The War on Poverty (in the U.S.)

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President Lyndon B. Johnson[1]

The War on Poverty was a term coined by President Lyndon B. Johnson that was first outlined to the public in his State of the Union address on January 8th 1964 in which he proclaimed, “This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty.”[2] The program was designed to target the actual sources of poverty in order to establish long term relief. It sought to help the poor help themselves rather than to simply hand out funds to the impoverished.


Like the New Deal, Johnson’s program created several individual programs designed to target different poor populations. By March 16th 1964, Johnson addressed Congress claiming, “Because it is right, because it is wise, and because, for the first time in our history, it is possible to conquer poverty, I submit, for the consideration of the Congress and the country, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.”[3] The act was signed into law August 22nd 1964 and it put into place to administer 10 different programs intended for combating poverty.


The War on Poverty was a part of a growing group of social welfare programs created by President Johnson until huge spending on the Vietnam War drained the spending budgets of many of these programs.

== Origin: =={COMMENT:R:DOINA I LIKE THE INTRO AND THE QUOTE)

Causal Factors

By 1963, four major areas of concern[4] had caught the eye of the Kennedy White House:

  • juvenile delinquency
  • adult illiteracy
  • displacement of the poor by urban renewal
  • growing welfare demands

On top of that, about 20% of the nation was living below the poverty line. [5] (COMMENT: WHILE STATS ARE GOOD: THEY BECOME MORE IMPRESSIVE WHEN YOU BREAK THEM DOWN BY RACE. THERE WAS A BOOK WRITTEN BY HARRINGTON CALL THE OTHER AMERICAN THAT WAS THE STIMULUS FOR LBJ'S WAR ON POVERTY)

Kennedy's Final Wish

Shortly after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. wrote an article for the Saturday Evening Post, claiming “In one of the last talks I had with [Kennedy], he was musing about the legislative program for next January, and said, 'The time has come to organize a national assault on the causes of poverty, a comprehensive program, across the board."[6] (COMMENT DOINA: INTERESTING QUOTE--AND YOU KNOW i HAVE TO ASK "WHY NOT LOOK AT THE ORIGINAL?)

Johnson would later use the term “national assault on the causes of poverty” in a letter to the National Welfare Association. Although Kennedy had planned to take on the issue of poverty, Johnson said at a private dinner, “I have to have issues I can take on as my own. I have to get reelected in a year.” [7] (COMMENT DOINA: DID JFK GIVE ANY INDICATIONS OF THIS PRIOR TO 1963?)

Johnson as a "New Dealer"

In many ways, Johnson's time in office remained true to the "continuation" theme that he established in his innaugural address–one that contrasted with the theme of "beginnings" that Kennedy had mentioned in his.[8] Johnson not only continued Kennedy's betterment of the quality of life, but Roosevelt's as well. Appointed by FDR to become the director of the National Youth Administration in Texas in 1935, [9] Johnson's politics seemed rooted in the New Deal. (COMMENT DOINA: TRY TO AVOID THE FULL CITATION IN THE TEXT)

When maintaining that Kennedy had been rather conservative compared to himself, Johnson once said, “I am a Roosevelt New Dealer.” [10]

Poverty in the 1960's

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Issues of Poverty around the nation.[11]

By the time President Johnson took office in 1963, roughly 19 percent of America or 35 million people were living under the poverty line. Their ethnicity, national origin, and skin color ranged from all types, and they many of them were neglected or ignored by the government. Many poor communities throughout the country were continuing their slope downwards because of factors including job layoffs, the lack of training programs, and hunger. Children caught in this cycle lack the education or the resources necessary to overcome their home environments.[12]

While the average per capita income of Americans in 1962 was $1,900, for the "forgotten fifth" of the nation below the poverty line, the average income was a mere $590. For these people living without hope and below the minimum standards of decency, Johnson argued that the prosperity characterizing the 1950's was a hollow achievement. In a report conducted by Walter Heller and the Council of Economic Advisors, Heller reported, "The nation's attack on poverty must be based on a change in national attitude [...] The condition can be eradicated—and since it can, it must be." [13]

