#spaceexploration – by @ushistorytoday on Instagram
January 4, 1965. 52 years ago. President Lyndon Johnson lays out a complex list of legislation to Congress needed to achieve his plan for a Great Society in his State of the Union address. This was the first major policy change given by the Johnson administration after winning the 1964 US election against GOP candidate, Barry Goldwater and was put in place to accelerate the investments in civil rights, science and healthcare made by the government under the first three years of the Kennedy administration. This State of the Union Address heralded in the creation of Medicare/Medicaid, Head Start, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1965, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the White House Conference on Natural Beauty. Many of these would also culminate in Johnson’s War on Poverty by collectively implementing improvements in early childhood education and fair employment policies. Johnson’s environmental policies also stepped up research and legislation regarding air and water pollution