Great Society Programs

In May 1964 the President Johnson introduced the Great Society. It was the plan that Johnson was going to use in order to improve education, health care, housing, immigration, the environment, and consumer protection.
For education The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 provided more than $1 billion to help public and parochial school purchase textbooks and new library materials.
Later Johnson and Congress changed the social security by establishing Medicare and Medicaid which provided hospital insurance, low-cost medical insurance for almost every American age 65 or older, and extended health insurance to welfare recipients.
Another thing that the Great Society provided was the housing. The federal government built 240,000 units of low-rent public housing which helped the low and moderated income families pay for better private housing. This also resulted in the establishment of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, in which the first African American Cabinet leader, Robert Weaver, was appointed as secretary of HUD.
The Great Society also changed the United States immigration laws. The Immigration Act of 1965 let the non-European immigrants to settle in the U.S. This ended the immigration quotas that discriminated against people outside of Western Europe that were made by The Immigration Act of 1924 and National Origins Act of 1924.
In addition, the Great Society improved the Environment. The Water Quality Act of 1965 required the states to clean up rivers. Also Johnson had the government to search out the worst chemical polluters; which started the environmental movement in the U.S.
Finally, the Great Society also included consumer advocates who convinced the Congress to pass safety laws such as the truth-in-packaging law that set standards for labeling consumer goods.
Moreover Congress set safety standards for automobiles, tires, and foods(Wholesome Meat Act of 1967).
Without the Great Society we wouldn't have had today's better education, a health care, affordable housing, immigration from non-European countries, better environment, and consumer protection laws.