A number of statistics the report identified were that in 1962

  • 9.3 million families earned under $60 and that 30 million Americans lived in these families.
  • 5 million other unattached Americans earned under 30 dollars a week.
  • Nearly one-half of all non-whites live in poverty.
  • More than 40 percent of all farm families are poor.
  • 11 million children live in families earning less than $3000 a year.
  • The people in roughly 60% of all poor families earned only a grade school education.[14]

While the number of poor families declined from 11.9 million families in 1947 to 9.3 million families in 1962, that pace of improvement was not nearly enough for the council who proposed to redouble if not significantly increase government spending on the issue of poverty.[15] (COMMENT:DOINA: GOOD USE OF MAP: GOOD STATISTICS AND GOOD DISCUSSION. THINK ABOUT THESE CONDITIONS AS JFK TALKS ABOUT BEING MORE GLOBAL AN THE PROMISE OF MORE FOREIGN AID.)

Major Legislation

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Johnson signing the Economic Opportunity Act 1964.[16]

Economic Opportunity Act 1964

This act of Congress signed August 20th 1964, created the Office of Economic Opportunity and a host of programs aimed at alleviated the strain of poverty on the American people. Among the programs it took control of were the Community Action Program (CAP) designed to administer services to poor in communities around the country as well as the Job Corps designed to offer job training to disadvantaged youth.[17] Two other major programs it spearheaded were Head Start offering education to preschool children and the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) which became a domestic version of the peace corps.[18] In its inception, the scope and breadth of this new department was wide enough to include education for preschool children, job training for adults, work-study programs for college students, grants for farmers and rural businesses, loans to businessmen willing to hire unemployed men, and programs attempting to lessen juvenile delinquency.[19]

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Signed on April 11th 1965, the bill for improved education for lower classes in America immediately became one of the centerpieces of Johnson's War on Poverty. At its core, the ESEA was an attempt by Johnson to take the traditionally local and state responsibility of education and make it a federal one. [20] Johnson believed that the long term effects of poverty like "ignorance, discrimination, slums, disease, and the joblessness," could be weeded out only through the outside force of nation-wide regulated school systems. This shift of power to the federal government is also was caused a great deal of criticism towards his overall ideology.[21]

Medicare

One of Johnson's most revolutionary aspects of the Great Society, the 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act of 1935 called for an addition of Medicare and Medicaid to the Social Security program. While Medicare provided health insurance to the elderly, Medicaid provided it to the poor, and was intended to become one of the backbones of Johnson's War on Poverty. By increasing payroll taxes, Johnson allowed for health-care to be offered to millions of low-income families. Although the beginning was riddled with poor management and insufficient funds as well as strong opposition from the AMA and many physicians, the program did provide a service as well as hope to millions of families that otherwise would have had no health insurance whatsoever.[22] (COMMENTS:DOINA: IMPORTANT EVENTS--ANY INDICATION OF THE RESPONSE? HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE SERVED BY THESE PROGRAMS?)

Chronology of Major Events:

