As told by Eisenhower's, his political philosophy of dynamic conservatism was “Conservative when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings”. Ike recognized the government’s increasing role in Social programs could never be reversed. Ike once stated, “should any political party attempt to abolish Social Security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history”. Clearly, Eisenhower was generally conservative and he absolutely believed individual liberties were threatened by expanded federal power. Although moderate, wage and price controls put in place by Truman, we're reversed by Ike. Further, Eisenhower sought to limit Federal involvement…
During the late 1960s to 1980, conservatism in America manifested as a response to social, political, and economic shifts, catalyzed by events such as the election of Richard Nixon in 1968. Nixon's presidency marked a conservative shift, emphasizing law and order, which resonated with many citizens seeking stability. Moreover, the Southern Strategy aimed to appeal to white voters in the South, reshaping the electoral landscape by avoiding racial integration. The rise of the religious right in the 1970s, focusing on issues like evangelical activism and the opposition to abortion in cases like Roe v. Wade, further exemplified conservative values gaining prominence during this period. Nixon's "New Federalism" significantly impacted both federal…
In his speech Richard Nixon insist on the fact that his predecessors at the House White had been incompetent and had led the country on the brink of chaos: “America is in trouble today not because her people have failed but because her leaders have failed” (l. 27-28). Nixon also insist on the fact that, according to him, “the richest nation in the world can’t manage its own economy” (l. 34-35). John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson both had major projects for their domestic management of the country, i.e., the New Frontier and the Great Society programs. In his New Frontier JFK increased unemployment benefits, social security benefits and the minimum wage, and also decreased the retirement age threshold. He also passed tax cuts for both businesses and personal income.…
President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the Great Society which is a set of domestic programs in 1964–65. The main goal of this domestic program was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. In 1965, Democratic majorities in the 89th Congress passed eighty of eighty-three major legislative proposals: an unparalleled record. By 1969, nearly all of Johnson's Great Society reform legislation had become law. Such program made footsteps on domestic program today including Obama Care. Great Society covered aid to education, attack on disease, Medicare, urban renewal, conservation, development of depressed regions, a wide-scale fight against poverty, control and prevention of crime and delinquency, and the removal of obstacles to the right to…
The movement away from the conservative fifties continued and eventually resulted in revolutionary ways of thinking and real change. The Civil Rights movement made great changes in society in the 1960's. National Organization for Women questioned the unequal treatment of women, gave birth to Women's Lib, and disclosed the "glass ceiling." The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended to include gender. The government was working with all the different organizations to somewhat satisfy each. The birth control pill became widely available and abortion for cause was legalized in Colorado in 1967. In 1967, both abortion and artificial insemination became legal in some…
Despite the emergence of modern conservatism, the 1960s were a very liberal decade. The early years were very optimistic and president Kennedy even lowered taxes. President Johnson admired FDR and modeled his Great Society after the New Deal. One of the most important aspects of the Great Society was the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which gave African Americans more rights and freedoms by attempting to end discrimination. The rise of modern conservatism appeared in the wake of all the liberal reforms associated with the Great Society. At this time, many southern Democrats were strongly against desegregation and the Civil Rights Movement, which added to the development of modern conservatism. These issues became even more prominent because 1964…
For much of the 1970s, Americans struggled with economic problems, including inflation, energy shortages, income stagnation, and deindustrialization. These challenges highlighted the limits of postwar prosperity and forced Americans to consider lowering their economic expectations. In the midst of this gloomy economic climate, they also sought political and cultural resolutions to upheavals of the 1960s. A movement for environmental protection, widely supported, led to new laws and an awareness of nature’s limits. Meanwhile, the battle for civil rights entered a second stage, expanding to encompass women’s rights and gay rights, the rights of alleged prisoners and criminals, and, in the realm of racial injustice, focusing on the problem of producing concrete results rather than legislation. Many liberals cheered these developments, but another effect was to strengthen a new, more conservative social mood that began to challenge liberal values in politics and society more generally.…
War on Poverty was part of LBJ’s ‘Great Society’ that Johnson envisioned for the United States. The term was the unofficial name that LBJ gave during his State of the Union address in January of 1964. At the time, the poverty rate was at nineteen percent. Following the speech Congress established the Office of Economic Opportunity with the passing of the Economic Opportunity Act. LBJ’s polices were seen as continuing President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. Many acts were passed under LBJ’s policy of War on Poverty. The Food Stamp Act of 1964, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Social Security Act of 1965. The Social Security Act of 1965 created Medicare and Medicaid. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act funded primary and secondary education and emphasized equality to access for education.…
It was a set of domestic programs to improve our population as a whole. One of the most controversial of these was the War on Poverty. When he was younger, Johnson was employed as a school teacher in a very poor town with a high Mexican American population. Him teaching there made him empathetic for minorities and the impoverished, which still has a large overlap.…
The 1960s were a tumultuous decade, the country was being rocked by social turmoil, and we were at war in Vietnam. However, out of this tumultuousness the country arose as a more just, culturally diverse, and politically tolerant nation that it had been in the previous decade. A great example of how the country changed for the better are the student movements that took place protesting the war in Vietnam. Never before in the history of the nation had such a group arisen to protest a war that the United States was in.…
The 1960s was a liberal time period in America characterized by open beliefs. Following the development of new inventions and changing sentiments after World War 2, American popular culture supported a more leisurely pace in life and acceptance and integration of all people into society. Women, blacks, scientists and homosexuals viewed this period as an opportunity to gain personal rights. While women rallied for such rights as abortion, blacks gained social victories, such as the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Contrary to many religious beliefs like Christianity, scientists sought to introduce the concept of evolution to schools, and homosexuals wanted to assert their equal rights as an American. In retaliation to these changes,…
As a consequence of the activism that occurred during the 1960’s, it changed the tone as far as politics was concerned for a good many of groups of people (Schultz 2014). What it changed was the attitude of how people thought or identified with politics and politicians concerning themselves or their cliques. Whereas before the 1960’s the general consensus was to vote accordingly as to what was for the good of the nation as a whole. The reason historians blame the 1970’s for this type of self-centeredness is that there was not a fundamental common ground for the entire American population to focus on to bring it together. This type of thinking became known as identity politics because of the divisions that were created during the 1960’s (Schultz 2014).…
From the mid 1940s to the early 2000s, the conservative movement was at its apex in United States history. The Rise of Conservatism in America, 1945-2000: A Brief History with Documents by Ronald Story and Bruce Laurie contains documents all pertaining to the conservative movement. Out of the collection of the various documents in The Rise of Conservatism, five stand out to be the most important in detailing what the conservative moment was and what the basic beliefs and goals were. The documents are as follows: From The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk, From the Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater, William F. Buckley Jr. publisher’s statement on his founding the National Review, Richard Nixon’s Labor Day Radio Address, and Ronald Reagan’s nomination acceptance speech.…
Uncompromising commitment to liberty and equality – A government without monarchy or aristocracy – political authority vested in the people…
The maps, stripped of party colors, trace the history of American politics from underneath it. Through them we can explore a geography of opposition, where the prevailing opinion was rejected, and where resentment was birthed or fostered. They locate the disgruntled and disaffected. They presage conflict and even civil war. Looking at these maps you can see the impact of historical trends: urbanization, party realignment, the emancipation of slaves and civil rights. You can see how red and blue states have rarely been that homogenous. You can even see how geological features created over millions of years ago still influence our politics…