I’d like to begin this essay by asking you to think outside the box. Let’s pretend that the voters have just elected you President of the United States. Your landslide victory includes two-thirds majorities in both houses of Congress. How would you use your political mandate? What vision would you have for America?
LBJ and the Great Society
As 1965 began, President Lyndon Baines Johnson faced this exact same situation. His overwhelming victory in the 1964 election gave him an opportunity to build what LBJ called “the Great Society.” Johnson eloquently summarized his vision for the Great Society when he told Congress: “I do not want to be the President who built empires…I want to be the President who educated young children…who helped to feed the hungry…who helped the poor find their way…”
Like the New Deal programs, Johnson’s Great Society proposed to use the power of the federal government to fight poverty and unemployment. In a widely read book entitled The Other America, the social critic Michael Harrington argued that about one-fifth of the nation’s families were mired in what he called “a culture of poverty.” Shocked by Harrington’s compelling anecdotes and statistical evidence, LBJ declared an “unconditional War on Poverty.”
The Great Society also included far-reaching legislation to address a number of pressing problems. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 abolished literacy tests and enforced the voting rights of African Americans. The Immigration Act of 1965 abolished the system of quotas instituted by the National Origins Act of 1924. The Social Security Amendment of 1965 created Medicare and Medicaid providing health insurance for elderly and poor Americans. And finally, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 provided over one billion dollars in federal aid to help school systems purchase textbooks and new library materials.
The New Deal and the Great Society
Both the New Deal and the Great Society expanded the power and reach of the federal government. Both programs expanded the social welfare net by addressing poverty and unemployment. And finally, both the New Deal and the Great Society supported the arts, encouraged housing construction, helped the elderly, and instituted government sponsored employment programs.
The New Deal responded to an economic depression while the Great Society was enacted during a period of economic prosperity. The New Deal reflected the racism of the Jim Crow segregation era by failing to directly address the denial of civil rights to African Americans. In contrast, the Great Society included landmark legislation protecting the civil liberties and voting rights of African Americans. While both programs fought poverty, the Great Society included programs for providing preschool education for disadvantaged children.
The Great Society and the Vietnam War
The rising cost of the Vietnam War undermined financing for Great Society programs. For example, in 1968 the United States spent $322, 000 to kill each enemy soldier. At the same time, Great Society programs received just $53.00 for each underprivileged American.
So why should you remember the Great Society? The Great Society is playing a significant role in recent free-response questions. For example, you should be able to compare the similarities and differences between the Great Society and the New Deal. In addition, the Great Society can be incorporated into an LEQ asking how the United States responded to economic changes from 1960 to 2000 and a DBQ asking about the role of the federal government in the US economy from 1932 to 1980. It is important to stress that you do not have to memorize several Great Society programs. Instead, focus on the War on Poverty as your primary example of a Great Society program.