Kennedy-Johnson Legislative Accomplishments
In his first 3 months of office, Kennedy sent 39 messages and letters to Congress asking for reform legislation - messages dealing with health care, education, housing and community development, civil rights, transportation, and many other areas. His narrow margin of victory in 1960, however, had not seemed a mandate for change, and an entrenched coalition of Republicans and conservative southern Democrats in Congress had prevented the achievement of many of Kennedy's legislative goals by the time of his death. Johnson, who in 1964 won an enormous victory over the Republican presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater, and carried on his coattails a large Democratic congressional majority, proceeded with consummate political skill to enact this broad program.
Johnson launched his War on Poverty, which focused on children and young people, providing them with better education and remedial training, and Congress created a domestic Peace Corps (VISTA). Huge sums went to the states for education. Medicare was enacted in 1965, providing millions of elderly Americans a kind of security from the costs of illness that they had never known before. Following Kennedy's Clean Air Act of 1963, the Water Quality Act of 1965 broadened the effort to combat pollution. New national parks were established, and a Wilderness Act to protect primeval regions was passed. The Economic Development Administration moved into depressed areas, such as Appalachia. Billions were appropriated for urban redevelopment and public housing.
- Scholastic Store
-
Rosa
The Scholastic Store 
Rosa
Fifty years after her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, Mrs. Rosa Parks is still one of the most important figures in the American civil rights movement. This picture book tribute to Mrs. Parks is a celebration of her courageous action and the events that followed.
$16.95
books;hardcover books;hardcovers | Ages 4-8
Ages 4-8 $16.95
- Scholastic Store
-
March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World
The Scholastic Store 
March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World
by Dr. Christine King Farris and London Ladd
$14.39 You save: 20%
2009 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winner
From Dr. Martin Luther King's sister, the definitive tribute to the man, the march, and the speech that changed a nation.
On a hot August day in 1963, hundreds of thousands of people made history when they marched into Washington, D.C., in search of equality. Martin Luther King, Jr., the younger brother of Christine King Farris, was one of them.
Martin was scheduled to speak to the crowds of people on that day. But before he could stand up and inspire a nation, he had to get down to business. He first had to figure out what to say and how to say it. So he spent all night working on his "I Have a Dream" speech, one that would underscore a landmark moment in civil rights history -- the Great March on Washington. This would be one of the first events televised all over the globe. The world would be listening, as one of the greatest orators of our time shared his vision for a new day.
From the sister of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., comes this moving account of what that day was like for her, and for the man who inspired a crowd -- and convinced a nation to let freedom ring.
London Ladd's beautiful full-color illustrations bring to life the thousands of people from all over the country who came to the nation's capital. They sing, they join hands, they march, and they listen as speaker after speaker inspires social change, culminating in Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech.
books;hardcover books;hardcovers | Ages 9-12
Ages 9-12 $14.39
LESSON PLAN
UNIT PLAN
ONLINE ACTIVITY
