+  televised for the entire country to witness
+    - MLK was torn between a second march or not and supported a second
+      march.
+        - Federal judge authorized feds to protect the protest.
+        - MLK advised "creative nonviolence."
+    - South became a Republican stronghold as white voters began
+      switching parties.
+
+Note: this is like gibberish. read the book for better info.
+
+LBJ was similar to Wilson in that his "crusading idealism" would hurt
+him
+
+The "Vietnam thing" was wearing him down, while racial violence in
+cities was rising.
+    - Viet Cong, a guerilla force, was trying to implement a communist
+      takeover of US-backed regime (from the South).
+    - Vietminh led by Ho Chi Minh, a seasoned revolutionary, supported a
+      revolution against colonial Japan, with power in Northern Vietnam.
+        - Supported independence.
+        - Declared creation of Democratic Republic of Vietnam with
+          capital in Hanoi
+        - French underestimated determination to maintain independence
+          and tried to restore the colonial regime.
+            - French forces regained cities, but Vietminh controlled
+              countryside.
+            - Predicted that French would give in before Vietnamese.
+        - By end of 1953, Eisenhower was paying nearly 80% of French
+          military effort in Vietnam.
+            - 55K Vietminh fighters dug trenches and tunnels, starting
+              from Dec, to surround French forces by March, who tried to
+              take control by airdropping into Dien Bien Phu.
+            - Eisenhower refused to support French colonial rule in SEA
+              because it was politically impossible unless GB stepped in
+              (plus nuclear forces were entirely off the table)
+            - Geneva Accords gave Laos and Cambodia independence, and
+              divided Vietnam at 47th parallel. Viet Minh got control of
+              the north, while French maintained southern control until
+              national elections in 1956.
+            - Eisenhower began providing aid to Premier Diem, installed
+              by France, who autocratically opposed any disapproval.
+                - Eisenhower contended its only option with Diem was
+                  "sink or swim" and invaded on basis of domino theory.
+                - Diem didn't do social and economic reforms or hold
+                  democratic elections. Opposed Buddhist majority.
+                - Eisenhower: >$1bn in aid. JFK sent "advisors,"
+                  military, more money.
+                - US military relocated Vietnamese peasants to
+                  "strategic hamlets" surrounded with barbed wire to
+                  "protect" them from the Viet Cong
+                - National Liberation Front (NLF) in South.
+                - South Vietnam essentially became a US colony, with
+                  much monetary support diverted to corrupt politicians.
+    - Tonkin Gulf Resolution was official justification for Johnson.
+        - Acting on false information that Vietnamese had attacked US
+          ships, the info from Robert McNamara (Sec of State). But
+          America actually attacked Vietnamese first.
+        - Empowered pres. to "take all necessary measures" to protect.
+        - Johnson interpreted as a Congressional declaration of war
+            - Unlimited military authority
+        - Only 2 senators voted against it
+    - Johnson implemented Operation Rolling Thunder
+        - Sustained bombing campaign of Northern Vietnam
+        - Created two fronts: US war planes bombing the north and the
+          south with ground combat.
+        - Search and Destroy missions against Viet Cong
+            - War of attrition, wanted to kill as many Viet Cong as
+              possible. They blended into villages, so American soldiers
+              killed villagers.
+        - War criticism grew, but Johnson said "we will not withdraw"
+          (viewed it as a test of manliness)
+            - Sec McNamara told Johnson the situation seemed worse than
+              a year ago. Proposed three options:
+                - Cut losses and withdraw
+                - Stay in at current level
+                - Build up forces and apply pressure, despite inefficacy
+                  of existing methods.
+        - By end of war effort, 540K soldiers in Vietnam.
+            - Johnson thought the war was unwinnable.
+            - Did not want to be blamed for losing it to communism
+            - US was actually fighting to prevent the Viet Cong from
+              winning.
+
+Antiwar Movement
+- College campuses hosted teach-ins critical of war effort
+    - Professors gathered to teach students about policy in Vietnam.
+- Nightly television accounts of Vietnam questioned accuracy of
+  statements claiming an American win. "Living room war"
+- Johnson became occupied with the war, demanding information about
+  enemy movements and control over attacks, bombings, etc.
+Tet Offensive (1968)
+- First day of Vietnamese new year
+- Surprise coordinated attack from North Vietnam on US, South Vietnam
+  forces.
+- Within a few days, American firepower took back power, but damage had
+  been done.
+- Huge political impact in US turning Americans against the war
+    - Scope and intensity of the offensive made people realize that
+      winning the war wasn't happening.
+- Clifford, who replaced McNamara, advised Johnson that the US was mired
+  in a sinkhole. Federal funds earmarked for war on poverty "swallowed
+  up by the war effort." $2bn each month in Vietnam.
+
+McCarthy pushed a "Dump Johnson" message in 1968 Dem Primary.
+Bobby Kennedy, NY senator launched opposition to Johnson reelection.
+- This opposition devastated Lyndon Johnson.
+- Johnson rejected nomination from his party because he raised some
+  false hopes by overpromising.
+    - Vietnamese troops remained for 5 more years, but limited war vs.
+      absolute war (from vietnamese) meant US couldn't win. The effort
+      to win ended after Johnson was removed.