The election of Barack H. Obama would not have been possible without the achievements of the Great Society--specifically, the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, 1965, and 1968 plus the Immigration Reform Act of 1965. Other landmark legislation in education, environmentalism, poverty, public communications, health care, transportation, the arts, and humanities established the basic contours of today's society. In foreign affairs, the Johnson years are burdened with Vietnam, but that debacle was counterbalanced in part by achievements in the Middle East, Central America and Europe. This course will explore the causes and consequences of one of the twentieth century's great reform movements and examine the bases of the Johnson administration's foreign policies.