  • November 23, 1963- Walter Heller, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors approaches President Johnson with a concept recently approved by President Kennedy to alleviate American poverty. Johnson was sympathetic and ordered Heller to make it one of his top priorities on the agenda.[23]
  • January 8, 1964- President Lyndon Johnson, in his first annual State of the Union message to Congress, announces his commitment to an "unconditional War on Poverty."[24]
  • August 20, 1964: Johnson signs the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, providing funding for the Job Corps youth training program, the Community Action Program, and others. When signing the bill, Johnson commented, "Today for the first time in all the history of the human race, a great nation is able to make and is willing to make a commitment to eradicate poverty among its people." [25]
  • November 25, 1964: Sargent Shriver, director of the newly formed Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), announces funding for various War on Poverty projects.[26]
  • April 11, 1965: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act is signed into law, providing funding for compensatory education for low-income students.[27]
  • May 22, 1964: At his commencement speech at the University of Michigan, introduces his ideal of the “Great Society” where the state could improve the lives of all Americans as part of his war on poverty.
  • July 30, 1965: Johnson signs the Medicare Bill into law. Of special significance to civil rights is the Medicaid portion of the bill, which provides health care to low-income people who could not afford it otherwise.[28]
  • October 18, 1967: The Green Amendment is approved. Introduced by Congresswoman Edith Green, the amendment is designed to reduce the impact of militant protest activities originating in various War on Poverty-related Community Action Program agencies by transferring jurisdiction over the programs from independent agencies to local governments. As a compromise, the amendment also provides an extension of the charter of the Office of Economic Opportunity for an additional two years. Its existence would eventually be prolonged up to the end of 1974.[29]
  • December 20, 1974: Congress sends legislation to President Gerald Ford authorizing the phase-out of the Office of Economic Opportunity, effectively ending the War on Poverty. President Richard Nixon in 1973 had attempted to dismantle the OEO, but Congress had refused to go along, though Nixon subsequently managed to transfer many OEO programs to other departments and to down-size the organization before the Watergate investigation rendered him politically powerless.[30]

Significant People:

John F. Kennedy

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President Kennedy[31]

In his inauguration speech delivered January 20th, 1961, President Kennedy declared, “Man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.”[32] He instilled a hope in the American people that the issue of poverty could be and would be addressed, and he promised that a new and dedicated generation would make it a top priority. In fact, in his first 100 days in office, President Kennedy passed a number of different bills that followed up on just that. Early on the Area Redevelopment Act, the Omnibus Housing Act, and the Manpower Development and Training Act, were all aimed at alleviating stress on the lower classes, and they all helped stimulate a will within government to address the problem of poverty.[33]

Lyndon B. Johnson

After taking office following the untimely assassination of President Kennedy, President Johnson immediately began work on outlining a host of social welfare programs known later as his “Great Society.” One of the earliest and most famous was his War on Poverty. While his support for social welfare programs waned during the escalation of the Vietnam War, he continued to ideologically support direct government intervention in improving the lives of all Americans.

Johnson was under pressure during his presidency, as the Kennedy’s all seemed to be anticipating the election of Robert Kennedy, and was known to have a domineering personality that did not suit well with many of JFK’s supporters.[34]

Walter Heller

Professor of Economics at the University of Minnesota who had been brought over by President Kennedy to become the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors.[35]

Phil Landrum

Handpicked by Johnson to sponsor the Economic Opportunity Act, Landrum was a conservative representative from Georgia whose role was to offset Republican criticism. Before the final vote of the House of Representatives on August 8th, he brilliantly defended the bill calling it the most conservative bill he’s ever seen. He argued that it, “aimed at taking people off the welfare rolls and making them into taxpayers instead of tax-eaters.”[36]

Sargent Shriver

Brother-in-law of President Kennedy, Shriver was chosen by President Johnson as the first Director of the Office of Economic Opportunities because of the respect he had obtained and the diversity of groups he had worked with during his tenure as director of the Peace Corps.[37] Johnson's vetoing of his proposed cigarette tax [38], which he felt would have provided necessary jobs for the impoverished, exemplified the bureaucratization from which the War on Poverty would suffer.

Opposition & Criticism:

The Poor People's Campaign

Started in 1967 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and supported by his followers and the SCLC, with a series of protests, the Poor People’s campaign was a movement intended to illustrate poverty rather than instigate any specific government action other than the broadening of the base from which the government intended to eliminate poverty. [39] The movement pushed for the aid of all races, not simply African Americans.

