Question

To what extent were LBJ’s policies an extension of populism and progressivism?

Answer 1

Answer:

The two main policies of Lyndon B. Johnson were the Great Society, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

These policies had the goal of either granting equal rights to all people, and ending many forms of discrimination (Civil Rights Act), or increasing the government provision of welfare benefits to its citizens (the Great Society).

Both policies can be seen as a direct result of progressive and populist policies that were enacted decades before.

For example, the policies of the Great Society are seen by many scholars as a direct expansion of the policies of the New Deal, of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which were progressive policies aimed at helping poor Americans affected during the Great Depression of the 1930s.