Great Society. The Great Society, President Lyndon B. Johnson's sweeping reform program in the turbulent 1960s, represented the high‐water mark of activist government.In response to seismic social changes and pressures, Johnson proposed an unprecedented array of legislation designed to transform society and advance individual fulfillment through a broad range of federal interventions.

Background.

With John F. Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Johnson inherited more than the presidency. Many of the intellectuals whom Kennedy had drawn to Washington stayed to pursue an unfulfilled liberal agenda. A spirit of altruism, intensified by the assassination, provided an ideal climate for liberalism. But as the martyred president's image grew to mythical proportions, Johnson appeared all too human by comparison. A constant reminder of this contrast was President Kennedy's brother Robert, Johnson's principal rival.

Johnson himself was a veteran of three decades of activist federal policy. His years as a youthful apostle of the New Deal defined his liberal outlook. As a congressman during World War II, he participated in the government's mobilization of resources against the Axis powers. As Senate Democratic leader in the 1950s, he pragmatically advanced a moderate agenda. Once he became president, the populist Johnson reemerged; he resolved to use all of his executive powers to extend and even surpass the New Deal's progressive record.

In 1964, a prosperous economy and the presidential election set the stage for a flurry of legislative initiatives. Johnson's landslide victory over the Republican candidate, Senator Barry Goldwater, gave the president both a powerful mandate and large Democratic majorities in Congress to carry it out. Johnson articulated his “Great Society” vision, a broad‐ranging statement of national purpose, in a commencement address at the University of Michigan in May 1964. His ambitious goals included equality of opportunity, enhancement of urban life, restoration of natural beauty, improvement of education, ending poverty, and implementing racial justice. He also unveiled a new approach for enlisting the nation's best minds to define problems and propose solutions: White House conferences would address such critical issues as civil rights, the environment, and health care, and task forces would set the course toward the Great Society by developing legislative initiatives.

Civil Rights.

Some of the Great Society's most significant achievements were in furthering racial equality. As the civil rights movement turned from the courts to the streets, television gave protests against discrimination a nationwide audience. Capitalizing on a groundswell of public opinion, Johnson used the presidency as a pulpit to define the cause as an urgent moral and civic issue. He quietly promoted a bipartisan coalition that overcame a two‐month Senate filibuster and passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, barring racial discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and schools receiving federal funds.

The following year, televised scenes of racial violence fueled support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Although Johnson accurately predicted that the legislation would make elected officials more responsive to minorities, he also recognized that he was delivering the white South to the Republican party. The third sweeping civil rights measure—to ban discrimination in housing and to strengthen federal protection in other areas—was passed in 1968, after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

The radicalization of the black movement challenged LBJ's efforts to promote change from within the political system. As militant new leaders confronted the establishment and appealed to a rising black consciousness, urban riots manifested the rage and hopelessness that gripped the nation's inner cities. While the problem of racial discrimination would persist, the Great Society fundamentally altered race relations in America. The sweeping changes wrought by the three civil rights measures created a new social framework for subsequent generations of all races.

The War on Poverty.

To promote equal opportunity, Johnson launched an “unconditional” war against poverty. With the creation in 1964 of a new government agency, the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), antipoverty programs were begun to assist the poor in helping themselves. The Job Corps and the Neighborhood Youth Corps provided income, remedial education, and job training to impoverished youths. VISTA, a domestic counterpart to the Peace Corps, sent volunteer organizers into economically depressed areas. The Community Action Program made grants to local antipoverty initiatives and spawned such national projects as Head Start, an enrichment program for preschool children; and the Legal Services Program, which provided lawyers to defend the rights of low‐income citizens. Other Great Society measures in addition to the OEO programs included an expanded food‐stamp program and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, both of which directly benefited the poor.

While conservatives argued that the “War on Poverty” stifled individual initiative and increased the demand for welfare, others charged that the modestly funded programs deflected pressure for more radical solutions. The controversial Community Action Program, a favorite target of conservatives, drew fire for underwriting opposition to local power structures. Although the War on Poverty failed to achieve its idealistic goal of ending poverty in America, the program did improve the lives of many while focusing attention on the problem of chronic, long‐term, transgenerational poverty, allowing neither the press nor the public to continue to ignore the plight of the poor. While the OEO was abolished by President Richard M. Nixon in 1974, most of the component programs survived.

Housing, Education, Health, and Other Programs.

Another Great Society goal—enhancement of urban life—was advanced through the creation in 1966 of the new Cabinet‐level Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). With HUD came such urban initiatives as the Model Cities Program, which funded partnerships with local communities for urban revitalization and aid to low‐income areas. Mass‐transit legislation helped cities update their transportation infrastructure.

