Richard Nixon’s campaign secretly communicates with the South Vietnamese government to sabotage President Johnson’s Paris peace talks, with H.R. Haldeman’s notes documenting Nixon’s direct instruction to “keep Anna Chennault working on SVN [South Vietnam].” Nixon …
Richard NixonAnna ChennaultH.R. HaldemanJohn MitchellSouth Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu+2 moreelection-interferencegovernment-deceptioncorruptionwar-profiteeringinstitutional-corruption
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) into law one week after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, or sex. The …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonMartin Luther King Jr.National Association of Real Estate BoardsNational Association of RealtorsHouse Rules Committeehousingcivil-rightsinstitutional-racismreal-estate-industrycorporate-opposition
The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (Kerner Commission), chaired by Illinois Governor Otto Kerner Jr., releases its report on the causes of the 1967 urban riots that killed 43 in Detroit, 26 in Newark, and caused casualties in 23 other cities. The Commission’s central finding …
Kerner CommissionGovernor Otto Kerner Jr.President Lyndon B. JohnsonRichard Nixonracial-injusticeinstitutional-racismgovernment-inactionurban-policylaw-and-order-politics
On December 15, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), prohibiting employment discrimination against workers aged 40 to 65 (later extended to all workers over 40). The law banned discrimination in hiring, firing, compensation, and terms of …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonU.S. CongressSecretary of Labor W. Willard WirtzChamber of Commerceworker-rightsdiscriminationregulatory-reformemployment
On September 9, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, establishing the first federal safety standards for automobiles and creating what would become the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The legislation passed unanimously after …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonRalph NaderGeneral MotorsJames RocheSenator Abraham Ribicoffconsumer-protectioncorporate-lobbyingregulatory-reformautomotive-industrywhistleblower
On July 4, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson reluctantly signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), establishing for the first time a legal right for citizens to access federal agency records. The legislation overturned the presumption of government secrecy that had prevailed since the founding, …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonRepresentative John MossSenator Edward LongAmerican Society of Newspaper Editorsgovernment-transparencypress-freedomdemocratic-erosionregulatory-reform
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Hart-Celler Act) into law at the base of the Statue of Liberty, abolishing the National Origins Formula that has governed U.S. immigration policy since the 1920s. The legislation dismantles the racist quota system that …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonSenator Philip HartRepresentative Emanuel CellerSenator James EastlandSenator Samuel Ervin+1 moreimmigrationcivil-rightsinstitutional-resistancecongressional-obstruction
President Johnson signs legislation creating the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a Cabinet-level agency, consolidating federal housing programs under one roof. Robert C. Weaver becomes the first HUD Secretary and the first African American Cabinet member. However, HUD inherits …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonRobert C. WeaverNational Association of Home BuildersNational Association of Real Estate Boardshousing-policyinstitutional-capturecivil-rightshousing
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law, outlawing discriminatory voting practices that have disenfranchised millions of African Americans since Reconstruction. The legislation passes the Senate 77-19 on May 26 and the House 333-85 on July 9, overcoming a 24-day …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonMartin Luther King Jr.John LewisSouthern Democratic SenatorsRichard Russellvoting-rightscivil-rightssouthern-strategyinstitutional-resistancevoter-suppression
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Amendments of 1965 into law at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, creating Medicare and Medicaid with former President Harry Truman at his side. The legislation provides federal health insurance for Americans over 65 …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonPresident Harry S. TrumanAmerican Medical AssociationRonald ReaganWilbur Millshealthcareinstitutional-capturecorporate-resistancelobbyingpropaganda
On April 11, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) at the Junction Elementary School in Stonewall, Texas, where he had attended as a child. The landmark legislation established the first comprehensive federal investment in K-12 education, …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonCongressNational Education Associationeducationcivil-rightsgreat-societyfederal-fundingpoverty
The term “credibility gap” enters widespread use to describe the growing disconnect between the Johnson administration’s optimistic public statements about Vietnam War progress and the grim reality experienced by soldiers and reporters in the field. The New York Herald Tribune …
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamaraPresident Lyndon B. JohnsonSenator J. William FulbrightDepartment of Defensegovernment-deceptionmilitary-industrial-complexinstitutional-corruptionpropagandasystematic-corruption
On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law, establishing the National Wilderness Preservation System and designating 9.1 million acres of federal land as protected wilderness. The legislation defined wilderness as “an area where the earth and its …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonHoward ZahniserWilderness SocietyU.S. Forest ServiceMining Industry+1 moreenvironmental-regulationpublic-landscorporate-lobbyingconservation
Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution with near-unanimous support (416-0 in the House, 88-2 in the Senate), granting President Johnson broad war powers to use military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war. The resolution responds to reported attacks on U.S. Navy …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonSecretary of Defense Robert McNamaraNational Security AgencyU.S. Congressmilitary-industrial-complexwar-profiteeringgovernment-deceptioninstitutional-captureintelligence-manipulation
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment and public accommodations. The legislation passes only after defeating a 60-working-day filibuster led by the “Southern …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonSouthern Democratic SenatorsRichard RussellStrom ThurmondSouthern business interests+1 morecivil-rightsinstitutional-capturesouthern-strategycorporate-resistancevoting-rights
On December 17, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Clean Air Act of 1963, the first federal legislation to establish a framework for controlling air pollution at the national level. The act authorized $95 million for research and state grants to develop pollution control programs, and gave …
President John F. KennedyPresident Lyndon B. JohnsonU.S. CongressAmerican Petroleum InstituteNational Coal Associationenvironmental-regulationpublic-healthcorporate-lobbyingregulatory-reform