How Did President Johnson's Great Society Movement Have Hindered The Civil Rights Movement?

During the cold war, the Civil Rights activist played a key role in steering the country in the right direction and maintaining the United States reputation. There are some that argue the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union may have hindered the Civil Rights Movement as both competed to become the bigger country, the Civil Rights was shining negative light on the U.S. so the United States tried to halt the movement. The United States was under fire for not giving equal right for its own citizen’s while fighting for equal rights of third world countries against the Soviet Union. Although the United States succeeded in influencing many countries, the racial struggle going on in the United States started to degrade our reputation in those countries as the Soviet Union used the racial issue to persuade the
The Great Society program included change for education, modern medicine, Medicare, urban renewal of inner-cities, conservation of our nation’s resources, a wide-scale stance against poverty, crime prevention, and the right to vote for all Americans (Johnson, Gordon, 2016). The accomplishments of Johnson’s Great Society Program was overshadowed by Vietnam War during his term in office which emerged to the forefront of the American political stage and in every household in the United States. His foreign policy remains best known for his actions in the Vietnam War. Throughout the war he had one goal, doing as little as possible to ensure that South Vietnam did not become a Communist state. Unfortunately for Johnson his plan grew to dangerous extremes with American troop totals, around 16,000 when Johnson entered office and peaked at 532,000 in early 1968 (Johnson, Gordon, 2016). Johnson’s policies brought the United States no closer to victory in Vietnam, but badly divided our country which led to his decision not to run for reelection in