Coretta Scott King opened the campaign on Mother’s Day, May 12, 1968, after her husband was assassinated on April 4. In a speech, she lamented, among other things, that the Aid to Dependent Children Program gave each dependent child, on average, less than $1, she pointed out that further steps would be necessary to truly tackle poverty, and she encouraged women of all races to join her in the campaign. [40]

{COMMENTS: DOINA: WHAT ABOUT OPPOSITION AND CRITICISM TO THE WAR ON POVERTY?)

Outcomes/Long Term Effects on U.S. Culture:

Success

Decrease in Poverty: By 1972, the percent of the population living below the population, 11.9%, had decreased to about half of what it had been in 1960, 22.2% [41].


Government reports showed that out of the 35 million Americans who had been trapped in poverty in 1964, 12.5 million had been lifted out-a reduction of almost 36 percent in just over four years.[42]

((cOMMENTS DOINA: COULD YOU HAVE BROKEN THIS DOWN BY RACE AND GENDER AS YOU HAD DONE EARLIER?)

Failure

White Backlash: Although they failed to uproot racial injustice, the federal programs for the impoverished gave individuals the means (meeting halls, etc.) to protest, and the White Backlash that the government had tried to avoid finally occurred, causing the program to dissolve as the poor frequently resulted to rioting. [43]


Bureaucratization: The War on Poverty, because control of it had been dispersed among different government leaders, became heavily bureaucratized and the agendas of those who had organized the movement differed greatly. For example, though Sargent Shriver had been designated as the head of the antipoverty campaign, his authority barely extended past the Office of Economic Opportunity, and on top of that, his ideas were vetoed by Johnson. [44]


Unaddressed Racial Discrimination: The War on Poverty implicitly targeted African Americans, but in order to prevent White Backlash amongst the government and the public, circumspectly addressed all forms of poverty. As a result, the federal programs created failed to target the social barriers that caused poverty, most importantly racial discrimination[45]. So, while the War on Poverty was intended to provided a long-lasting solution to poverty, it failed to totally uproot its causes.


Vietnam Drainage: As the Vietnam War progressed, the budget for domestic programs suffered greatly. Programs that had already been inadequately funded gradually starved.[46]

Notes and References:

