minated in the landing of American astronauts on the moon in July 1969. Kennedy's assassination in 1963 spurred Congress to enact much of his legislative agenda. His successor, Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969), sought to build a "Great Society" by spreading benefits of America's successful economy to more citizens. Federal spending increased dramatically, as the government launched such new programs as Medicare (health care for the elderly), Food Stamps (food assistance for the poor), and numerous education initiatives (assistance to students as well as grants to schools and colleges). Military spending also increased as American's presence in Vietnam grew. What had started as a small military action under Kennedy mushroomed into a major military initiative during Johnson's presidency. Ironically, spending on both wars -- the war on poverty and the fighting war in Vietnam -- contributed to prosperity in the short term. But by the end of the 1960s, the government's failure to raise taxes to pay for these efforts led to accelerating inflation, which eroded this prosperityMany Americans feared the hard times of the Depression might return with the end of huge military expenditures. But, responding to pent-up consumer demand, the U.S. economy experienced exceptionally strong economic growth in the postwar period. The nation's gross national product rose from about $200 thousand million in 1940 to $300 thousand million in 1950 to more than $500 thousand million in 1960. At the same time, the jump in postwar births, known as the "baby boom," increased the number of consumers. More and more Americans joined the middle class. There were many sources of growth. The automobile industry successfully converted from making tanks and bombers, and new industries such as aviation and electronics grew rapidly. A housing boom, stimulated in part by easily affordable mortgages for returning servicemen, added to the expansion. So did the rise in d...
