the war on national television, Johnson lost hope of maintaining public support" (qtd. in Holland 47). From then on, news on television carried a greater impact than ever before. If television broadcasted the passing of the Great Society bills, the news on Vietnam overrode them by far. The antiwar movement also overturned the joy of the passage of the bills ("History Channel Online" 6). Johnson passed many bills similar to ones previous presidents attempted to pass, but failed. For example, he signed the Medicare bill, giving medical aid to the elderly, with former President Harry S Truman present, as he was unable to pass the bill (Califano 370). Other bills included Medicaid, which gave medical aid to the poor, the Civil Rights Bill, making segregation illegal, and the Voting Rights Bill, which abolished poll taxes, literacy tests, etc. These bills helped gain public support for the war. I think Johnson can rightfully be considered a president who really did a lot for his countrymen.Although the Great Society doesn't exist, much of Johnson's work in the Sixties has not gone away. Today, the middle-aged can look forward to benefits from Medicare and those in financial need can look up to Medicaid for help. All races can appreciate the abolition of legal segregation. Segregation can never be cured, only improved. Even so, Johnson did think for everyone when he drew up the civil rights bills (Califano 277). Everyone in America, poor or rich, young or old, white or not, has something to thank Lyndon Baines Johnson for.The rebellion of the baby boomers against Johnson inspired Generation X to rebel. Against their parents, at least. We may be the children of tomorrow, but we live to the standardsour standards, that is. Like the hippies, we dress "fashionably," with the hip fashions: flares from the 70s, flower socks from the 60s, hemp necklaces representative of Woodstock, etc. But since the coining of the term "Generation X," many have d...