  1. ↑ "Vice President Johnson." America's Story. Library of Congress. 31 Aug. 2008 <http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_launch_2_e.html>.
  2. ↑ Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968-69. Volume I, entry 14, pp. 25-33. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1970.
  3. ↑ Johnson, Lyndon B.. "Johnson on the War on Poverty." Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  4. ↑ "Failure of the War on Poverty." History in Dispute, Vol. 2: American Social and Political Movements, 1945-2000. Robert J. Allison, ed. St. James Press, 1999. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  5. ↑ Historical Poverty Tables. United States. U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Census Bureau. 30 Aug. 2008 <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/hstpov2.html>.
  6. ↑ Lemann, Nicholas. "The Unfinished War." The Atlantic Dec. 1988: 37-56. The Atlantic Online. 1 Sept. 2008 <http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/poverty/lemunf1.htm>.
  7. ↑ Kotz, Nick. "Judgment Days." Archipelago Winter 2006: 123-46. Archipelago. Winter 2006. 30 Aug. 2008 <http://www.archipelago.org/vol9/vol9.pdf>.
  8. ↑ "Lyndon B. Johnson."The Presidents: A Reference History. 2nd ed. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  9. ↑ "Johnson, Lyndon B.."Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Robert S. McElvaine, ed. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  10. ↑ Lemann, Nicholas. "The Unfinished War." The Atlantic Dec. 1988: 37-56. The Atlantic Online. 1 Sept. 2008 <http://http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/poverty/lemunf1.htm>.
  11. ↑ New York Times (1857-Current file); Jan 19, 1964; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005)
  12. ↑ New York Times (1857-Current file); Jan 19, 1964; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005)
  13. ↑ New York Times (1857-Current file); Jan 21, 1964; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) pg. 17
  14. ↑ New York Times (1857-Current file); Jan 21, 1964; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) pg. 17
  15. ↑ New York Times (1857-Current file); Jan 21, 1964; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) pg. 17
  16. ↑ "Agency Background." Caplanc. Community Action Program Lancaster County. 31 Aug. 2008 <http://www.caplanc.org/about-us.htm>.
  17. ↑ "Economic Opportunity Act." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale.
  18. ↑ "War on Poverty." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale.
  19. ↑ "Great Society Programs of the 1960s." DISCovering U.S. History. Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale.
  20. ↑ "Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  21. ↑ "Economic Opportunity Act." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  22. ↑ "Government Health Programs in the 1960s." DISCovering U.S. History. Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  23. ↑ Johnson, Lyndon B. The Vantage Point. New York, NY: Popular Library, 1971.
  24. ↑ Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968-69. Volume I, entry 14, pp. 25-33. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1970.
  25. ↑ Johnson, Lyndon B. The Vantage Point. New York, NY: Popular Library, 1971.
  26. ↑ "War on Poverty." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  27. ↑ "War on Poverty." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  28. ↑ "War on Poverty." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  29. ↑ "War on Poverty." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  30. ↑ "War on Poverty." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  31. ↑ "John F. Kennedy." The President's during the 1960's. 31 Aug. 2008 <http://assassinationtoimpeachmentpresidents.com/contactus.aspx>.
  32. ↑ John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters,The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database). Available from World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8032.
  33. ↑ "Great Society Programs of the 1960s." DISCovering U.S. History. Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  34. ↑ "Lyndon B. Johnson."The Presidents: A Reference History. 2nd ed. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  35. ↑ Johnson, Lyndon B. The Vantage Point. New York, NY: Popular Library, 1971.
  36. ↑ Johnson, Lyndon B. The Vantage Point. New York, NY: Popular Library, 1971.
  37. ↑ Johnson, Lyndon B. The Vantage Point. New York, NY: Popular Library, 1971.
  38. ↑ "Failure of the War on Poverty." History in Dispute, Vol. 2: American Social and Political Movements, 1945-2000. Robert J. Allison, ed. St. James Press, 1999. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  39. ↑ "Poor People's Campaign." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  40. ↑ Ben A. Franklin. Special to The New York Times. "5,000 Open Poor People's Campaign in Washington :5,000 Open Poor People's Campaign. " New York Times (1857-Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 13 May 1968,1-2. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005). ProQuest. 3 Sep. 2008 http://www.proquest.com/
  41. ↑ Historical Poverty Tables. United States. U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Census Bureau. 30 Aug. 2008 <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/hstpov2.html>.
  42. ↑ Johnson, Lyndon B. The Vantage Point. New York, NY: Popular Library, 1971.
  43. ↑ "War on Poverty." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  44. ↑ "Failure of the War on Poverty." History in Dispute, Vol. 2: American Social and Political Movements, 1945-2000. Robert J. Allison, ed. St. James Press, 1999. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  45. ↑ "War on Poverty." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/
  46. ↑ The American Realities. (1968, October 27). New York Times (1857-Current file),E14. Retrieved September 1, 2008, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) database.

External links:

  • Johnson's March 1964 Speech introducing the War on Poverty [1]

COMMENTS: 

A GREAT TOPIC WITH SOME GOOD STATS TO BACK UP YOUR ASSERTIONS. I LIKE THE USE OF THE MAKE AND THE EXTERNAL LINK. A BIT MORE AT THE END ON THE SUCCESS WOULD REALLY HAVE MADE THE POINT. YOU LEAVE THE READER WITH THE VIEW THAT POVERTY WAS NEARLY ERADICATED BY 197O IN THE US. I WOULD ALSO HAVE LIKED TO HAVE SEEN A BIT MORE ON THE OPPOSITION AND THE SUPPORT (IN CONGRESS FOR THE LEGISLATION). HOW DOES ALL OF THIS ALL PLAY INTO THE IDEALISM OF THE 1960'S?

THE ORGANIZATION WAS GREAT--

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