13. The Great Society and the Tragedy of Vietnam

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
FULL BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. What was Johnson's vision for the Great Society and how was it to be achieved?
2. Compare the aims of the Great Society and the New Deal
3. Why was LBJ so committed to the war in Vietnam in spite of the political costs?

Required Reading:
James T. Patterson, "Lyndon Johnson and American Liberalism", chapter 18 of Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974

Further Reading:
Michael, E. Latham, "Knowledge at War: American Social Science an Vietnam" in A companion to the Vietnam War (2002), pp. 435-449
Ira Katznelson, 'Was the Great Society a Lost Opportunity?' in Fraser and Gerstle, The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order (1989), pp. 185-211 [or the shorter extract from this piece in Robert griffith and Paula Baker, eds, Major Problems in American History since 1945, pp. 227-240]
George C. Herring, "Vietnam Remembered" [a review essay] in The Journal of American History, Vol. 73, No. 1. (Jun., 1986), pp. 152-164. [JSTOR]

Primary sources:
Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" speech, May 1964 [at the CNN Historical Documents website]
Barry Goldwater, Acceptance speech at the 1964 Republican Convention [at the Washinton Post website]
LBJ and McGeorge Bundy discuss Vietnam recorded on White House taping system
Excerpts from Speech Given by President Johnson at Johns Hopkins University, April 7,1965
McGeorge Bundy's memo to the President, Feb 7, 1965, advocating "sustained reprilsals" against North Vietnam [From Vassar College]
John Kerry of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War testifies to the Senate Foreign Relations committee, 1971