LBJ's top priorities or goals of the Great Society first and foremost were to provide medical insurance for the elderly and education funding for the young as well as social reforms aimed at ending poverty and racial injustice. Additionally, LBJ pressed Congress to pass Consumer Protection Acts, provide aid for Mass Transit, Urban Development, and slum clearance. Another central tenet of LBJ's Great Society was tougher regulation of water and air pollution. Along with help from the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, LBJ supported both environmental awareness and a campaign for National Beautification. Further, LBJ signed into law the Wilderness Act of 1964 which set aside 9 million Acres of national forest to be preserved in an unspoiled state.
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To achieve these goals LBJ relied on his new allies in Congress. LBJ was very successful indeed, in the first six months of 1965 the administration submitted 87 bills to Congress and saw 84 of them become law. Most of all, however LBJ relied on his personal energy, ambition and his skills of behind the scenes maneuvering to accomplish goals. What came to be known as the “Johnson Treatment”, as described by two journalists, “He moved in close, his face a scant millimeter from his target, his eyes widening and narrowing, his eyebrows rising and falling”, was his ability to use his large physical presence to persuade, coerce or intimidate colleagues into supporting him. Hubert Humphrey once described the “Johnson Treatment” as almost a hypnotic experience. Further, Humphrey described accession with LBJ as “having come out of a meeting with LBJ covered with blood, sweat, tears, spit and sperm”. Strictly an allusion to the passion and energy LBJ used, while on a mission to accomplish certain
To achieve these goals LBJ relied on his new allies in Congress. LBJ was very successful indeed, in the first six months of 1965 the administration submitted 87 bills to Congress and saw 84 of them become law. Most of all, however LBJ relied on his personal energy, ambition and his skills of behind the scenes maneuvering to accomplish goals. What came to be known as the “Johnson Treatment”, as described by two journalists, “He moved in close, his face a scant millimeter from his target, his eyes widening and narrowing, his eyebrows rising and falling”, was his ability to use his large physical presence to persuade, coerce or intimidate colleagues into supporting him. Hubert Humphrey once described the “Johnson Treatment” as almost a hypnotic experience. Further, Humphrey described accession with LBJ as “having come out of a meeting with LBJ covered with blood, sweat, tears, spit and sperm”. Strictly an allusion to the passion and energy LBJ used, while on a mission to accomplish certain