The Cold War and Civil Rights 271Barry Goldwater of Arizona, had won. Johnson had a total of 486 to
Goldwater’s 52 electoral votes. It was well known that Goldwater had
voted against the Civil Rights Act, and that fact helped win him the
Deep South: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South
Carolina. This result marked a turning point in the development of the
Republican Party in those states. The election also brought fi ve new
Republican representatives to the House from Alabama, and one each
from Georgia and Mississippi. They were the first southern Republi-
cans elected to Congress since Reconstruction. And more would follow
until the South was no longer Democratic but solidly Republican.
Another significant event took place when the Democratic caucus in
Congress censured two southern members—John Bell Williams of
Mississippi and Albert W. Watson of South Carolina—for publicly
supporting Goldwater in the election. That had never happened be-
fore. Moreover, they were stripped of their seniority rights as congress-
men, whereupon Watson switched parties and later won reelection to
the House as the first Republican from South Carolina since Recon-
struction. Watson’s action was followed by other southerners, most
notably Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who had thrown
his support to Goldwater in the election.
With a greatly increased Democratic majority in Congress, and
exercising his extraordinary leadership skills, President Johnson ap-
pealed to the members to join in providing the country with a program
he called the “Great Society.” He wanted to improve the lives of Amer-
icans in every section of the country. He urged passage of Medicare
legislation for the elderly, to be financed out of the Social Security sys-
tem. As part of this health care program he called for Medicaid for the
needy, both of which were enacted on July 30 , 1965. Other parts of the
Great Society included an Education Act, passed in April 1965 , which
provided $ 1. 3 billion in direct aid to public schools as well as parochial
schools for a number of “shared services.” In addition, the Higher Edu-
cation Act appropriated $ 650 million for scholarships for needy stu-
dents attending colleges and universities. These two education acts
were regarded by many as the major successes of Johnson’s first year as
President following his election.