Paul Chang
The Great Society
Shortly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, new the new President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) passed a series of acts in an effort to eliminate poverty, racial injustice, and create a society in which nobody lacks anything. Commonly called the Great Society, the passing of these acts has been one of the most significant sets of acts created by any one President. It has been commonly referred to as similar to FDR’s New Deal, but Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Great Society was not everything that the New Deal should have been. The New Deal was created to get America out of the Depression, whereas the Great Society was made to improve upon a society that was already getting better. In addition, Johnson’s Great Society lacked the public support and popularity of the New Deal due to its inability to implement theoretical ideas into a realistic society, and its slight irrelevancy towards poverty.
The existence of the term “Great Society” was first mentioned in LBJ’s speech at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Johnson promised for “an end to poverty, and racial injustice” (President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Remarks at the University of Michigan May 22, 1964). One of the biggest parts of the Great Society was Johnson’s War on Poverty. Arguably the most controversial part of the Great Society, Johnson’s War on Poverty most resembled FDR’s New Deal programs. However, they were also slightly different. The New Deal programs were designed to get America out of a depression, whereas the Great Society programs were designed to reduce America’s already dwindling poverty level. Most of these programs were designed to help the poor improve themselves, thus striking “at the causes, not just the consequences, of poverty” (President Lyndon B. Johnson: The War on Poverty, March 1964). The most central component of the War on Poverty was the Economic Opportunities Act. The Economic Opportunities Act authorized the creation of anti-poverty programs specifically designed for a certain community. These anti-poverty programs focused on not just improving the wages of the poor, but also on community development, skill development, and most importantly, schooling and education (Great Society). Ironically, these programs were not too largely successful, due to the already decreasing poverty level, and the general lack of enthusiasm. In addition, many people were simply lazy, and did not want to work regardless of the help they were given. Thus, although the War on Poverty was a theoretical success, it was only mediocre in its effect on society. Americans were already becoming more affluent, and so the War on Poverty ultimately had a minimal affect on the majority of American citizens, as most of them were already middle-upper class citizens.