Great Society

The pens used by President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign Great Society legislation

The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 and 1965. The term was first referenced during a 1964 speech by Johnson at Ohio University,[1] then later formally presented at the University of Michigan, and came to represent his domestic agenda.[2] The main goal was the total elimination of poverty and racial injustice.

New major federal programs that addressed civil rights, education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, and transportation were launched during this period. The program and its initiatives were subsequently promoted by LBJ and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. The Great Society in scope and sweep resembled the 1930s New Deal domestic agenda of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Some Great Society initiatives were derived from earlier New Frontier proposals, which stalled during the Kennedy administration.[3] Johnson's success depended on his skills of persuasion, coupled with the Democratic landslide victory in the 1964 elections that brought in many new liberals to Congress, making the House of Representatives in 1965 the most liberal House since 1938.[4][3] In the 88th Congress it was estimated that there were 56 liberals and 44 conservatives in the Senate, and 224 liberals and 211 conservatives in the House. In the 89th Congress, by contrast, it was estimated that there were 59 liberals and 41 conservatives in the Senate, and 267 liberals and 168 conservatives in the House.[5]

Anti-war Democrats complained that spending on the Vietnam War choked off the Great Society. While some of the programs have been eliminated or had their funding reduced, many of them, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Older Americans Act and federal education funding, continue to the present. The Great Society's programs expanded under the administrations of Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.[6]

  1. ^ "U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson visits Ohio University, film, May 7, 1964". media.library.ohio.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  2. ^ Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 315.
  3. ^ a b Zelizer, Julian E. (2015). The fierce urgency of now : Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the battle for the Great Society. New York. ISBN 978-1-59420-434-0. OCLC 881094066.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Life, November 5, 1965
  5. ^ Nation's Business A Useful Look Ahead January 1966 Vol. 54 No. 1, P.73
  6. ^ Riley, Jason L. (2008). Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders. Gotham Books. p. 98. ISBN 9781592403493.

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