<P> The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 helped change the political mood of the country . The new President, Lyndon B. Johnson, capitalized on this situation, using a combination of the national mood and his own political savvy to push Kennedy's agenda; most notably, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . In addition, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 had an immediate impact on federal, state and local elections . Within months of its passage on August 6, 1965, one quarter of a million new black voters had been registered, one third by federal examiners . Within four years, voter registration in the South had more than doubled . In 1965, Mississippi had the highest black voter turnout, 74%, and had more elected black - leaders than any other state . In 1969, Tennessee had a 92.1% voter turnout, Arkansas 77.9%, and Texas 77.3% . </P> <P> In the election of 1964, Lyndon Johnson positioned himself as a moderate, contrasting himself against his GOP opponent, Barry Goldwater, who the campaign characterized as hardline right - wing . Most famously, the Johnson campaign ran a commercial entitled the "Daisy Girl" ad, which featured a little girl picking petals from a daisy in a field, counting the petals, which then segues into a launch countdown and a nuclear explosion . Johnson soundly defeated Goldwater in the general election, winning 64.9% of the popular vote, and losing only five states in the Deep South, where blacks were not yet allowed to vote, along with Goldwater's Arizona . </P> <P> Goldwater's race energized the conservative movement, chiefly inside the Republican party . It looked for a new leader and found one in Ronald Reagan, elected governor of California in 1966 and reelected in 1970 . He ran against President Ford for the 1976 GOP nomination, and narrowly lost, but the stage was set for Reagan in 1980 . </P> <P> Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice . New major spending programs that addressed education, medical care, urban problems, and transportation were launched during this period . The Great Society in scope and sweep resembled the New Deal domestic agenda of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s, but differed sharply in types of programs enacted . The largest and most enduring federal assistance programs, launched in 1965, were Medicare, which pays for many of the medical costs of the elderly, and Medicaid, which aids the impoverished . </P>

What is a major challenge the united states has faced in the 2000s