Convinced that education was the best antidote for poverty, Johnson, a former teacher, envisioned the Great Society as one in which all children could enrich their minds. As president, he orchestrated the passage of scores of measures to provide massive federal aid to education. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 employed a new formula of federal aid to circumvent the traditional stalemate imposed by the separation of church and state issue. The Higher Education Act, also 1965, funded scholarships and aid to colleges for equipment, buildings, and libraries. Other grants were directed to vocational education. In all, the passage of sixty education measures earned LBJ the title “the education president.”

The Great Society's landmark health legislation, which tripled the federal health budget, overcame three decades of opposition to “socialized medicine.” The enactment of Medicare in 1965 dramatically increased accessibility to health care for the nation's elderly, providing for hospitalization and optional medical insurance. A companion measure, Medicaid, administered by the states through the welfare system, provided hospitalization coverage for poor Americans. Other Great Society health initiatives aided medical research, the construction of medical facilities, and regional medical programs.

The Great Society produced landmark legislation in almost every area of American life. Truth‐in‐lending and truth‐in‐packaging laws provided new protections for consumers. Automobile safety legislation reduced accidents and fatalities, while the Highway Beautification Act, championed by the president's wife, Lady Bird Johnson, enhanced the scenic beauty of the nation's roadsides. A new environmental consciousness brought the first nationwide attack on air and water pollution. To enrich cultural life, Johnson presided over the creation of the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities and signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. The Immigration Act of 1965 abolished the discriminatory national‐origins policy.

The Great Society and Vietnam.

While Johnson's willingness to expend political capital on the Great Society's costly and sometimes controversial reforms increased his political vulnerability, it was the Vietnam War that ultimately undermined his presidency. As the American commitment of human resources increased from sixteen thousand advisers in November 1963 to more than half a million G.I.s, the prolonged, inconclusive conflict in Southeast Asia fueled inflation, limited domestic spending, ruptured the Democratic party, ignited a youth rebellion, and caused deep divisions in American society. Tormented by his inability either to achieve victory or to withdraw honorably, Johnson in March 1968 announced that he would not seek reelection.

Tarnished by Vietnam, Johnson's presidency received the same mixed reviews in hindsight that marked contemporary assessments. Liberals praised the Great Society as a noble if idealistic crusade, cut short by a bitter, unpopular war. Conservatives criticized the period as the epitome of big‐government excesses. Yet the Great Society's legislative landmarks remained, profoundly affecting the nation's economic, social, and political life for decades afterward.
See also Civil Rights Legislation; Conservatism; Consumer Movement; Environmentalism; Federal Goverment, Executive Branch: Other Departments (Housing and Urban Development); Housing; Immigration; Immigration Law; Kennedy, Robert; Medicare and Medicaid; Public Broadcasting; Sixties, The.

Bibliography

Doris Kearns , Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, 1976.
Robert A. Divine, ed., Exploring the Johnson Years, 2 vols., 1981–1987.
Vaughn Davis Bornet , The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, 1983.
Allen J. Matusow , The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s, 1984.
Irving Bernstein , Guns or Butter: The Presidency of Lyndon Johnson, 1996.
James T. Patterson , Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945–1970, 1996.
Robert Dallek , Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and his Times, 1961–1973, 1998.

Michael Gillette

GREAT SOCIETY

In May 1964, President lyndon b. johnson gave a speech at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in which he outlined his domestic agenda for the United States. He applauded the nation's wealth and abundance but admonished the audience that "the challenge of the next half century is whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of American civilization." Johnson's agenda was based on his vision of what he called "the Great Society," the name by which the agenda became popularly known.

Part of the Great Society agenda was based on initiatives proposed by Johnson's predecessor, john f. kennedy, but Johnson's vision was comprehensive and far-reaching. Johnson wanted to use the resources of the federal government to combat poverty, strengthen civil rights, improve public education, revamp urban communities, and protect the country's natural resources. In short, Johnson wanted to ensure a better life for all Americans. He had already begun his push toward this goal with his "War on Poverty," a set of initiatives announced in 1964 and marked by the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. This act authorized a number of programs including Head Start; work-study programs for college students; Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), a domestic version of the Peace Corps; and various adult job-training programs. Johnson's Great Society proposal was ambitious, even by his standards—as a seasoned politician, he had a well-earned reputation for getting things done. Not only that, he had to win the 1964 presidential election before he could enact his ideas.

Johnson sought affordable health care for all, stronger civil rights legislation, more benefits for the poor and the elderly, increased aid to education, economic development, urban renewal, crime prevention, and stronger conservation efforts. To many, Johnson's initiative seemed to be the most sweeping change in federal policy since franklin d. roosevelt's new deal in the 1930s.

The Great Society theme was the foundation of his campaign in the 1964 presidential election. Johnson's Republican opponent, barry goldwater, campaigned on a promise of reducing the size and scope of the federal government. In the end, Johnson's campaign for the Great Society was convincing enough that he carried 46 states and won 61 percent of the popular vote in November.

