How did american society change because of the vietnam war in terms of support, opposition and what lasting effects did it have on america?

After a few truly good years during 1962 – 1965 when there was low inflation, almost full employment and a favorable balance of trade, President Lyndon B. Johnson, who succeeded President Kennedy after his assassination in 1963, declared a “War on Poverty” through his “Great Society” programs while escalating the war in Vietnam at the same time.

However, his decision to finance both “guns and butter” – a major war and the Great Society simultaneously, without a significant increase in taxes unleashed an acceleration of inflation peaking at a runaway double-digit in mid 1970s.

Not until 1969 did President Johnson decided to introduce a 10% income tax surcharge, which is considered by many economists “too little and too late” and in turn also slowed down the economy. It’s worth mentioning that Congress would not allow that “surcharge” to be implemented until President Johnson agreed to cut $6 billion from domestic spending on Great Society programs. Despite their relative success, Johnson could have undoubtedly spent more on these programs had he not had to pay for the war abroad, which Martin Luther King, Jr. had referred to as a “America’s tragic distraction” at the beginning of Johnson administration

for this case we have the following equation:

we apply distributive property to the terms within parentheses.

subtracting 2 on both sides of the equation: