History Of Lbj's War On Poverty
War on Poverty was part of LBJ’s ‘Great Society’ that Johnson envisioned for the United States. The term was the unofficial name that LBJ gave during his State of the Union address in January of 1964. At the time, the poverty rate was at nineteen percent. Following the speech Congress established the Office of Economic Opportunity with the passing of the Economic Opportunity Act. LBJ’s polices were seen as continuing President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. Many acts were passed under LBJ’s policy of War on Poverty. The Food Stamp Act of 1964, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Social Security Act of 1965. The Social Security Act of 1965 created Medicare and Medicaid. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act funded primary and secondary education and emphasized equality to access for education.
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The Food Stamp Act of 1964 made the Food Stamp program a permanent program.
Project Head Start was also established which was an eight-week summer program that provided low-income preschool children with social, health, psychological, nutritional, and emotional support. Following the introduction of the War on Poverty policy, poverty rate fell. There was many who criticized LBJ’s war on poverty. Some calling it the beginning of a welfare state in the United States. Saying that the welfare programs went from emergency rescue to a way of life. That it enabled people to not have to work, and use the money they receive from welfare to pay their way through life. People argued that instead of allowing people to pull themselves out of poverty, the welfare programs kept people in poverty. LBJ’s goal with his war on poverty was to create a Great Society that was
equal. His goals were to create equality with jobs, housing, food, and education. With the war in Vietnam federal funding was pulled from these programs to fund the American effort in Southeast Asia. Who knows what might have become of LBJ’s vision of a Great Society if funding had not been placed in a war that many Americans believe the US should not have been involved.
The Food Stamp Act of 1964 made the Food Stamp program a permanent program.
Project Head Start was also established which was an eight-week summer program that provided low-income preschool children with social, health, psychological, nutritional, and emotional support. Following the introduction of the War on Poverty policy, poverty rate fell. There was many who criticized LBJ’s war on poverty. Some calling it the beginning of a welfare state in the United States. Saying that the welfare programs went from emergency rescue to a way of life. That it enabled people to not have to work, and use the money they receive from welfare to pay their way through life. People argued that instead of allowing people to pull themselves out of poverty, the welfare programs kept people in poverty. LBJ’s goal with his war on poverty was to create a Great Society that was
equal. His goals were to create equality with jobs, housing, food, and education. With the war in Vietnam federal funding was pulled from these programs to fund the American effort in Southeast Asia. Who knows what might have become of LBJ’s vision of a Great Society if funding had not been placed in a war that many Americans believe the US should not have been involved.