Johnson outlined his Great Society programs during his State of the Union address in January 1965, and over the next several months progress followed quickly. medicare was introduced to provide healthcare funding to senior citizens. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act was signed into law, guaranteeing increased funding to disadvantaged students. The housing and urban development (HUD) program was created to bring affordable housing to the inner cities. The Highway Beautification Act was signed, providing funding to clear the nation's highways of blight. Along with that went legislation to regulate air and water quality. The civil rights act of 1965 prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, and gender.

Johnson chose John Gardner to head the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). Gardner, who was sworn in on July 27, 1965, was a psychologist, an authority on education, and had previously been head of the Carnegie Corporation. Widely respected by members of both parties (he was a Republican) Gardner helped carry out Johnson's goals and agenda; in some circles he was known as the "engineer of the Great Society."

Johnson's Great Society made a genuine difference in the lives of millions of Americans, and many of its initiatives are still integral to U.S. society in the twenty-first century. But the programs were expensive, costing billions of dollars, and many of Johnson's opponents said that the programs only added new layers of bureaucracy to an already oversized government. A more pressing issue, however, was the vietnam war. What was supposed to have been a short-term exercise had now gone on for several years with financial and human cost. The war was highly unpopular with a large portion of American society, and the energy needed to keep the war effort going drained resources from the programs of the Great Society. The departure of Gardner from HEW was a blow to Johnson, especially since after Gardner left HEW he spoke out publicly against the war.

The 1960s also saw an upsurge in racial unrest. Despite the sweeping civil rights initiatives Johnson had launched, many poor blacks felt it was not enough. Racial unrest in major cities led to several riots, and it was clear that there was a great deal of pent-up anger and frustration that could not simply be legislated away.

Faced with mounting criticism because of Vietnam, Johnson chose not to run for reelection in 1968. The shadow of Vietnam hung over him until his death five years after, and it was only later that the American people were able to appreciate fully the scope and importance of Johnson's role in shaping the Great Society.

further readings

Andrew, John A. 1998. Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society. Chicago, Ill.: I. R. Dee.

Califano, Joseph A. 1991. The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson: The White House Years. New York: Simon and Schuster.

cross-references

Civil Rights; Civil Rights Movement.

Great Society (USA) The name bestowed by Lyndon Johnson on his vision of an American society with fair educational, health, and social provision for all. Johnson developed the theme in the 1964 election campaign, which he won by a landslide against Barry Goldwater. Johnson presented a programme to Congress comprising a ‘war on poverty’, medical insurance underwritten by the state for all old people and a majority of younger people, particularly the poor, housing developments, and educational provision. It redefined government responsibility for these goals through the creation of the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Some of the most important legislation concerned education, with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 proposing a more effective funding formula for schools, while the Higher Education Act sought to encourage College access irrespective of social background. This legislation was accompanied by the introduction of large, publicly funded health programmes for the poor, Medicaid and Medicare. Other lasting change included the introduction of food stamp provisions for the poor, while the federal government also became involved in culture through the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities and the Public Broadcasting Act. These fundamental reforms were accompanied by lasting civil rights legislation. However, many of these reforms cost Johnson much political capital, as the Watts riots and other civil disturbances helped cause a White backlash against the perceived privileges of welfare recipients. Most importantly, the Vietnam War devastated Johnson's political reputation and absorbed national attention and funds. Much of Johnson's legislation came under attack in subsequent decades, and it is not clear that his vision of a ‘Great Society’ was ever achieved. However, his domestic record was remarkable for its sheer scope, as well as for the President's ability to drive his legislation through Congress.

Great Society in U.S. history, term for the domestic policies of President Lyndon Johnson . In his first State of the Union message, he called for a war on poverty and the creation of a "Great Society," a prosperous nation that had overcome racial divisions. To this end, Johnson proposed an expansion in the federal government's role in domestic policy. During his administration, Congress enacted two major civil-rights acts (1964 and 1965), the Economic Opportunity Act (1964), and two education acts (1965). In addition, legislation was passed that created the Job Corps, Operation Head Start, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), Medicaid, and Medicare. Although the Great Society program made significant contributions to the protection of civil rights and the expansion of social programs, critics increasingly complained that the antipoverty programs were ineffective and wasteful. The economic and political costs of the escalation of the Vietnam War , as well as the costs of these programs themselves, soon overtook Johnson's domestic initiatives.

GREAT SOCIETY

GREAT SOCIETY, the program of liberal reform put forward by President Lyndon Johnson in his 1964 commencement address at the University of Michigan that proposed expanding the size and scope of the federal

government to diminish racial and economic inequality and improve the nation's quality of life. Johnson sponsored legislation that strengthened African American voting rights and banned discrimination in housing and public service provision. The War on Poverty, a collection of community empowerment and job programs, directed resources toward the inner cities and the Medicare and Medicaid programs provided health insurance to the poor and elderly, respectively. While many Great Society programs were subsequently abandoned, in the early 2000s, Democrats continued to defend the social insurance and civil rights changes Johnson enacted.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Andrews, John A. Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1998.

Richard M.Flanagan